My Chameleon is ashy!

[ridgebax1]

Hi everyone, I have been away from the forums for quite sometime due to the demands of life, work and grad school. Of late CJ has been trying to shed for a couple weeks without much luck. I have been having a hard time keeping the humidity up in his cage since the cold weather set in. I have put in a new leafy hibiscus and I have an automated mister that goes off every 2 hours and runs between 2 and 5 minutes during the day. I just bought a warm heated humidifier to run beside his cage which is a dragonstrand with the 3 solid sides. The humidifier is on the screen side. I do not have the capability to put him in a shower with water bouncing of the walls as I do not have that type of shower. I have hesitated to submerge him in a warm bath or anything like that (I have done that for my bearded dragon). I don't know how to help him. Could I wrap him in a moist towel and hold him in it for about 20-30 minutes? I don't want to stress him but I know that he is grumpier than normal and he does a lot of branch rubbing so it must be itchy. Any suggestions??

 

[MelissaB]

I don't think wrapping him in a towel would be the best idea. I think that would be a prolonged stressful experience. I would try to find a way to make something to replicate an extended misting/shower. Do you have a drainage system? Maybe you can do an extended misting instead.

 

[Decadancin]

Perhaps just running a really hot shower and letting the room get filled with steam? Let CJ hang out in there for a while. Also some extra extended misting.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Hi everyone, I have been away from the forums for quite sometime due to the demands of life, work and grad school. Of late CJ has been trying to shed for a couple weeks without much luck. I have been having a hard time keeping the humidity up in his cage since the cold weather set in. I have put in a new leafy hibiscus and I have an automated mister that goes off every 2 hours and runs between 2 and 5 minutes during the day. I just bought a warm heated humidifier to run beside his cage which is a dragonstrand with the 3 solid sides. The humidifier is on the screen side. I do not have the capability to put him in a shower with water bouncing of the walls as I do not have that type of shower. I have hesitated to submerge him in a warm bath or anything like that (I have done that for my bearded dragon). I don't know how to help him. Could I wrap him in a moist towel and hold him in it for about 20-30 minutes? I don't want to stress him but I know that he is grumpier than normal and he does a lot of branch rubbing so it must be itchy. Any suggestions??

What species of chameleon? Is he a wild caught?

It sounds as if you are doing all you can in the humidity department, so you need to look elsewhere. There are many reasons besides low humidity that stop an animal from shedding properly. Nutrition can be a factor--if his protein levels are too low, he simply won't have enough protein to make new skin. A heavy parasite load can cause depleted protein levels.

I've found even a short period of time in natural sunlight seems to trigger a shed. Depending on the species, you can set up a basking area outside even in the winter. It will require you to pay attention to make sure the animal doesn't overheat. You can use a tote and a chick heat lamp. Fill a tote with plants/branches and suspend a chick heat lamp over top. Scr een the top with 1/4 wire mesh which will allow a lot of sunlight to penetrate. You'll have to be REALLY careful with the heat build up. You can get a heat lamp bulb that is white light or infra red bulbs up to about 250W from a feed store such as Tractor Supply. They also have the heavy duty fixtures that can handle that much heat and electricity. Be REALLY careful not to get any water on the hot bulb as they shatter. If a farmer can keep day old chick pens at 95F on the floor of drafty Minnesota barns in January, you can keep a tote warm enough for 30 minutes. Just be constantly checking.

Here's a link. I don't use the clamp because I am always worried of it failing and the lamp falling and shattering causing a fire.
http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/producers-pride-brooder-lamp-with-6-ft-cord?cm_vc=-10005

By the way, I have one wild-caught Calumma malthe that I do not think has shed since I bought him in April. Over the holidays, I will be looking more deeply into his problems. My gut feeling is it might be a protein deficiency related to kidney failure caused by dehydration around import. My next step will be to really evaluate his nutrition and how to tweak it without causing even more problems.

 

[ridgebax1]

He is not a wild caught animal. I actually got him from a forum member about a year and a half ago. It may be nutritional but I really don't know which came first. He has been off his feed for several weeks, just eating an occasional cricket, he turns his nose up at roaches and superworms. I had him to the vet on Saturday and he had gained almost 30 grams since his last visit. I know sometimes they won't eat around a shed so I hope it is not some vicious cycle! However, it has been a couple days with the humidifier and today the skin seems to be much more "peely". He is also on day 6 of 14 of enrofloxicin. When I took him out to give him his meds I sort of rubbed over the areas where he had some loose dead skin and he actually seemed grateful for it. He was almost "hypnotized" especially when I was massaging around his face, jaw and the back of his head. I just put up a piece of a plastic drop cloth to direct the outflow of the humidifier into his cage. I feel fairly certain it is related to the humidity (or lack thereof) in his cage. He has shed several times in the past and nothing has really changed in his environment.

 

[Andee]

Do you have a hand pump mister? You can boil some water and mix it with a bit of cold water to get the temps right. However with a hand pump mister you can give a prolonged mist that has warm water like a shower. It's what I do for my hard shedders.

 

[ridgebax1]

Thanks for the information. I shall try to give him an extra misting or two and see if that helps. I plan on getting a humidifier for my furnace because there is enough static electricity due to dry air to power a small city!! Also as a thank you for my concern and taking him to the vet on Saturday, he bit me!!! He doesn't even appreciate that he is a bit of a celebrity at the vet's office, the techs told me they were waiting all morning for him to show up because he is so cool. He is actually a spoiled little brat!!!

 

[Andee]

If you give him a hand misting be sure to check the temps with your own hand. The farther away the mist gets the colder it is, preferably the normal misting range you want relatively warm.

 

[ridgebax1]

The humidifier seems to have done the trick. He is shedding like crazy.