Allergic reaction to my chameleon?

[Rencontreras]

So I’ve had my veiled (his names Mango) for about six months and recently I started noticing that his claws leave red, itchy marks on my skin. This didn’t used to happen and I’m wondering if it means something about his health or if it’s possible to develop an allergy. Sounds weird but take a look. (the red marks go away after some time)
Here are some pics of my arm and how I usually hold him:

 

[kinyonga]

This is common with veiled chameleons.
Not sure why it happens though.

 

[Persnickety Parson's]

That happens a lot, the animals nails break the skin but not enough to bleed, birds especially cause makings like that, and when I hand raised two week old puppies my wrists looked like I was cutting.

 

[nightanole]

Or hes got tree sap on his feets.

 

[kinyonga]

Do you have a ficus Benjamina in the cage?
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0091674904002623

 

[Marcoa1988]

So I’ve had my veiled (his names Mango) for about six months and recently I started noticing that his claws leave red, itchy marks on my skin. This didn’t used to happen and I’m wondering if it means something about his health or if it’s possible to develop an allergy. Sounds weird but take a look. (the red marks go away after some time)
Here are some pics of my arm and how I usually hold him: View attachment 264977View attachment 264976

Mine does the same but mine dont get nearly as red as yours.

 

[The Wild One]

Coda did this as her grip got stronger. Mine were raised though.

 

[absolutbill]

Have you tried washing your arms with warm soapy water after handling him? I get the same thing from my 2 veileds because they both tend to "dig in" with their claws. My panther is young and has a softer touch so he doesn't leave me marked up. Washing up afterwards normally takes the itchiness away and makes the bumps go down quickly. Good Luck!

 

[Ares05]

My veiled leaves the same marks. I have sensitive skin. Even after washing my hands and arms some marks will leave behind a raised pink spot for a day or two. So itchy.

 

[Rencontreras]

Do you have a ficus Benjamina in the cage?
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0091674904002623

No, I have a few love plants in his new cage but I’m still getting it set up so he hasn’t spent much time on it

 

[Rencontreras]

Have you tried washing your arms with warm soapy water after handling him? I get the same thing from my 2 veileds because they both tend to "dig in" with their claws. My panther is young and has a softer touch so he doesn't leave me marked up. Washing up afterwards normally takes the itchiness away and makes the bumps go down quickly. Good Luck!

I always wash my hands after handling him, but I haven’t necessarily tried washing the bumps. Will do! Thank you!

 

[paola2mora]

This happens to me too. Do you have dermatograhia, to your knowledge? When you scratch your skin even a bit, does it leave a big red mark for hours? Or do you have any other histamine issues?

I do and I'm convinced that's why I look like I'm having an allergic reaction after I handle my cham, really it's just the little claw marks causing inflammation.

 

[cruz.m]

It just happened to me so I was searching it up lol but it’s happened before and I had no contact with my cham that time so it’s weird maybe I should go to the doctor soon. But it’s weird cause she was climbing on the top of my arm not the bottom where the spots are so wouldn’t it be logical for them to be all over my arm? I don’t know honestly

 

[kinyonga]

The tips of the claws of veiled chameleons do this to quite a few people...but as far as I know they don't get spots anywhere the claws haven't dug into the flesh. Yours might be something else.

 

[cruz.m]

The tips of the claws of veiled chameleons do this to quite a few people...but as far as I know they don't get spots anywhere the claws haven't dug into the flesh. Yours might be something else.

Yeah I’ve got them quite a few times but they fade after a bit. Like now they’re hardly noticeable. I don’t think it’s from the claws judging by the fact it’s happened before and I wasn’t holding her. The last time I got them I was washing vegetables for gut loading and it happened but I don’t know if it was from that or something else.

 

[PoseidonTheChameleon]

Yours look alot worse then others I have seen, I would wash your arms and hands after handling

 

[cruz.m]

Yours look alot worse then others I have seen, I would wash your arms and hands after handling

I do but they don’t go away until a while. They’re fully gone now after an hour or more. But I think it’s something else I’m not sure but I’m gonna get it checked out to see what it is. Maybe I’m allergic to something I shouldn’t or I’m not as far as I know but who knows. I’ve been reading and it says it could be from leukemia to an insect bite among other things but the leukemia one is the more serious one of them so far

 

[JacksJill]

Long sleeves are the simplest answer to your problem. You may be allergic to something he climbs on and the little scratches his claws make are getting it into your skin. Many people are allergic to various plants, molds or even types of wood.

 

[cruz.m]

Long sleeves are the simplest answer to your problem. You may be allergic to something he climbs on and the little scratches his claws make are getting it into your skin. Many people are allergic to various plants, molds or even types of wood.

Yeah that’s what I’ve seen and I will do in the future but what I’m concerned about is the spots were not where her claws had been and it happened another time and she hadn’t been anywhere near me/on me.

 

[JacksJill]

In that case it is something to discuss with your doctor if it continues to occur.