Possible respiratory infection?

[Dolphinirium]

Hi guys,

I own for about 1 month a female veiled chameleon (don't know her age but she was still baby when she was given to me) and it's my first chameleon
For some weeks ago I noticed she had something white around 1 of her nostrils. Generally, it goes away during the day and it's more evident in the morning or late in the day.
She has been eating crickets and I notice she has grown, however she didn't change her skin since I have her.
Today I noticed she was puffing more than usual (generally she would just do it when I tried to remove the white thing with a cotton swab), even when she was just sitting there basking.
Sometimes she just puffs up a couple of times but others she puffs up and open her mouth after. Some of those times I heard her hissing, so I don't know if she was mad with me.
I post a couple of photos so you can see what I'm talking about.
Do you think she's healthy or can she have a respiratory infection?


Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - Veiled, female, 3 months?, I have her for about 1 month
Handling - Just handled her a couple of times to clean her nose
Feeding - Crickets. I put a few of them in the enclosure and add when it's necessary. However, I cup feed her 1 cricket per day in the morning, so she could get more used to me. I gut-load them with carrots, potato, etc.
Supplements - Calci sepia powder from Reptiles-planet. I use it to dust the cricket I give to her every other day.
Watering - I spray the enclosure 2-3 times/day and I see her drinking the drops from the wall.
Fecal Description - Black/dark brown well formed droppings with white urates. She hasn't been tested for parasites.


Cage Info:

Cage Type - 4 sides screen with back in wood and bottom with substrate. 60(l)x60(w)x120cm(h)
Lighting - Ultrasun 80W mercury vapor lamp from Reptiles-planet. 12h of light with temporization.
Temperature - basking spot around 27ºC and 25ºC on the ground. At night the lowest is about 23ºC. I measure them with a digital probe-type thermometer.
Humidity - Around 53-55% just with the spraying. I measure with a digital probe-type hygrometer
Plants - Hibiscus, schefflera arboricola, ficus benjamina, pothos and another I don't remember the name.
Placement - It's located in a room that most of the time remains the door closed, without fans or air vents. The top is at 1.80m relative to the floor.
Location - Portugal


Current Problem - White stuff around nostril. Possible respiratory infection?

First day at home

Her enclosure in the begining (now it has more branches and plants)

Here are a couple of videos with the white thing on her nose and her puffing and opening her mouth after it.

https://youtu.be/iPIlmZ7hG5k

https://youtu.be/lyDJy_r0ts4

https://youtu.be/BiFdS5Hh4g0

Every advice is welcome

Thank you!

 

[JoeVet]

The white at the nostrils is normal. Many reptiles have a salt gland that gets rid of excess salts. The puffing up and gaping mouth is a defense mechanism. She is afraid. She looks healthy.

 

[MamatoElvis]

I'm not an expert but she looks very small for 3 month. I think she might be younger. I did want to comment on not having a UVB light. She has to have one or she will get very sick. I know you said you put more branches but those branches need to put her back about 5 to 8 inches from her lights. One more thing.
Supplement schedule
Calcium with no d3 daily
Calcium with d3 2 times per month
Multivitamin. 2 times per month
All to be given by themselves for that day. Do not mix them. Feeders should be lightly dusted not caked with power.
I agree that she looks normal. My Cham does the same puffing when he doesn't want to be bothered. It's how they say don't mess with me.
Member jannb has a blog for new keepers that should be very helpful. Good luck.

 

[kinyonga]

Your plants should come closer to the top of the cage. The basking temperature should be in the low 80'sF.

Appropriate temperatures allow for proper digestion and thus indirectly in the nutrient absorption.

You also need a UVB light as was already mentioned. Exposure to the UVB light allows the chameleon to produce the D3 it needs to be able to use the calcium in its system.

It's important to feed / gutload the insects such as crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms with a wide assortment of greens such as dandelion greens, kale, endive, escarole, collards, etc and veggies such as carrots, sweet red pepper, squash, zucchini, sweet potato, etc.

Since many of the insects we use as feeders have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous its important to dust the insects before feeding them to the chameleon with a phosphorous - free calcium powder at most feedings.

It's also recommended that you dust twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene ( prOformed ) source of vitamin A. PrOformed sources of vitamin A cannot build up in the system like prEformed sources can and this leaves it up to you to decide whether the chameleon needs prEformed or not.

It's recommended that you dust twice a month with a phosphorous - free calcium / D3 powder to ensure that the chameleon gets some D3 without overdosing it and leaving the chameleon to produce the rest of the D3 from its exposure to the UVB.

You can use a regular household incandescent light bulb for a basking light....wattage determined by the temperature desired. The most often recommended UVB light is the reptisun 5.0 long linear tube.

Hope this helps.

 

[kinyonga]

Your plants should come closer to the top of the cage. The basking temperature should be in the low 80'sF.

Appropriate temperatures allow for proper digestion and thus indirectly in the nutrient absorption.

You also need a UVB light as was already mentioned. Exposure to the UVB light allows the chameleon to produce the D3 it needs to be able to use the calcium in its system.

It's important to feed / gutload the insects such as crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms with a wide assortment of greens such as dandelion greens, kale, endive, escarole, collards, etc and veggies such as carrots, sweet red pepper, squash, zucchini, sweet potato, etc.

Since many of the insects we use as feeders have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous its important to dust the insects before feeding them to the chameleon with a phosphorous - free calcium powder at most feedings.

It's also recommended that you dust twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene ( prOformed ) source of vitamin A. PrOformed sources of vitamin A cannot build up in the system like prEformed sources can and this leaves it up to you to decide whether the chameleon needs prEformed or not.

It's recommended that you dust twice a month with a phosphorous - free calcium / D3 powder to ensure that the chameleon gets some D3 without overdosing it and leaving the chameleon to produce the rest of the D3 from its exposure to the UVB.

You can use a regular household incandescent light bulb for a basking light....wattage determined by the temperature desired. The most often recommended UVB light is the reptisun 5.0 long linear tube.

Hope this helps.

 

[Dolphinirium]

Thank you for all replies.

As told you before he enclosure now has more branches and plants.
Here goes a photo as it is at the moment.
She basks in the top branch. Does it need to be closer to the light?

Do I still need a UVB lamp even with a mercury vapor one? Thought the mercury one was enough UVB

To raise the temperature should I get one mercury vapor 100W instead of the 80W I have or should I maintain the 80W one and add a daylight lamp that would help plants too or do you have other suggestions? I'm not goning to get linear tubes, so I was thinking about compact lamps.

I'm going to add the multivitamin and calcium+vit D3 then. Do you recommend any particular brand?

I just lightly dust the crickets I give to her, but she doesn't eat more than 1 or 2/time, that's why I just dust the one in the morning.

 

[SocialNumb]

Ditch the Mercury vapor one for reasons explained in the lighting link below. You're going to want linear tubes as compacts seem to still be causing problems with some members in the forum. Eye damage. Tubes cover a wider/deeper area and put out very low heat. All lights should be at least 6-8" away from your pet. Chams like to be up high so you want to take advantage of what hight you have in your cage. Normal incandescent light bulbs is all you need for basking. You need to play around with the wattage + distance while measuring the heat at the basking area to find a good distance/temperature balance. Remember, 6"-8" away from light sources or your little one can get burned/hurt quick.


Further reading:

Lighting requirements must be met. https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/lighting/

All requirements here must also be met: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

Otherwise you're going to have problems with your cute little one.


Good luck, she's a cutie.

 

[MamatoElvis]

The enclosure is very pretty but the branches need to be horizontal and in the top 2/3 of the enclosure. I posted a picture of my enclosure. It's not fancy but it should give you an idea about branch placement and having foliage from top to bottom. This is brand new so most of my pothos haven't filled in yet. It's a bit sparse on foliage due to that but the pothos fill in very quickly. Also as social numb already stated the linear UVB are the safest and best UVB to use. Please get one. It's vital to keep your Cham in good health.

 

[carbyville]

There's a lot of room in the enclosure. Have fun with it! Get some vines and branches throughout, taller plants. It's a lot of fun deciding how to set up your cham's cage

Adorable little girl you've got there, too!