yes the palms.
because i wasnt able to handle him untill recently, what i thought was splitting was infact retained sheds on his palms/hands/feet. this was quite thick and splitting and brown which is why when i saw them i was really shocked and thought that they were split all the way through his hands, but it was the retained sheds that were split and dirty which looked like blood clumps.
i'm sure that it wasnt just 1 layer of retained shed but a few because it was quite thick on each foot, because of how wild he was when i got him from the pet shop, they must have never inspected his feet (needless to say i'll never buy from them again).
my other chameleon who died and i bought this one to replace him, i would help him to remove the thicker parts of the shed off his hands and feet, something i couldnt do on the new cham due to how wild he was, but i wouldnt have thought it would be so thick in a month, i thought he would be in good health but guess i was wrong.
OK. I had inklings going this direction. We can't know for sure without an actual vet inspection, but this is what usually happens.
Athlete's Foot. A fungus.
It happens when there is too much moisture in the cage, possibly encouraged by misting, and poor ventilation,
AND where the chameleon's perch is of a material that does not wick away moisture. This could be any kind of plastic or rubber or painted wood. What they need as a perch is plain bamboo, or a branch, or unfinished dowel. Something that will pull moisture away from the palms of their feet at night. Otherwise, you will get a fungal lesion. And eventually an infection.
Caught in time, it can be remedied using a human anti-fungal, such as tinactin, and by going to a real wood perch, such as a tree branch or stick.
On a related note, even if your chameleon is mean, there are times when you need to perform a hand's-on inspection and intervention. Grab it securely behind the head, with the rest of your fingers restraining it around the torso. It won't like this, but it does not matter. And check it out. In this case, removing that unshed build-up, and then swabbing with an antibiotic and antifungal. And a new perch. The animal can handle it.
