Please Help - Chameleon doesn't seem healthy

[Guest 55448]

She’s being modest, on top of all that she helps me run my small business. She’s the most giving woman I’ve ever met and this forum is definitely blessed to have her.

...I’m just not buying the burn theory, it doesn’t add up for me. I’m thinking a bacterial infection from the constant damp conditions or something along those lines.
Unfortunately I’d need to see the skin without oil on it to say with confidence. I would advise to stop the olive oil. It may have helped him feel better temporarily but it’s treating a symptoms of an underlying larger problem and not the problem itself. It’s also masking one of the symptoms making it harder to track down the root cause.

So he didn't have constant humidity until the vet visit 3 weeks ago, which I had noted in my novel My previous settings allowed the cage to dry out- it would get down to about 20% humidity at that 2-hour mark and the MistKing would kick back on. My apartment is drier- I have a humidifier in my bedroom to avoid my own cottonmouth in the middle of the night. His cage also does not get misted at night when he is sleeping- I was told that was bad. The vet told me specifically to raise the basking spot and to increase the humidity to see if the shed would come off easier and fully. That's the only reason why his cage has an increased 50% (minimum) humidity range. If I need to change the setting back to the 2-hour timeframe I originally had, I can. It's as easy as a few clicks.

What the patches looked like prior to the olive oil application was white and flakey around the edges (like a normal shed) nothing was raised except those flakey pieces. They never advanced further though. It did have that darker look to it in the center like you are seeing still in the photos. It appeared very dry/crinkly as well. The vet did 'scratch' at it to see if she could slough off some of the skin. Her response after examining him was that it was a bad shed and he needed help by increasing the humidity- which is when I changed everything to the 1-minute mist every hour or so. Before that, (now mind-you the spots were there), I had it on a 2-minute mist every 2 hours.

 

[Guest 55448]

Ditto, very refreshing.

Thank you- I wanted to make sure I have everything in. I monitor all of his stuff and have my settings logged in my phone jic I need to discuss/question anything with someone else that a cham. owner. I'm trying.

 

[Guest 55448]

@FrozenRain00 I am leaning toward fungal as well. I really feel if this was a burn you would have known it. When it is a fresh burn well it looks like a burn. As far as the shedding issue this is something that would take more then a month or so to build up. The fact that the OP is saying within the last month or so these have appeared really makes me lean more to fungal or something of that nature.

No it wasn't within the last month- I originally thought it was just shed but decided to take him to the vet this past month (3 weeks ago) because the shed wasn't going away, his behavior was the big change.

 

[Guest 55448]

Yes!!!!!! This is exactly what I said to Jox when I saw it. Especially that last picture. That it resembled the way ringworm appears with the border at the edge!

I've personally have had ringworm, it's definitely not raised like that. If you rub your finger over it, it's flush with the rest of his body, but it is dry/flakey. It's never had a yellow or green hue. Wouldn't fungal cause for some itchiness as well? I know ring-worm itched like a mother..%^%%&..

Funny story about the ring-worm incident tho- my entire family got it when I was a kid from a kitten my parents bought at a local dive pet store. Guy had a bunch of Persians dumped at the back door and he clearly didn't have a vet look at them. The kitten needed a ton of help, then we all got ring-worm- AND all our other pets got it too! (another cat and a dachshund)- THEN the dachshund almost died because she was allergic to the medicine the vet prescribed. In the end, the Persian ended up being a complete douchebag and only liked my sister. I'm sure my parents were thrilled with that fiasco lol. But yes, I do know what ring-worm looks like- I am also working on a Master's into Nursing so some of this stuff I am familiar with- in humans at least. I haven't seen any of those signs. As soon as the olive oil wears I will post photos of the spots though for clarification.

 

[Guest 55448]

From what I understand burns just do not make sense at all, too many variables missing.

@FrozenRain00
He’s aprox 1.5 yo, how long in your possession?

so there was no point in your care when he had obvious burns?

Can you contact the original owner and ask if he’s ever been burned before?

I did not notice any obvious burns- if you mean like red/pussing/pinkish skin or skin lifting off like with humans- no- I never saw any of that. I explained how long I've had him in the OP.

 

[Guest 55448]

This is a burn, silvania halogène light is the actual cause of that in 10000000% sure so switch to regular basking

The 'burn' appeared before the halogen bulb was installed. This was noted in the OP

 

[Guest 55448]

What medications are used for fungal infections on chameleons? Are there any over-the-counter versions I can try to see if there is an improvement?

 

[Brodybreaux25]

I did not notice any obvious burns- if you mean like red/pussing/pinkish skin or skin lifting off like with humans- no- I never saw any of that. I explained how long I've had him in the OP.

Respectfully we've covered a lot of ground since then, forgive me if I missed that detail. Could you please refresh my memory on how long you've had him? Help us help you.

I still don't think this is a burn, like you just confirmed. On top of that the light you posted is a floodlight, not a spotlight so it doesn't produce a concentrated beam, it produces a wide one.

I'm sticking with my original fungal/bacterial infection theory.

 

[Guest 55448]

So here are some more photos from today, I used a flash when taking most of them and took him out into better lighting. This is about 24hrs after I put the Olive Oil on the dry patches. You can see the edges are white again where the scales are peeling up- it is not raised all the way around like ring-worm. But maybe it is some kind of fungal? The darkness and the placement of the spots are just so weird. I don't know why the vet didn't think it was anything more than a bad shed. I asked her about fungal and she said it didn't look like a burn, mites or any of that. I don't know what to do.

 

[Daesie11]

So, I dont know if this helps your situation at all but it's important to note for the future, chameleons are dry shedders. That means that when they shed they have a pocket of air between them and the skin being shed, as opposed to most reptiles who produce an oil to shed their old skin. This means that, for a cham, increasing humidity during shed time will actually make it more difficult for them to shed and misting them during shed is a big no no. I'm not sure how using the olive oil applies to this situation, as I'm not experienced in the application of olive oil as a treatment, but just wanted to put that info out there for you!

Also if this has already been covered my bad this has been a long thread and I'm at work lol

 

[Guest 55448]

So, I dont know if this helps your situation at all but it's important to note for the future, chameleons are dry shedders. That means that when they shed they have a pocket of air between them and the skin being shed, as opposed to most reptiles who produce an oil to shed their old skin. This means that, for a cham, increasing humidity during shed time will actually make it more difficult for them to shed and misting them during shed is a big no no. I'm not sure how using the olive oil applies to this situation, as I'm not experienced in the application of olive oil as a treatment, but just wanted to put that info out there for you!

Also if this has already been covered my bad this has been a long thread and I'm at work lol

Well then the vet definitely was wrong because she told me to increase the humidity to help with this ongoing shed issue. Good to know.

 

[Daesie11]

Well then the vet definitely was wrong because she told me to increase the humidity to help with this ongoing shed issue. Good to know.

A lot of exotic vets who dont have experience with chams will suggest this because it's what we usually do for other reptiles. The best way to ensure a good thread is to have your husbandry down 100%, which I believe you've been given all the info you need to get that in hand but you have been given a lot of information on this thread, if it's easier you can make another thread dedicated to just your husbandry and not necessarily the issue in this thread, or you can send a pm!

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Well then the vet definitely was wrong because she told me to increase the humidity to help with this ongoing shed issue. Good to know.

Unfortunately that happens a lot. Where do you live?

 

[AnamCara]

Question -- if this was a burn, thermal or ub, wouldn't it present on the casque or along the spine? I've never seen anything like this do I am no help here, just along to learn.

 

[Daesie11]

Question -- if this was a burn, thermal or ub, wouldn't it present on the casque or along the spine? I've never seen anything like this do I am no help here, just along to learn.

Just based off of my own experience with my cham, he does tend to swivel to the side and bask to the side I'm guessing so he has the most surface area to absorb, so I can image getting a burn like that

 

[Guest 55448]

Unfortunately that happens a lot. Where do you live?

Chicago area.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Chicago area.

Ultimately we’re just guessing, I suggest a second opinion.

Here are some links to reptile veterinarians.

• Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians (ARAV)
• Pets911
• Healthy Pet
• Herp Vet Connection
• Herp Care

 

[mkeBob]

id love it if I was becca, but I’m a just a lowly chammer, and I’m a dude.

We could call you Kaizendudeca if you like.

 

[nightanole]

As promised, examples of the labeled UV filter on halogen bulbs:

 

[nightanole]

What medications are used for fungal infections on chameleons? Are there any over-the-counter versions I can try to see if there is an improvement?

betadine solution.