Black spots

[BabyCham96]

• Your Chameleon - Veiled, unknown sex, and unknown age. Had it for about a month
• Handling - once or twice a week
• Feeding - I feed it small crickets and super worms. About 5 crickets in the morning and a super worm in the afternoon. I just use a regular cricket gel food.
• Supplements - I dust the crickets with Zoo med's reptivite. I dust every week.
• Watering - I have a fogger system that I use to keep the humidity where it needs to be. I mist whenever the vivarium looks dry. I haven't seen him drinking yet
• Fecal Description - The poop has a long brown part and a white tip and it's pretty solid. It hasn't been tested for parasites.
• History - I bought my chameleon from petsmart and they didn't tell me what the age or sex of my chameleon is.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - I have a 1'X 1'X 3' glass and screen combo vivarium.
• Lighting - I have a mini combo deep dome dual lamp fixture that holds the daytime bulb and uvb bulb. I have another tropical lighting combo lamp that holds the nighttime bulb. I keep the uvb bulb on all the time and I turn the daytime bulb off and switch it to the nighttime bulb every 14 hours. The uvb bulb is 13 watts, the daytime bulb is 60 watts, and the nighttime bulb is 50 watts.
• Temperature - The basking temp is usually around 95 and the low temp is usually 80.Lowest overnight temp is 65 and the highest overnight temp is 80. I have a digital thermometer in the basking spot and thermometer in the bottom of the vivarium.
• Humidity - I keep the humidity between 50% and 60%. I maintain these levels with a fogging system that is always on and I mist when there's no condensation. I have a hydrometer at the top of the vivarium.
• Plants - I don't use live plants yet.
• Placement - The vivarium Is located in the corner of my living room. It's not near any fans, vents, or high traffic areas. The vivarium sits 5 and a half feet high from my floor.
• Location - I live in a dry area in northern Utah.

Current Problem - My chameleon has reoccurring black spots that look like bruises all over it's body and it hasn't been eating much. I think the crickets and super worms are biting it cause now my chameleon won't go near them.

 

[kinyonga]

Welcome to the forum!

Reptivite is a vitamin powder. You need to be careful with it because it has prEformed vitamin A in it which can build up in the chameleon's system. Using it twice a month should be enough.You need to dust with a phosphorous-free calcium powder at almost every feeding and a phosphorous-free calcium/D3 powder twice a month

It's important to gutload/feed the insects well. A wide assortment of greens and veggies and a little fruit is recommended for crickets, superworms, etc. I use dandelion greens, kale, endive, escarole, collards, squash, zucchini, sweet red pepper, sweet potato, carrots, pear, apple, melon, etc.

Your temperatures could be lower...basking in the mid 80's F and cage temp in the high 70's F.
Appropriate temperatures aid in digestion and play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.

If it's a female it may lay eggs once sexually mature even if not mated...so you need a laying bin in the cage if it's female. Males have tarsal spurs on their heels in this species....females don't.
http://web.archive.org/web/20060819...m.com/html/husbandry/glossary/tarsalspur.html

You're chameleon may be too hot to eat or dehydrated and the black spots could be the beginnings of burns.
It might be the size of the food that is part of the problem too. How big are the insects?
Can you post a couple more photos of the whole chameleon please.

 

[RoyBomb "Flex"]

I would let more experienced owners chime in but he or she still looks younger but it's hard to say by pics. The marks look like burn marks to me but again I'm new also. I do know Your basking temp is way to high!! Should be mid 80s at the most. Also no night light is needed unless your house gets under 60° every night. You definatly need to find out sex, are there spurs behind the back feet?

Also he or she should be eating mostly in the morning so it gets enough time under his UVB(what UVB light are you using?) to properly digest his food. Superworms are more of a treat like 1-2 a week, maybe 1 daily. Crickets or Dubia roaches should be a main staple, depending on age 12-20 a day. I feed crickets, hornworms, dubias and walking sticks on a daily basis. Will be trying silkworms soon(supplied by @Andee).
Don't know much About reptivite but I use repashy super foods plus to dust everyday.

Also you should mist at least 2 times a day for 3-4 mins. I use an auto mister 60 sec every hour, also a heavy hand mist every morning for 5-10 min. Humidity should spike to 80-90% during listings. Live plants really help,that's all I use.

Hopefully I didn't leave to much out. And I hope more experienced owners chime in, good luck!

 

[BabyCham96]

Thanks for everyone's feedback so far! I must have been really misinformed about a lot with my chameleon! The mark that was on it's face earlier is now gone but it's on his tail now. I figured they were from it's food cause my chameleon was eating just fine until the crickets and super worms finally bit him now he won't go near them and they climb all over him but I can't seem to keep them off. I'll start turning his nighttime light of at night from now on. These are better pictures of it's while body, I don't see any spurs on it's legs so I took better pictures of that and I took a picture of the pamphlet I used for his basking and low temps also a picture of the type of uvb bulb.

 

[Fireborn]

Babied bruise easily but goes away fast. Those recommended temps are pretty off. Looks male to me.

 

[Fireborn]

Babies*

 

[BabyCham96]

Babied bruise easily but goes away fast. Those recommended temps are pretty off. Looks male to me.

I thought it was male and I looked for the spurs and the bulge under his tail but he doesn't have either so i have no idea.

 

[opheliaeatsbugs]

Thanks for filling out the Help Form have you seen/read the care sheets for veiled chameleons in this forum? I can post the link if you haven't seen it yet.
First, need to get the temps where they should be... maybe raising the heat bulb? or using a lower wattage? I realize the paper from Petsmart mentioned keeping the nighttime bulb on, but I've been told that unless your room temps fall below 60 degrees (and that's probably not happening in your location), you don't need a nighttime heat bulb. I use a fogger, too, to keep the humidity a little higher. But I don't run it all day - it's good to have the cage and the air dry out a little in between fogging sessions. A more experienced keeper could probably comment here, but I've read that a fogger running all the time is not healthy for veileds and could cause or contribute to respiratory issues. I wasn't clear on how your baby gets water to drink? Do you have a dripper? or automatic mister? or just hand misting? Please clarify.

Am I understanding you correctly that the crickets climb on your baby? If he is not catching them all during a feeding then 1) remove the ones he hasn't eaten or 2) only feed him as much as he will eat and then don't put any more into his cage. Crickets are nasty, vile creatures (sorry, I despise them so much... and they smell) and if there are too many in his cage, they could bite your baby. I have no idea if that's what the black dots are, but either way, maybe there are too many in his enclosure at a time? Also, what is the size of the crickets? maybe they are too big? just throwing out ideas...

As mentioned... you need to get your supplementation on track. The care sheets will give you the schedule. There are several other feeders you can feed him - variety is essential. All of my feeders are bought online from one or two of the forums sponsors. My staple feeders are dubia roaches (small or medium), BSFL's and sometimes crickets because Ophelia loves to hunt them. Other options for variety are butterworms, blue horned worms, wax worms, etc. and for a treat feed him superworms. I would avoid mealworms. Your feeders should be dusted at every feeding with Calcium without D3... check the supplement care sheet.

Could you send a pic of the cage? Another way to keep the humidity up is with live plants... put a pothos in there

 

[BabyCham96]

Thanks for filling out the Help Form have you seen/read the care sheets for veiled chameleons in this forum? I can post the link if you haven't seen it yet.
First, need to get the temps where they should be... maybe raising the heat bulb? or using a lower wattage? I realize the paper from Petsmart mentioned keeping the nighttime bulb on, but I've been told that unless your room temps fall below 60 degrees (and that's probably not happening in your location), you don't need a nighttime heat bulb. I use a fogger, too, to keep the humidity a little higher. But I don't run it all day - it's good to have the cage and the air dry out a little in between fogging sessions. A more experienced keeper could probably comment here, but I've read that a fogger running all the time is not healthy for veileds and could cause or contribute to respiratory issues. I wasn't clear on how your baby gets water to drink? Do you have a dripper? or automatic mister? or just hand misting? Please clarify.

Am I understanding you correctly that the crickets climb on your baby? If he is not catching them all during a feeding then 1) remove the ones he hasn't eaten or 2) only feed him as much as he will eat and then don't put any more into his cage. Crickets are nasty, vile creatures (sorry, I despise them so much... and they smell) and if there are too many in his cage, they could bite your baby. I have no idea if that's what the black dots are, but either way, maybe there are too many in his enclosure at a time? Also, what is the size of the crickets? maybe they are too big? just throwing out ideas...

As mentioned... you need to get your supplementation on track. The care sheets will give you the schedule. There are several other feeders you can feed him - variety is essential. All of my feeders are bought online from one or two of the forums sponsors. My staple feeders are dubia roaches (small or medium), BSFL's and sometimes crickets because Ophelia loves to hunt them. Other options for variety are butterworms, blue horned worms, wax worms, etc. and for a treat feed him superworms. I would avoid mealworms. Your feeders should be dusted at every feeding with Calcium without D3... check the supplement care sheet.

Could you send a pic of the cage? Another way to keep the humidity up is with live plants... put a pothos in there

Thank you for all the input!! I mist the vivarium by hand. I've always put the same amount of crickets in there since I got him but they've never climbed on him before, since that happened he lost interest in them. The crickets I feed him are about half an inch long, they're the smallest I can find in the pet stores near me. I also forgot to put in the help form that I also feed him vegetables daily, that's where he gets some of his water and vitamins. I feed him cabbage, collard greens, strawberries, and blackberries. The vivarium that i use is mostly glass because where I'm at in Utah, if I had an all mesh cage, there would never be any humidity in there for him cause it's so dry here.

 

[kinyonga]

One more thing I forgot to ask...do you use a dripper?

 

[opheliaeatsbugs]

Thank you for all the input!! I mist the vivarium by hand. I've always put the same amount of crickets in there since I got him but they've never climbed on him before, since that happened he lost interest in them. The crickets I feed him are about half an inch long, they're the smallest I can find in the pet stores near me. I also forgot to put in the help form that I also feed him vegetables daily, that's where he gets some of his water and vitamins. I feed him cabbage, collard greens, strawberries, and blackberries. The vivarium that i use is mostly glass because where I'm at in Utah, if I had an all mesh cage, there would never be any humidity in there for him cause it's so dry here.

Thanks for the picture giving as much info will help get your husbandry on point. So, I think there is too much moisture in there. I am pretty sure that veileds can handle humidity changes throughout the day. Eventually, you'll need a larger cage another thought is that you baby needs some horizontal branches (left/right) to connect the vertical branches and vines. What is on the bottom of his cage?

 

[opheliaeatsbugs]

One more thing I forgot to ask...do you use a dripper?

Yes, I asked too. How does he get water?

 

[Angelwolf]

The black areas look like normal maturation to me. Veileds will get black along all of the ridges of their head. And, yes, they can control the pigmentation there, too, which is why sometimes it looks darker. I agree, the humidity is too high. The cage needs to dry out a few times a day. I don't like those fogger systems. They are great for amphibians, but not chams. And what is the extra dome on the front of the cage? If it's some sort of "night light", ditch it! Chams need total darkness every night for 12 hrs. Those "night lights" actually do more harm than good. And before long, you're going to need to double the size of the cage. 24x24x48" minimum.

 

[jajeanpierre]

@BabyCham96 My goodness you have got a lot of different answers!

First off, unless it is natural coloration, black marks are skin damage. You can mark up a chameleon, especially a baby, just by handling them roughly. People call them "bruises" but they are not bruises. Bruises are bleeding under the skin which is not what is going on with those black marks.

Some black marks will fade in time. I've put black marks on chameleons that I was restraining and they have faded by the next day. Other marks will need to be shed out. Still others will never be gone. I have some wild caughts that have black marks on their body from their import years ago when they were tiny babies.

Skin damage could be from trauma or from infection. A skin infection might look like black marks.

The black marks I see look like rub marks to his face (at the front of his mouth). The black on the ridge going from his nose over his eyes look like natural coloration of the scales there.

With a glassed in enclosure and a fogger, it is possible to have a skin infection develop.

Do you have better close up pictures of the marks you are worried about?

Hope that helps.

 

[Graves923]

Lots a good info from some experienced keepers in this thread.

To the OP, do yourself a favor and thrown the petsmart caresheet out. Read through the articles here: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/
And this caresheet: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

These articles, from what I was told, were all written by very experienced keepers and members of these forums.

To the original issue at hand, I would keep an eye on the marks. If they spread, then it could be something like an infection or and burn spreading.

 

[BabyCham96]

One more thing I forgot to ask...do you use a dripper?

I don't use a dripper, I just mist by hand and use the fogger.

 

[BabyCham96]

Thanks for the picture giving as much info will help get your husbandry on point. So, I think there is too much moisture in there. I am pretty sure that veileds can handle humidity changes throughout the day. Eventually, you'll need a larger cage another thought is that you baby needs some horizontal branches (left/right) to connect the vertical branches and vines. What is on the bottom of his cage?

I started with a small vivarium so I can build my own and make a big one. I have multiple horizontal branches in there you just can't see them cause of the leaves and humidity. At the bottom of his cage is a feeding bowl where I put his food .

 

[BabyCham96]

The black areas look like normal maturation to me. Veileds will get black along all of the ridges of their head. And, yes, they can control the pigmentation there, too, which is why sometimes it looks darker. I agree, the humidity is too high. The cage needs to dry out a few times a day. I don't like those fogger systems. They are great for amphibians, but not chams. And what is the extra dome on the front of the cage? If it's some sort of "night light", ditch it! Chams need total darkness every night for 12 hrs. Those "night lights" actually do more harm than good. And before long, you're going to need to double the size of the cage. 24x24x48" minimum.

That is a night light that I was told to use but by other people in this forum thread I was told not to do I haven't used it since. I know he needs a bigger cage, I started small since he's little right now so I can custom build a bigger one.

 

[BabyCham96]

Lots a good info from some experienced keepers in this thread.

To the OP, do yourself a favor and thrown the petsmart caresheet out. Read through the articles here: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/
And this caresheet: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

These articles, from what I was told, were all written by very experienced keepers and members of these forums.

To the original issue at hand, I would keep an eye on the marks. If they spread, then it could be something like an infection or and burn spreading.

Yeah I looked at the care sheets on this site and I've been going by that since this thread started. I'll have to read what those links you sent me have to say.

 

[kinyonga]

I would add a dripper. It can be a simple deli cup with a tiny hole in the bottom so it drips at the rate of a drip every second or two.