Coloring or some sort of issue?

[KiwitheCham19]

Hello!

I got my pied chameleon from petco in August. He was a baby and since has grown a lot! Ive noticed as he grows his coloring has changed, which I know is normal. But now it’s hard to tell what’s a natural change or what is actually a skin issue. He is a stubborn man and always finds a way to get to his heat bulb (it’s outside of the cage but he screen climbs to get closer to it) and I’m afraid he may be burning himself. Hope the photos are clear enough, I circled the unusual spotting in one of them. You can see on his body there are dark patches, but on his feet he either has a black dot or white spots.

Some info:
- 2x2x4ft screen enclosure
- basking temp 77-83
- nighttime temp is ~68 (inside ambient temp)
- food: 50/50 crickets/Dubai with calcium supplement. Occasionally a super worm. He loves to munch on the pothos in his cage.
- humidity ~50% during the day 80+ at night
- handling about 3 times a week, he usually runs to my arm and He knows when he’s out he gets to be “free” in my plant room.
- poop looks normal and he goes about 1x day

 

[Fchamel]

@Beman @MissSkittles

 

[ElliotG]

Those seem to be normal coloration to me. My veiled boys have them as well. As for the black spot, some pieds will have black spotting in certain areas. You’re boy is very beautiful though!

Here’s my boy, you can see he’s got almost the same markings, just different area of his body.

 

[Beman]

could be normal coloring... Pieds are harder to tell. Good rule of thumb if it appears over night then there is something wrong and it is not normal. Pieds color changes are more gradual. Also the markings shown above in Elliots pic would show on both sides of the cham. So if yours is showing weird markings on one side only then there could be an issue. Bruising and or burn.

Per temps... What bulb type are you using for basking? What is the total distance from the bottom of the bulb to the cham? Post pics of the top of the cage so we can see more.

 

[KiwitheCham19]

Those seem to be normal coloration to me. My veiled boys have them as well. As for the black spot, some pieds will have black spotting in certain areas. You’re boy is very beautiful though!

View attachment 316460
Here’s my boy, you can see he’s got almost the same markings, just different area of his body.

Thank you! They are both very handsome chams. I guess I’m just paranoid since I keep finding him too close to his light. I’m glad the coloring seems normal