Chameleon lump

Question
My chameleon has a lump on his nose. I am not sure what it is or what caused it. I think he is getting another under his chin. What can I do to prevent these lumps and how do I get rid of them? They are semi-soft and seem to hurt the chameleon when it is touched. It kind of makes a sound like when you rub your finger on a rubber ball, but it comes from inside the lump.

Answer
Hi Kim

I suspect that the lumps may be abscesses. Reptile pus forms as a semi-solid rather then a liquid so infections will feel quite firm. Unfortunately it also means that they don't drain on their own as they sometimes will in mammals and often have to be lanced and the lump removed.

Sometimes the immediate cause is obvious, like a nose abrasion or cricket bite wounds that become infected. In my experience there is just as often  no apparent cause and the skin over the lumps looks perfectly healthy and intact. That makes their sudden appearance very frustrating.
I have also seem them appear in the general vicinity of another infection. In your case I was wondering whether your chameleon had any signs of mouth rot like swelling or an uneven look to the mouth.

The best approach to preventing them is to make sure your cham's immune system is functioning at full capacity. Their immune systems are very temperature dependent. Stress can also dramatically lower their immune response, particularly with chameleons which are notoriously stress sensitive. You didn't happen to mention which species you have but make sure your basking temperature  is within range for your species. If it happens to be a veiled then they like it quite hot and will happily sit in a 100F hot spot. Try to keep handling or any enclosure changes to a minimum to reduce stress.

Topical antibiotics are not typically well absorbed and effective in these cases but I have had people report back that they have appeared to have helped in several cases. Dabbing a bit of Polysporin on the areas certainly would not hurt if you can avoid his nostrils and do it with a minimum of handling and interference with him.

If you are lucky, the lumps may stay small and eventually shrink and resolve on their own but if they continue to grow in either size or number then a vet visit is your best option.