Help!

[SlurpeeBuddha]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male veiled about 6 months old. I have had him for about 3 of those months
Handling - about once or twice a week
Feeding - crickets and super worms. I feed him in the morning. I gut load with green feeder cubes (sorry, forgot the name but says gutload on the label)
Supplements - Calcium without D3 5 days a week and reptivite vitamins about 3 times a month
Watering - I had a drip system in his cage and I also spray him twice a day. I mist till i see droplets falling off leaves. Yes, i see him drink it.
Fecal Description - white urate with stool. typical brown. has not been tested for parasites
History - got him from the pet store for christmas, been trying my best to do everything for him

Cage Info:
Cage Type - all screen cage. 18"x18"x24" I think
Lighting - Daytime UVB buld and a day time heat buld. On at about 7am and off at about 7pm
Temperature - basking is right around 83-85. bottom is room temp (about 70ish) I have a thermometer on his cage where he hangs out 90% of the time
Humidity - not sure. need to get a humidity monitor
Plants - Live and fake (no silk plants) I have a pathos, sword plant, and dracena that are live.
Placement - Located in kitchen. no fans or vents very close. I am the only one living there so no trafic except when im home (mainly to sleep.) There is about 5 feet from the top of his cage to the ceiling
Location - I live in bountiful, UT

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

Please help! I am not sure what this white spot on his stomach is. I thought it might be him shedding, but he just shed a couple weeks ago. Plus the spot has been there for about a week and a half now. It hasnt gotten any bigger either. The spot is there when he is darker in color but when he lightens up you cant really see it at all. His feeding has also dropped off quite a bit. He went from eating about 6-8 crickets per day to only eating 1 or 2 per day. I am not quite sure what is going on and I would greatly appreciate any help on the matter! Above is some more info about him/enclosure.

 

[Deathadder791]

Hi there, ive had it with my panther chameleon where he would go on hunger strikes but eventually always takes the food when he is really hungry. How quickly did the spot appear? was it over a few days or overnight? How does he respond if you touch the whitish area? Was it there before he shed, perhaps a bad shed? Are the lights outside of the cage? Also what i would try is to wet finger and lightly wipe it over the area, maybe its powder of some sort? Ive had it before where my little guy climbed into his feeding tray and tipped it over resulting in him covered with fine layer of calcium powder.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

Please help! I am not sure what this white spot on his stomach is. I thought it might be him shedding, but he just shed a couple weeks ago. Plus the spot has been there for about a week and a half now. It hasnt gotten any bigger either. The spot is there when he is darker in color but when he lightens up you cant really see it at all. His feeding has also dropped off quite a bit. He went from eating about 6-8 crickets per day to only eating 1 or 2 per day. I am not quite sure what is going on and I would greatly appreciate any help on the matter! Above is some more info about him/enclosure.

It looks like shed to me. Raising the humidity might help, especially since you are in a pretty dry climate.

Have you checked your lights with a light meter? My male had that same yucky brownish-green color and poor appetite. I put him under Arcadia lights and he immediately became active and ate like a little pig. His color improved, too. I tested my ZooMed tube lights and found, even though they were a couple of months old, they weren't producing very much light. I have an Arcadia quad system for them now and there has been a huge difference, especially in my male veiled.

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

It looks like a burn. I thought it may be the precursor to a shed but if has been there for a week and a half that is unlikely.

He looks really under weight. I would step up the amount of food you are offering and trash the cubes, those are not a good gutload. I recommend cricket crack or bug burger. If it was me, I would search the forums here for a recipe for a homemade gutload.

 

[SlurpeeBuddha]

I thought it might be a burn too. I lowered his basking branches so he isnt too close to his light, but he climbs up on top of his cage to bask sometimes. Deathadder, he got the spot a couple weeks ago and it came on pretty suddenly, maybe over a day or 2 but hasn't gotten any bigger since then. It was not there before he shed, came a couple days after he completely shed. I havent tried touching it yet but he was VERY moody for a couple days. Extremely active (roaming around his cage like a mad man) and very aggressive, but he has mellowed out now. I will try all of these things. Thanks so much!

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

Excessive roaming and movement may be a sign that he does not like the conditions. I would also move the light off the top and suspend it maybe 5 inches over the cage. That way if he does climb on the top, there is no chance he can get burned.

 

[SlurpeeBuddha]

Excessive roaming and movement may be a sign that he does not like the conditions. I would also move the light off the top and suspend it maybe 5 inches over the cage. That way if he does climb on the top, there is no chance he can get burned.

What are some things I could do to help him like it more? Or would it just be to experiment until I find something that works?

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

I have found temperature and lack of hiding spaces are the two most important factors.

 

[SlurpeeBuddha]

I have found temperature and lack of hiding spaces are the two most important factors.

Mmmmm.. good idea. I'll have to rearrange his cage and see what I can come up with. I have noticed that when I take him out of his cage (I have a live ficus that I put him on sometimes) he brightens up quite a bit.

 

[leedragon]

if you are only feeind crikets then maybe he got tired of them, it happens, whjat that spot in the belly is it look like shed, but if he can get near the heat lamp, to a place where is really hot or if the lamp is resting agaist the top then yes he could have born himself and you should move the lamp farther away from the top and see a vet so they can give you come medivin for his skin

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

Yeah, my Panther hates his cage and only wants to be in freerange.

 

[SlurpeeBuddha]

Update!

My cham is doing better!! I switched up his lighting situation so he can't get as close anymore and made sure his basking spot stays at about 80 degrees. The burn looks like its healing nicely and he started to shed again (he has shed about 3 times since I got him in December.) Plus he is eating more! Thank you again for all your help!

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

Great News!