Possible thermal burn?

[laurynholly]

Less than a month ago I noticed these spots on my panther chameleons side. This was often the side he would lean towards the light when basking so I thought it might be a thermal burn. I got him new lighting, lifted if from the top of the cage and regularly check his temperature with my thermal gun when he’s basking. Everything seems to be okay as far as my lighting. I’ve been applying silver sulfadiazine cream to the areas and I’m not sure if they are improving or not. He has continued to eat, drink and have healthy looking bowel movements/urates. I will post two pictures one before adjustments/ treatment and one a few weeks after. He has not shed yet since I brought him home at the very end of November.

 

[Beman]

Hey there welcome to the forum. Yep they look like a thermal burn to me. Good news is you have the right cream for it. These take a lot of time to heal up and his are pretty bad so just give it time. Keep applying the cream every day. These spots may have a really hard time shedding.

Temps for him at basking should be no hotter than 80-85. I would get one of the temp gauges with a probe to zip tie in at the branch below the heat fixture. This will give you a more accurate base temp at the branch. So if at the branch it is 80 then where he rises off the branch is going to be more like 83 and temps are good. If at the branch it is higher than you want to drop wattage and possibly bulb type. Focused heat bulbs can be too much for them. Typically a regular household incandescent non LED bulb works better with less burn risk.

 

[laurynholly]

Hey there welcome to the forum. Yep they look like a thermal burn to me. Good news is you have the right cream for it. These take a lot of time to heal up and his are pretty bad so just give it time. Keep applying the cream every day. These spots may have a really hard time shedding.

Temps for him at basking should be no hotter than 80-85. I would get one of the temp gauges with a probe to zip tie in at the branch below the heat fixture. This will give you a more accurate base temp at the branch. So if at the branch it is 80 then where he rises off the branch is going to be more like 83 and temps are good. If at the branch it is higher than you want to drop wattage and possibly bulb type. Focused heat bulbs can be too much for them. Typically a regular household incandescent non LED bulb works better with less burn risk

Thanks for the reply! I did a lot of research and was pretty positive they were burns but I needed someone more experienced than me to confirm.. I did have him under a mini halogen bulb initially and I think it was spotlighting onto those spots when he would bask.. so I bought him a normal sized Arcadia halogen bulb and like I said raised it from the top of the enclosure. No new burns have appeared. I tried to post a pic of my enclosure with the lighting but it said the image was too big.. I’ll see if I can upload one soon. I have read a lot of threads on here since becoming a member and I now see the thermal gun is discouraged due to the inaccuracies so I will invest in a thermometer with probe. Thanks so much for the kind response and advice. It’s really nice to not be discouraged by hateful comments regarding mistakes new keepers make in their husbandry.. I think this is a great platform for chameleon keepers of all levels and I can’t wait to get more involved in the community! I will keep updating this thread as he heals

 

[Beman]

Thanks for the reply! I did a lot of research and was pretty positive they were burns but I needed someone more experienced than me to confirm.. I did have him under a mini halogen bulb initially and I think it was spotlighting onto those spots when he would bask.. so I bought him a normal sized Arcadia halogen bulb and like I said raised it from the top of the enclosure. No new burns have appeared. I tried to post a pic of my enclosure with the lighting but it said the image was too big.. I’ll see if I can upload one soon. I have read a lot of threads on here since becoming a member and I now see the thermal gun is discouraged due to the inaccuracies so I will invest in a thermometer with probe. Thanks so much for the kind response and advice. It’s really nice to not be discouraged by hateful comments regarding mistakes new keepers make in their husbandry.. I think this is a great platform for chameleon keepers of all levels and I can’t wait to get more involved in the community! I will keep updating this thread as he heals

I am very happy that you are enjoying our community or as we call it Chamily. There is no place for rudeness here only kindness. We try to help and educate in a way that is not only inviting but encouraging to new members. We all started out as newbies in this hobby and as for myself I remember how overwhelming it was along with how negative feedback impacted my confidence. So I love that you see that we care about the people and the chameleons here.

Per the burns yes you were correct in your assumption and did everything we would have recommended to try to assist healing and change further burns. Getting the gauge with probe will help quite a bit for you to determine real levels at basking. Thermal guns are not bad and have a place like checking around the cage but just do not do it when it comes to really knowing the basking temps.

One thing you wanna watch out for is him reburning those areas. Common wattage's used are 60-75. I myself have my fixture raised 4 inches off the top of the cage and then the correct distance to basking level of 8-9. I run a 75 watt regular bulb on a herpstat thermostat for added piece of mind.

Should you have any questions please let me know. Again welcome to the forum

 

[GrannyK]

Just want to say welcome to the forum!! Sorry about your little dude, I’ve been there myself and still carry guilt because my guy lost spikes from a burn when I first got him. Glad you’re here, everyone is great. You probably know you have one of the best helping you. I my friend am just part of the welcoming committee!

 

[MzLaurie]

Hello and welcome so sorry to hear your baby has gotten burned. Burns normally start off looking more like scrapes. As in one of you pictures. Don’t freak out if all the area turns black. This may happen depending on how deep the burns are. It will turn hard and the black scab will eventually fall off. That is when the rebuilding of skin begins. That can take up to a year and many molts. It may turn white before color returns too. But slowly the healing will happen and color will return. Just keep up with the silver cream. My vet told me it must be applied with gloved hands to prevent infection. If I were you I would take photos every two weeks to track the improvement. When you see him everyday it’s hard to tell unless you compare with other photos. Best of luck to you both. Don’t kick yourself too hard. All we can do is our best and take it from there.

 

[laurynholly]

Just want to say welcome to the forum!! Sorry about your little dude, I’ve been there myself and still carry guilt because my guy lost spikes from a burn when I first got him. Glad you’re here, everyone is great. You probably know you have one of the best helping you. I my friend am just part of the welcoming committee!

Hello and welcome so sorry to hear your baby has gotten burned. Burns normally start off looking more like scrapes. As in one of you pictures. Don’t freak out if all the area turns black. This may happen depending on how deep the burns are. It will turn hard and the black scab will eventually fall off. That is when the rebuilding of skin begins. That can take up to a year and many molts. It may turn white before color returns too. But slowly the healing will happen and color will return. Just keep up with the silver cream. My vet told me it must be applied with gloved hands to prevent infection. If I were you I would take photos every two weeks to track the improvement. When you see him everyday it’s hard to tell unless you compare with other photos. Best of luck to you both. Don’t kick yourself too hard. All we can do is our best and take it from there.

I appreciate the warm welcomes and advice more than you both know! I will continue to treat him and track his progress. I definitely was bummed and felt super bad that I let this happen to my little guy but I am a VERY new keeper as I got my first chameleon, a male veiled, in July and he sparked a love for chameleons in me and that’s when I proceeded to get my panther at a reptile expo in November. So everything is a learning curve right now.. There’s something so different and rewarding about keeping chameleons! I’m so excited to keep learning about them with the guidance of all you lovely people!

 

[MzLaurie]

Well we all understand how difficult it is to care for chams properly especially with so much misinformation out there. While you are here, you should take advantage of having a complete husbandry review on your setup. There is a firm which I do not have on hand right now that you can complete and take pics of your entire set up. Since your baby had a burn dropping the basking spot so it is 8-10 inches below the basking bulb and getting a dimmer switch on the hood for the basking bulb will help. It like you got a really bad sunburn that peeled. The last thing you want is to expose it to more sun. Unfortunately he is cold blooded and requires exposure to heat lamps for survival. So you can’t deny him of it all together while he heals. Maybe move it to the opposite side of the cage to keep him from exposing the burnt side to the heat. Anyway don’t give up just watch for infection. I hope the info I gave you will let you know what to expect. Actually the healing of a burn really lets you know how special these guys are.

 

[MzLaurie]

Oh here’s the husbandry form.

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

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Please Note:

1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
2. Photos can be very helpful.

 

[MzLaurie]

Do the best you can to fill out the form. And take pics of the top of the cage so we can see the position of the lights, the entire cage and many pics of your Cham. You might want to start a new thread with husbandry review in the subject line to get more people to review it. Beman and missskittles are pros at husbandry reviews but there are so many folks here that just want to help you provide your baby the best environment possible.

 

[laurynholly]

Do the best you can to fill out the form. And take pics of the top of the cage so we can see the position of the lights, the entire cage and many pics of your Cham. You might want to start a new thread with husbandry review in the subject line to get more people to review it. Beman and missskittles are pros at husbandry reviews but there are so many folks here that just want to help you provide your baby the best environment possible.

Thank you so much for the info! I did make a new post with an image of his enclosure and you can see the lighting.. already got some helpful feedback from that. Feel free to take a peek yourself!