Bleeding at mouth: Jackson Chameleon

[M3FSQ]

Hello,

Please help! Info on my jackson chameleon "Pablo" below.

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
  
  Species: Jackson Chameleon
  Sex: I think male because of the horns?
  Age: unknown. I found him in the wild (they are an invasive species in Hawaii and are not supposed to be wild)
  Caring for him for 17 months
  
  
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
  
  I rarely touch chameleon with my own hands
  
  
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
  
  Diet: Crickets, Mealworms, cockroaches, earthworms. I purchase the crickets and mealworms. The cockroaches and earthworms and sometimes other bugs are found in my yard
  Amount: If I manually feed him, he eats around 10 mealworms each time. He also eats live insects that live in his cage as he finds them.
  Schedule: A certain amount live in cage with him, and some are fed to him daily, however, sometimes not as often
  Gut loading: A place fresh fruit & vegetable scraps in feeder container. Sometimes also use Flukers Orange Cubes
  
  
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
  
  No supplements other than Flukers ORange Cubes on occasion
  
  
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
  
  He has a water dripper.
  I also lightly hand mist him with my garden hose. He rotates his head upward and drinks directly from the misting
  
  
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
  
  Black and sometimes some white
  
  
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
  
  Screen. 18" x 18" x 36"
  
  
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
  
  He it outdoors. Placed under a tree with semi-shade. There is also some shade I built around the cafe
  
  
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
  
  Hawaii temperatures, so mostly mid 70's-90 degrees Fahrenheit
  
  
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
  
  Hawaii humidity
  
  
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
  
  Yes, a potted palm tree is in cage
  
  
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
  
  on the ground outside the house in the yard below a pair of medium sized trees
  
  
• Location - Where are you geographically located?
  
  Hawaii

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

My jackson chameleon is bleeding from the front of his mouth. Today, I saw the wound fresh for the first time and saw some blood on a leaf in the cage.

I've also noticed that his "knuckles" appear to be slightly worn and almost bleeding.

His spikes on his back appear to have dulled a bit and don't look as sharp.

His horns on his head are dulled

He is missing some "fingernails"

I live between two different states and have my brother take care of my jackson when I am out of town. I was out of town for a few months when I first returned to see his health turn. I suspected it was from less care from my brother as I do not think he was getting as much water or food. The jackson recovered and started to look better. After my latest trip, I returned to find him looking bad again. This time he is not recovering as well while I am here in Hawaii. The first time he recovered a bit I was applying bacitracin or Neosporin to the wound with a q-tip (not sure if that is safe or not).

I don't believe the wound is from crickets chewing on him as the cut has continued during periods when he was not being fed any crickets.

Please help! I am very worried and concerned about him.

YESTERDAY

YESTERDAY: DULLED HORNS

YESTERDAY: DULLED SPINE ON BACK

CAN BARELY SEE SCUFFING ON KNUCKLE

TODAY

TODAY

TODAY

 

[Andee]

It looks like he might have taken a pretty bad fall... any reason why?

He also has signs of an eye infection in his left eye

 

[jajeanpierre]

Did all this happen after you got him?

He looks like a wild caught. His two horns above his eyes look to have fractures at the tip. I bet the horn damage was done around capture and only recently broke off.

The dorsal crest injuries seem to be healed.

As @Andee mentioned, something is amiss with his left eye.

His mouth is a bit of a mess. It looks like a really bad rub. These usually happen when an animal is trying to escape their enclosure and they end up pacing and rubbing their faces on the screen. I've dealt with some pretty bad face rubs with wild caughts and they can heal up but sometimes the bone is involved. I don't like the way his bottom lip curls down.

I think a trip to a really good reptile vet is in order.

 

[M3FSQ]

It looks like he might have taken a pretty bad fall... any reason why?

He also has signs of an eye infection in his left eye

He does fall occasionally....but no reason other than he's kinda clumsy and the love palm fronds aren't extremely rigid to climb on. There are normal branches that are firm that he spends most of his time on.

I'm not sure about the eye. I didn't notice anything.

 

[M3FSQ]

Did all this happen after you got him?

He looks like a wild caught. His two horns above his eyes look to have fractures at the tip. I bet the horn damage was done around capture and only recently broke off.

The dorsal crest injuries seem to be healed.

As @Andee mentioned, something is amiss with his left eye.

His mouth is a bit of a mess. It looks like a really bad rub. These usually happen when an animal is trying to escape their enclosure and they end up pacing and rubbing their faces on the screen. I've dealt with some pretty bad face rubs with wild caughts and they can heal up but sometimes the bone is involved. I don't like the way his bottom lip curls down.

I think a trip to a really good reptile vet is in order.

Yes, this all happened after I found him in March of 2016. He was fine with no issues until January 2017. Here is a picture of him from when I first found him. You will see that his horns and spikes on his back are in much better shape

The screen of his enclosure is not the softest so I'm kinda thinking you're right about him rubbing his face against it to cause the abrasion.

But the dulling of the spines on his back as well as his horn makes me wonder?

 

[kinyonga]

That's quite a difference. If he's been eating a lot of captive bred insects he might be deficient in certain minerals,/vitamins if they were not gutloaded and dusted.

 

[jajeanpierre]

He looks really good when you captured him. He must be rubbing himself on his cage. Something is bothering him about his cage. Damage to the horns can take a long time to show up. The right horn over his eye looks like it might have some damage but the big horn on his nose looks really good. The scales on his dorsal crest (his back) look perfect. I would guess this happened since he has been captured since you captured him yourself so know he wasn't put in an overcrowded, barren cage the way most imports are.

My guess is that for some reason he is restless and trying to escape causing the rubs. You need to change his cage or he will keep destroying his face. He might be restless because the cage gets too much direct sunlight at some part of the day and he is dropping to the bottom and trying to escape. Fix his cage and make sure he has a lot of dense cover. You might want to increase its size. Assume something is making him unhappy and restless.

It could even be sexual maturity/breeding season. Maybe another wild male is coming around and challenging him and they are fighting through the screen. His horns look as if they might have been caught in the screen. They can do a lot of damage to their horns fighting. I found that out the hard way when I mixed up two mature males and accidentally put one that was outside in the sun back in the other's cage and didn't realize for a few hours.


To give you an idea of how horn damage can hide, I've included three pictures of the same male. He's the male in my avatar. Erik was imported a year ago. I didn't see any horn damage at the time but as the horns grew, the damage became apparent. First picture if a year ago, last two taken in the past month.

 

[M3FSQ]

That's quite a difference. If he's been eating a lot of captive bred insects he might be deficient in certain minerals,/vitamins if they were not gutloaded and dusted.

He eats a mix of captive bred as well as wild caught insects. I haven't dusted the insects but I have fed them a bunch of fresh fruit and veggie scraps, as well as some Flukers orange cubes.

 

[M3FSQ]

He looks really good when you captured him. He must be rubbing himself on his cage. Something is bothering him about his cage. Damage to the horns can take a long time to show up. The right horn over his eye looks like it might have some damage but the big horn on his nose looks really good. The scales on his dorsal crest (his back) look perfect. I would guess this happened since he has been captured since you captured him yourself so know he wasn't put in an overcrowded, barren cage the way most imports are.

My guess is that for some reason he is restless and trying to escape causing the rubs. You need to change his cage or he will keep destroying his face. He might be restless because the cage gets too much direct sunlight at some part of the day and he is dropping to the bottom and trying to escape. Fix his cage and make sure he has a lot of dense cover. You might want to increase its size. Assume something is making him unhappy and restless.

It could even be sexual maturity/breeding season. Maybe another wild male is coming around and challenging him and they are fighting through the screen. His horns look as if they might have been caught in the screen. They can do a lot of damage to their horns fighting. I found that out the hard way when I mixed up two mature males and accidentally put one that was outside in the sun back in the other's cage and didn't realize for a few hours.


To give you an idea of how horn damage can hide, I've included three pictures of the same male. He's the male in my avatar. Erik was imported a year ago. I didn't see any horn damage at the time but as the horns grew, the damage became apparent. First picture if a year ago, last two taken in the past month.

I had a feeling the area where I have the cage placed is too hot, but kept it there as other people have told me he needs a lot of sun. I will move it to a much cooler and shaded location with only some sun.

I don't think there are any other chameleons in the area, but there are a bunch of other wild small lizards that climb around the outside of the cage as they are interested in the insects that are inside

 

[kinyonga]

Maybe he's also missing nutrients in addition to rubbing?

 

[jajeanpierre]

I had a feeling the area where I have the cage placed is too hot, but kept it there as other people have told me he needs a lot of sun. I will move it to a much cooler and shaded location with only some sun.

I don't think there are any other chameleons in the area, but there are a bunch of other wild small lizards that climb around the outside of the cage as they are interested in the insects that are inside

You know, I was going to ask if the cage might be getting too much sun and was too hot. They will drop down to the bottom and try to escape if they get too hot. They only need dappled light.