Problem with forehead, looks like a bruise

[Jberd70]

Your Chameleon - Tamatave ambilobe, one year old, and have had him for 10 months

Handling - Almost Daily

Feeding - He is fed every other day about 15-20 crickets. The crickets are fet carrots, two different gut load products, and flax seed.

Supplements - One week of calcium without d3 then a day with d3.

Watering - Mist 4 times a day with the first misting 4 minutes long. then each concecutive misting 2 minutes. This occurs about every 2 - 3 hours.

Fecal Description - dark in color with white and he has never been tested for parasites.


History -Woke up the other morning and saw this spot on his head. Not sure what it might be. He is still eating and moving around like normal.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - He is in a 18x18x36 all screen cage.
Lighting -5.0 uvb 18" tube with a 75 watt heat lamp along with a 6700k plant light all on for 12 hours a day on a timer.
Temperature - No over night heating it might get down to 67 at night and 90 during the day

Humidity - 40-80% using a mistking system.

Plants -Live, benjarmina ficus

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 - San diego California

Current Problem - He has a grayish jelly looking spot in his head that just showed up one morning.

 

[reptileguy112]

It looks like a burn.How close does he get to the actual bulb and also it seens a bit on the hot side.My cage only gets about 78-80 in the day and 70-74 at night.You are doing it wrong with supplements.You need every day withOUT d3 and once a week WITH d3.You are overdosing him.You should feed a variety of food every day.Sorry I am answering more than your one question, just want to make sure you are informed.You should feed more than crickets EVERY day.I feed mine 3-4 crickets, a couple superworms, and maybe a waxworm every day.I'm not into roaches.Chameleons eat a lot and should be fed every day.Almost like you eating every other day.One day with no food and one day a TON of food.

 

[Jberd70]

bulbs and distance have been the same for the last 10 months. And why would it show up over night. At first I thought burn but nothing has changed and it showed up over night. He is also all over the cage during the day. Any other thoughts. If it is a burn how would I help him out, a little neosporin?

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

A burn can happen without any changes to the setup, especially if the ambient temperature changes. If the ambient temp is warmer then the basking temp will also be warmer. On the flip side of ambient temp drops he may spend more time basking trying to get warmer and may even try to be closer to basking light. Longer period of time and/or closer can cause burns even if there hasn't been a problem before. And burns generally do show up very quickly - think of it like us getting a sunburn. A tan takes a while to develop from gradual exposure, but a sunburn from overexposure happens very fast.

 

[Jberd70]

I will look a little closer in to the basking temp. So if the concesus is a burn how do I treat it?

 

[Carlton]

I will look a little closer in to the basking temp. So if the concesus is a burn how do I treat it?

First, check in to the basking temp situation and arrange to move the bulb a little farther from the cage top (or, move his basking perch lower and check the temp there when the bulb is on).

There is a good burn ointment available from a vet: Silvadene is one brand but there may be a generic equivalent. Vets often have sample tubes for minimal cost. If you can't get this, some OTC Polysporin with no pain reliever ingredient is better than nothing.

 

[Jberd70]

Thank you all for your advise. I took him to the vet last Friday and yes it is a burn. They gave a dip and scrup and perscribed the silvadene oitment. They told me to use an idodine solutions first and then the oitment. It has been a few days and it is looking a little bit better. I replaced the 75 watt bulb with a 60 watt incandescent which lowered the temp down to 88. I am continuing to monitor him, he is still eating and activity seem normal.

 

[Jberd70]

After speaking with the vet this burn came one day after a shed. Correlation, maybe?

 

[little leaf]

After speaking with the vet this burn came one day after a shed. Correlation, maybe?

do you run a dripper ?

 

[Jberd70]

I do not run a dripper only a mistking that mists 5 times a day for 3-4 minutes. Should I run a dripper along with a mister?

 

[little leaf]

I do not run a dripper only a mistking that mists 5 times a day for 3-4 minutes. Should I run a dripper along with a mister?

no, I was going to say, my panther got a bad burn just like that - but what had happened is he had pulled the drip line under the bulb, it still had water in it, just not dripping, when I got home, I filled it ( not seeing he had messed w/ it-) he was right under it- when I filled it, all that HOT water came out- it burned his head, and leg - at first I could not figure out how he got burned - I was just going to say if you had one, make sure he can not pull it under the bulb

 

[Carlton]

After speaking with the vet this burn came one day after a shed. Correlation, maybe?

Hard to say. Just when the burn occurred is tough to tell. It may have come on over a day or so. For example, if the room and cage happened to be cooler than usual he might have sat directly under the basking bulb too long...burns happen because of a combination of temp and amount of time the cham happened to expose that particular area to the heat. Because we provide heat using a bulb, it produces a pretty narrowly focused beam of heat (in contrast to the sun that warms a huge area, not just one specific spot).

 

[Jberd70]

I was using an exo-terra 75w basking bulb which I believe was a more concentrated beam which could have led to the burn. I switched it to an incandescent 60w bulb which seems to provide a brouder heating area. Good idea?