Panther Chameleon Burn 😞

[kiwithepanthercham]

My Panther chameleon has a really bad burn and I have been applying Neosporin to it ever since I noticed his discoloration. I’m wondering if you have any suggestions on how to care for this? I can’t seem to find a vet that is a chameleon specialist in my area. He’s still eating and drinking water. I know his spikes will fall off.. but I just want to avoid it getting any worse.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

FYI- Thr Red lights can harm his eyes. Make sure you use neosporin without pain relief. It looks really bad. A general vet could probably treat the burn. General vets are reasonably priced for services.

 

[MissSkittles]

Yikes! Many of us have to travel a bit for good vets. Your guy really does need to be seen by a vet. Not just to get a better topical, like silver sulfadiazine, but he may need oral antibiotics too.
You’ll need to make some improvements to prevent him from getting burned again. Your enclosure looks a bit short for a chameleon. The standard minimum size is 2x2x4’. Then your uvb is raised as far as I can tell, but your basking light is sitting on top of the enclosure. What type and strength is your uvb? T5 or T8? What strength is the bulb? That will determine the optimal distance between basking branch and uvb light.

 

[kiwithepanthercham]

Yikes! Many of us have to travel a bit for good vets. Your guy really does need to be seen by a vet. Not just to get a better topical, like silver sulfadiazine, but he may need oral antibiotics too.
You’ll need to make some improvements to prevent him from getting burned again. Your enclosure looks a bit short for a chameleon. The standard minimum size is 2x2x4’. Then your uvb is raised as far as I can tell, but your basking light is sitting on top of the enclosure. What type and strength is your uvb? T5 or T8? What strength is the bulb? That will determine the optimal distance between basking branch and uvb light.

I let him out of his cage one day and the direct sunlight was hitting his branch. I’m still curious how this much damage happened through a window.. needless to say I will be looking for a vet to take a look at him as soon as possible. I’ll post an update

 

[kinyonga]

You said…”I let him out of his cage one day and the direct sunlight was hitting his branch. I’m still curious how this much damage happened through a window”…was the direct sun your talking about through the window?

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

UvA and UVB rays can penetrate glass. Uva rays penetrate deep into the skin. UVB rays cause sunburns.

 

[kiwithepanthercham]

You said…”I let him out of his cage one day and the direct sunlight was hitting his branch. I’m still curious how this much damage happened through a window”…was the direct sun your talking about through the window?

Yes at a certain time the sunlight comes in direct contact with his branch. That’s when I noticed his back was pale white.

 

[ToastyCham]

Yes at a certain time the sunlight comes in direct contact with his branch. That’s when I noticed his back was pale white.

Do you know of a good vet to take him to? If not we have an exotic vet list.

 

[elizaann2]

Oh dear, I'm sorry this happened to your beautiful boy. Attached you will find our current vet list. Hopefully you can find something on there or any vet that will see him to get him some meds. Please let us know how it goes.

 

[kinyonga]

@ChamelaChameleon said…”UVB rays can penetrate glass”…only some types of glass…
https://sundoctors.com.au/blog/glas...ws are made,should offer much more protection.

 

[kiwithepanthercham]

Here’s the update!
Kiwi is doing great!
Took him to the vet about a month ago and the removed all the dead tissue. With some antibiotics and some silver sulfadiazine cream to take home about a month later here are the results.
He’s eating and drinking water as usual.

 

[MissSkittles]

Excellent! Looks like he’s healed up quite well. Glad he’s better.

 

[elizaann2]

Great job! I’m glad to hear he is doing better.