Possible burn on my new chameleon?

[WilsonCham]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Male, Veiled, I was told he was 1 year old when I got him. I've had him for 3 days.
• Handling - I haven't handled him yet. I'm giving him time to adjust to his new environment.
• Feeding - So far I've only fed him 8 crickets. I'm planning on feeding him every other day. His main diet will consist of crickets, roaches, and supper worms. They are gut-loaded with sweet potato, carrots, green dandelion, and collard greens.
• Supplements - He will be getting Zoo Med Repti Calcium without D3 for every feeding, Zoo Med Repti Calcium with D3 twice a month, and Reptivite without D3 twice a month.
• Watering - I mist his enclosure twice a day and have a dripper on top. In the 3 days I've had him I've seen him drink 2 times.
• Fecal Description - His feces are brown and solid and another one was white with some orange, fairly solid as well. He has not been tested for parasites.
• History - The previous owner was dusting the crickets with Herptivite and Rep-Cal Calcium with D3 every feeding.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Reptibreeze XL screen cage. 24"x24"x48"
• Lighting - For UVB I have a 14" Zoo Med Reptisun T5 Ho hood with a 5.0 UVB T5 HO Linear Lamp. For heat I use a Zoo Med clamp lamp with a 40w incandescent bulb. Both lights are on for 12 hours- 7am to 7pm.
• Temperature - cage floor is 70 and basking spot is 90° F. Lowest temp is around 68° F. I have a thermometer on the bottom and the heat lamp is connected to a thermostat that keeps the temperature at 90 F
• Humidity - My humidity ranges from 40 to 60%. I mist the enclosure twice a day for approximately 3 minutes each time. I use a humidity gauge to measure the humidity. What are your humidity levels?
• Plants - I have a Schefflera Alpine Jr and a small ficus tree
• Placement - The cage is located in a corner of my living room, approximately 3 ft away from a window. The top of the cage is 6 ft from the floor.
• Location - San Francisco, CA

Current Problem - My chameleon has some missing spikes on his back, which make me think he got burned. It doesn't look like a fresh wound, but I just want to make that there is nothing I should be doing to treat this. Sorry for the low picture quality.

 

[WilsonCham]

Also, a general question I have regarding gut loading: do I give the crickets a constant supply of greens? or do I just feed them a few hours before feeding them to my chameleon?

 

[djdanny402]

I’m no pro, but I had a similar ordeal. To me Looks like a burn and the skin is necrotic slightly ( being black / grey ).
I believe Silvadene would be a good thing to look into , prevents infections from burns and helps the healing process. Helped my girl immensely.

I feed greens / cricket crack constantly myself.
I know there always loaded and don’t have to keep track if I did or dident.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

It it a burn. Move your lights further from the screen and measure your temps or it will happen again!

 

[Thehippie]

yes thats a burn, i would look into a silver based cream like silvadene mentioned above the dead black spot will start to peel off and in order to prevent infection you will need that cream. when it starts to peel and fall off dont pull it off but apply a little bit of the cream to the exposed flesh.

 

[Mawtyplant]

Thats a burn, from what I read.. this from a past life and this is not the first one (the helmet a the top of the head reveal some old burn history). So far the is almost impossible with your actual setup (40w bulb with clamp.. I will be so surprise if it happen with that! but.. almost doest mean impossible!! ) it seam to heal good! but your work will be during the sheding time make your self sure no piece of shed get stuck close to the wound because this can provoke infection. You can also clean the wound with chlorexidine and put some silver cream to prevent bacteria.

Good luck and enjoy you new little friend!

 

[Beman]

Per your question on gutloading. I just feed all my crickets the gutload so that they are always properly gutloaded prior to feeding. You can use repashy bug burger if your not wanting to do fresh veg. But if you want fresh veg here is a helpful tool.