Help! Black mark on upper lip of panther
- Thread starter djdanny402
- Start date
djdanny402
Member
- Your Chameleon - panther chameleon, male, and about 6 months.
- Handling - Not often, once a week if that. I usually leave him be.
- Feeding - depends on what I have but usually 10-15 medium sized crickets a day ( cup and free range). Horn worms as a treat, and dubia roaches when I had them.
- He is up fed as I'm not home during the day, so by 7 pm the food is usually gone. I gut load with cricket crack, carrots , and other veggies.
- Supplements - I use the rephasy all in one once every 2 weeks ( don't want to over do it)
- Watering - hand spray twice a day for about 5/10 minutes. Otherwise I have a fogger running all day with the lighting to control humidity.
- The droplets usually collect up on the top and drip down to the plants. Yes I see him drink occasionally when I mist
- Fecal Description - his poop appears normal, black with white, normal size ,
- His eating habits are all normal so no issue here I belive
- No parisite testing.
- History - N/a has never been an issue.
Cage Info:
- Cage Type -
Exo terra medium (x-tall) screen / mesh terrarium
60x45x90 cm
24"x18"x36" - Lighting -
Zoo med repti sun
T5 HO high output terrarium hood
14" size
( holds one 15 watt 12" repti sun t5 ho lamp)
Fluckers deluxe clamp lamp
5.5 inch
- Temperature - 85 - 90 up top, down low drops to about 75-78. Measured with a digital device, has both temp and humidity.
- Humidity - 60-80% as of late, summer season is in now.
- I use a fogger to maintain. Same temp device measures the humidity
- Plants - 3 live ficas tree plants
- Placement - it's located in my living room, just me and my wife come in and out occasionally, one ceiling fan.
- Location- Long Island , New York
jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
That looks like a rub. It looks like he has rubbed his face on something. That often happens when they are trying to escape a cage and keep rubbing their face on the screen. Babies can also get a little rub as their skin is quite delicate compared to an adult.
The damage to the face might have been there a long time and a recent shed exposed it. It might or might not go away. I have wild caughts with black face rubs that never went away even years after the initial injury. Sometimes they heal up with a greyish colored scar tissue. Sometimes that scar tissue even grows scales but not always. Think of it as a scar.
I've never had a minor face rub like that cause a problem. The problems I've had are when the rub goes down to the bone and even those have not been life threatening (yet).
An earlier poster suggested the black meant necrotic (dead or dying) tissue. I've not found that to be the case. Black marks happen just from restraining an animal. It's just how their skin responds to trauma. If the skin stays flat, you should be fine. If you are worried it is a problem, look for the skin around the lips to not be flat as debris from either not shedding properly or an infection build up. If that happens, just gently try to wipe any debris away with a cotton swab. Chameleons have a tremendous ability to heal themselves without intervention as long as you give them what they need. If they are compromised--too hot, too cold, not humid enough, too small/bare a cage, too much handling, poor quality food and light, etc.--they are stressed. Stressed animals, either from chronic low-grade stress or acute stress, respond with a weak immune system. That's when they get sick. Take the stress away and they are very healthy. When seeing poor health in your chameleon, look first to your husbandry.
The damage to the face might have been there a long time and a recent shed exposed it. It might or might not go away. I have wild caughts with black face rubs that never went away even years after the initial injury. Sometimes they heal up with a greyish colored scar tissue. Sometimes that scar tissue even grows scales but not always. Think of it as a scar.
I've never had a minor face rub like that cause a problem. The problems I've had are when the rub goes down to the bone and even those have not been life threatening (yet).
An earlier poster suggested the black meant necrotic (dead or dying) tissue. I've not found that to be the case. Black marks happen just from restraining an animal. It's just how their skin responds to trauma. If the skin stays flat, you should be fine. If you are worried it is a problem, look for the skin around the lips to not be flat as debris from either not shedding properly or an infection build up. If that happens, just gently try to wipe any debris away with a cotton swab. Chameleons have a tremendous ability to heal themselves without intervention as long as you give them what they need. If they are compromised--too hot, too cold, not humid enough, too small/bare a cage, too much handling, poor quality food and light, etc.--they are stressed. Stressed animals, either from chronic low-grade stress or acute stress, respond with a weak immune system. That's when they get sick. Take the stress away and they are very healthy. When seeing poor health in your chameleon, look first to your husbandry.
jamest0o0
Chameleon Enthusiast
Thanks @jajeanpierre for clarifying, I guess I was comparing it to humans and other animals. I've yet to experience any major health issues with chameleons luckily. Black tends to be necrosis in many creatures so I figured I'd mention that it could be something to worry about.
jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
You can gently hold a chameleon, especially a baby, and end up with big black marks on them that take awhile to fade.
b.savvy
Member
When I first got one of my Nosy Be girls (~6 months old) she had a little bit of black on her lip (see picture). I pointed it out to the breeder and they didn't think much of it. I took her in to a pet shop where they breed panthers and they suggested it was was cut and that I should rub a small drop (1/4 pea size) of gel Vetricyn on the area once/twice a day for a week. They said if that didn't work after a week I should take her over to the exotic animal vet in the area. I used the Vetricyn for ~4 days and the black went away. I then left on a work trip for 2 weeks while my roommates took care of the chams. When I got back the black was back and her lips were a little bit separated and looking worse so I took her to the vet. They swabbed out her mouth with a q-tip and there was a bunch of gross infection stuff in there. They gave me 30 days worth of antibiotic shots to give her (10 doses so once every 3 days) and they did a culture. Turns out it was a bacterial infection of 3 different types of bacteria causing mouth rot. She's all better now, and I think if I had been home still using the Vetriycn I wouldn't have needed to go to the vet (and I would have avoided the $330 bill) but because of the 2 weeks with less health monitoring she got worse.
That's just my experience with a little black on the lip. I can't say if that is your panthers problem or not but I can share my experience. Definitely monitor him to see if it gets worse and if his lips start separating/opening slightly it's probably an infection and you should take him to a vet (if you have one in your area that has dealt with chameleons.
That's just my experience with a little black on the lip. I can't say if that is your panthers problem or not but I can share my experience. Definitely monitor him to see if it gets worse and if his lips start separating/opening slightly it's probably an infection and you should take him to a vet (if you have one in your area that has dealt with chameleons.
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jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
The mark on your chameleon is not in a place they would get a face rub.
Sometimes they get a little injury to their mouth from the spines on the legs of (dirty) crickets and that can start an infection. A mark in he area your panther was marked is something that definitely needs to be closely monitored. Sometimes just cleaning debris out from the gum line and the lip area can prevent an infection starting or could end one that is not very bad. Just my opnion and I am not a vet.
