Burnt veiled

[rafaelmaio]

I think my veiled chameleon burned himself probably from his hearing bulb a few months ago. I've been applying neosporine every other day. It's probable been 2-3 months already and the mark is still there and he's veiled apparently stop growing. I have another chameleon in a different cage, they were both hatch in the same day, and the other one has a much can bigger veiled then this one. What should I do?

 

[brownie64]

Not much you can do, but it should be healed if it was done over two to three months ago. If it is still raw I would take him to a reptile vet to make sure it's not infected. The burnt part will eventually fall of more than likely, but the damage is already done. I'm afraid it will never look like the other chameleon's.

 

[KLowery88]

Seems like these burns on Veileds are pretty common. I would look at lowering his basking branch or raising the heat bulb. Maybe both. You have to remember the casque is many inches closer to the bulb, so if you're measuring the heat at the branch, it's going to be much warmer where their casque is. You should be able to hold your hand about level where the top of the casque ends, and the heat should be comfortably warm. If it hurts you, it'll definitely hurt them.

 

[rafaelmaio]

Seems like these burns on Veileds are pretty common. I would look at lowering his basking branch or raising the heat bulb. Maybe both. You have to remember the casque is many inches closer to the bulb, so if you're measuring the heat at the branch, it's going to be much warmer where their casque is. You should be able to hold your hand about level where the top of the casque ends, and the heat should be comfortably warm. If it hurts you, it'll definitely hurt them.

Thanks a lot. Now, do you know anywhere where I could purchase silvadene cream 1%??

 

[Carlton]

Seems like these burns on Veileds are pretty common. I would look at lowering his basking branch or raising the heat bulb. Maybe both. You have to remember the casque is many inches closer to the bulb, so if you're measuring the heat at the branch, it's going to be much warmer where their casque is. You should be able to hold your hand about level where the top of the casque ends, and the heat should be comfortably warm. If it hurts you, it'll definitely hurt them.

Actually, if the basking spot feels warm to YOU the temp must be over 99 F. That's hot enough to burn a cham if it sits there too long. YOUR body temp is 98.6 F. If the basking spot feels warm to your hand its hotter than that. I think that is one reason so many veileds get burned. Their casque is not only closer to the heat source than the rest of their body, it has relatively more surface area to absorb heat faster...and we all know that chams don't have many heat sensors in their skin. They are basking to bring their internal organs to "operating temp", and due to the denser tissue mass this takes longer. By the time they may feel warmed up, their extremities can be burned. Also, because we provide heat in a focused beam of light it tends to be hotter than if we could provide the general warmth of the sun.

 

[KLowery88]

Actually, if the basking spot feels warm to YOU the temp must be over 99 F. That's hot enough to burn a cham if it sits there too long. YOUR body temp is 98.6 F. If the basking spot feels warm to your hand its hotter than that. I think that is one reason so many veileds get burned. Their casque is not only closer to the heat source than the rest of their body, it has relatively more surface area to absorb heat faster...and we all know that chams don't have many heat sensors in their skin. They are basking to bring their internal organs to "operating temp", and due to the denser tissue mass this takes longer. By the time they may feel warmed up, their extremities can be burned. Also, because we provide heat in a focused beam of light it tends to be hotter than if we could provide the general warmth of the sun.

That's a good point, but the skin of our extremities is not as warm as our core body temperature. I just took a temp gun reading of the back of my hand and it read 91 F. That's in a room with an ambient temperature of about 78 F right now, so not a cool room either. Regardless, exact temperature readings are always going to be better when dealing with setting up proper basking spots for reptiles.

 

[jebronlames]

Not to commandeer the thread, but I've been following along and picking up some good info...do I have to worry about my Jackson crawling around on the ceiling? 75W heat bulb sitting on top of the screen. He seems to shy away and turn around when he gets to the heat bulb and stay under the UVB bulb. Should I try to prevent him from getting up there, or do you think he has enough sense to keep away from it?

 

[carol5208]

They will usually move when they make contact with the heat source or the hot screen. It is when they bask and cannot feel the heat directly on their skin that they get burnt. Like us getting as sun burn or touching a hot stove. You know when you've touched the hot stove, but sometimes don't realize you are a getting a sun burn.