Discoloration…. Burn? Bruise?

[TruffleMonster]

Noticed what seems to be a slight discoloration on my little guy’s side. It’s not the first spot I’d expect to see a burn and it doesn’t look like other burn picture I’ve seen… but possibly I just caught it before it got too bad. I posted two pictures, when he changed his colors this spot stayed the same, it’s a bit reddish.

I thought about a bruise and I think it’s mostly unlikely… He’s had almost no handling, but he did make a little escape, and also had thermometer fall near him the other day when we were making adjustments that I was worried might have got him - but as he didn’t get upset about it, I don’t think it did.

I’m already planning on re-checking his temps and adjusting heat tomorrow (aiming for low 80’s, this guy is about 3 1/2 months - but it may have gotten between 85 and 90). Curious if anyone has any other theories I should be mindful about - or just general advice on what to do next.

 

[MissSkittles]

Looks a bit like an abrasion. Is there anything sharp is that he could have rubbed against? Often fake plants have metal wiring and you need to make sure that none is sticking out. My only other thought would be a bite. Do you feed crickets? If so, leave a small fresh piece of carrot or greens in the enclosure so they have something other than your chameleon to eat.

 

[Chameleoking]

I'd have to agree with Doc Skittles. Looks like some kind of scraping. Do you think when the thermometer fell it hit him?

 

[TruffleMonster]

I don’t think the thermometer hit him. It fell close-ish but he was unphased. It was just there for a bit to test the spot.

He has all live plants and real sticks (oak) in his enclosure. We generally tried to remove any pokey bits before we put them all in there, but I’ll try to feel around tomorrow for any bits he might have rubbed up against.

Good note on the crickets too, thanks. He dominantly gets other feeders, but we did throw a few in there recently for him to enjoy hunting down. I’ll definitely make sure we always leave some food in there when we do this in the future.

 

[TruffleMonster]

And since I didn’t say it outright in my first reply, thanks @MissSkittles and @Chameleoking <3

 

[Lindasjackson]

Hi and welcome! Your little guy is beautiful! I’m willing to bet he got scratched on those fake plants you have in there. They will have little bits of excess plastic or even wires sticking out. I know you say they are real plants but I can clearly see they’re not unless you switched them out for live plants after this picture was taken. Live plants have added benefits for chams because they raise humidity besides being a great place to hide and helping chams feel safe.

 

[TruffleMonster]

Hi and welcome! Your little guy is beautiful! I’m willing to bet he got scratched on those fake plants you have in there. They will have little bits of excess plastic or even wires sticking out. I know you say they are real plants but I can clearly see they’re not unless you switched them out for live plants after this picture was taken. Live plants have added benefits for chams because they raise humidity besides being a great place to hide and helping chams feel safe.

Haha - in his enclosure they’re all real for the exact reasons you mentioned, I swear This picture was taken in a fake tree we have for him to free range a little (so it’s easy to move close to his cage and let him decide to come out), but this was his first time in that tree and I’m pretty sure the abrasion is from before he’d been in that.

 

[TruffleMonster]

Hi and welcome! Your little guy is beautiful! I’m willing to bet he got scratched on those fake plants you have in there. They will have little bits of excess plastic or even wires sticking out. I know you say they are real plants but I can clearly see they’re not unless you switched them out for live plants after this picture was taken. Live plants have added benefits for chams because they raise humidity besides being a great place to hide and helping chams feel safe.

His actual enclosure so you know what I’m talking about I’m betting the zip ties we used for mounting stuff might also be a little scratchy so I’ll do a check on those and try to rotate them out of the way as best of possible.

 

[Lindasjackson]

Oh that’s a nice enclosure. Can he get lost in it? Beautiful plants! I hope he heals up soon.

 

[TruffleMonster]

Oh that’s a nice enclosure. Can he get lost in it? Beautiful plants! I hope he heals up soon.

Thank you for the kind words and the advice! We lose him in there all the time, he’s definitely found some good hidey spots.

I hope it heals up quick too, poor little guy. We’ve eliminated a handful of scratchey things so hopefully we can avoid more issues. We tested his temps today and they seem pretty solid so I’m confident you guys were all spot on with the abrasion theory. I’ll watch to make sure it’s healing.