Infected casque

[lizard120371]

Karma has got an infected casque. Have been to my local vets who prescribed 0.1ml of Baytril injected into a locust for 5 days. I have so far successfully fed him 2. I have attached two pictures. Feel guilty I didn't notice earlier but it just looked a bit dry at the top. I didn't realise anything was wrong until two little beads of orange fluid appeared. My question is should I try and gently remove the build up of shed on the top of his casque after a thorough misting or shower or leave it well alone? Feel guilty that he is poorly and will do anything it takes including getting my fingers bitten off to make him better.

 

[Trace]

At some point that Veiled burned his casque and that white area is going to slough (fall) off. This is a fairly common occurrence with this species as the casque is so much closer to the basking light then the rest of their bodies so it tends to get burned quicker. The top part of the healthy casque should be healing up underneath that dead white area. Keep up with the Baytril dosing (I think that is you?) just to stave off any systemic infection he may have. You can apply regular Polysporin to the casque if you desire.

Here are some threads (with some good information) showing Veileds with the burned casque. Warning some of the pictures may be disturbing to some of our more sensitive viewers:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/urgent-help-needed-54322/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/male-veiled-chameleon-question-20329/

Good luck!
Trace

 

[lizard120371]

Thanks for the advice. Will keep injecting those locusts! Could he of got the burn from his UVB bulb as I have a wire cover over the heat lamp. Just felt the uvb and it gets a lot hotter than I thought it did. Will have to come up with a plan to put a cover over this too I think. Feel so bad he got burned

 

[Trace]

Don’t get down on yourself; it happens to the best of us sometimes.

I’m not sure if you read some of the links I provided but basically the pain receptors in chameleons are a little further down in the skin so they don’t know they are getting burned until it’s too late. Your Veiled looks like has a fairly tall casque so the chances of it happening were greater. Otherwise he looks very healthy so keep up the good work. Just watch those temperatures.

Baytril can be hard on the kidneys so make sure he gets plenty of water while he is on that medication.

Don’t be shy about asking questions. Good luck!

 

[lizard120371]

The dripper is dripping, the fogger is fogging and my hand is aching from giving him a good misting. Hubby and me are coming up with a plan to stop his casque from rubbing on the uvb bulb. He does that a lot, am sure that must be how he burned himself. Thanks again.

 

[lizard120371]

An update on Karma. He is tolerating the Baytril well, am keeping on top of the hydration. His casque is not oozing any more, I am just waiting to see how much of it he looses. Such a shame he had quite an impressive one. I am going to move his vines down as this must not happen again. I have been stressing out all day looking for a taller viv. I have even been looking at converting a wardrobe but can't find anything I can afford. Is a 3ft viv tall enough? Can I stop stressing?

 

[camimom]

is the uvb inside his cage?

 

[lizard120371]

Yep, and the ceramic bulb although there is a guard around that. I have a wooden viv with glass sliding doors at the front, not sure how I could bring the bulbs outside. Do you think he burned his casque on the uvb, it gets a lot hotter than I thought it did. I might be able to improvise some sort of guard around that but thought moving the vines down would be easier.

 

[Miss Lily]

My old male came with a viv like yours - I asked my brother in law to cut a section out of the top and I then covered the hole with wire mesh so the lighting could sit outside on top.

 

[camimom]

Is the top of the cage screen or glass?

if its screen, remove the lights form inside and put it on top.

if glass, try to figure out a way to replace it with screen.

 

[justjumpit621]

When I had a wood home made cage I cut out a section in the top and staples screen. Does he have enough ventilation in the cage? Is there any screen on the sides for ventilation? You don't want the bulbs in the cage for this reason, as well as they can get wet you could have an electrical problem.

 

[lizard120371]

Thanks guys, I have a completely wooden viv with glass sliding doors at the front. Maybe I could make a box for the top containing the lights? Will give this some thought.

 

[camimom]

so the top part is glass too?

how does your cham get fresh air?

 

[lizard120371]

No it's wood, there are ventilation holes in the back of the viv.

 

[camimom]

I would remove that top part then, and staple mesh on.

 

[lizard120371]

Will give this a try, how will this effect humidity though? Have really struggled with humidity. Have a fogger now but still an ongoing battle despite the mistings.

 

[camimom]

veileds dont need high humidity all the time.

I keep my two in an all screencage, once is 2x2x4 and a 2x2x3 and they are doing just fine.

 

[lizard120371]

What are your humidity levels?

 

[camimom]

when not recently misted, about 45%.

 

[lizard120371]

Maybe I have been stressing too much about humidity! Got my tape measure out much to Karmas' disgust, just woke him up! Have the beginnings of a plan, involving screen top and hood for lighting. Cheaper than a new viv but will take a few days to sort and a bit of head scratching. Thanks for the advice. x