Skin peel on Jackson's arm

[BCam]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Jackon, male, and a year old (unsure)....I've had him for about a month.
• Handling - once every week or two so that he gets some sunlight.
• Feeding - crickets, mealworms, spotted roaches, and superworms (mostly crickets and roaches with occasional worm)
• Supplements - Repashy calcium plus, once every two weeks. Light dusting on his 4-5 crickets each morning.
• Watering - Misting by hand 3-4 times a day for a few minutes. He drinks from the leaves of the pothos plant in his cage or the fake plant leaves.
• Fecal Description - Dark brown ball, along with a pure white ball.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Screen cage, 18x18x36. Will be moving him up to a 24x24x48" soon.
• Lighting - One heat bulb and one UVB in a deep combo dome setup. I keep them on from 8am-7pm usually. I usually turn his heat lamp off for a little while if it gets too warm in his cage.
• Temperature - 85 or lower for his basking spot at the top of the cage and low 70's towards the bottom.
• Humidity - Not the best levels, 40-70 depending on the weather here.
• Plants - A pothos plant potted with large stones on top of the soil in his cage.
• Placement - Cage is on a two foot tall table so the top of it is about 5ft tall.
• Location - Brooklyn, NY.

Current Problem -
Hi everyone,
I'm new here and just wanted to see if I might be able to get some advice on a skin problem I noticed in my chameleon about a week ago. On one of his front arms, on the inside elbow area, there appears to be some skin peeling away. It's been hanging there for a few days, and I don't see any signs of blood or redness really. It's just dried looking skin and then whitish skin underneath. I wasn't sure if it might be a burn, or shedding?

I've raised his lamps up about ten inches from the top of his cage so the temperature at the top is 80-85. When they were sitting on the cage in their combo dome, it was getting into the 90's.
He has been acting completely normal, and I haven't seen him chew on the skin in his elbow, but it is still hanging there. I attached some photos as best as I could get (he gets nervous with the phone/camera being held up), hopefully someone has an idea of what this might be. Thank you for any help!

 

[jajeanpierre]

Looks like normal shedding to me. Babies shed in one big shed in a very short period of time, often just hours. Adults shed in patches, so one part sheds and the skin right next to it doesn't.

Welcome to the fascinating world of chameleons!

 

[BCam]

Thank you! I wasn't sure if I was worrying too much or if it might have been a burn from him hanging upside down on the roof of his cage.

 

[jajeanpierre]

@BCam Something that probably hasn't crossed your mind is the origin of your animal. His horns are very straight and in terrific shape which makes me think he is a wild caught and a recent one at that. Wild caughts are a lot trickier to keep and can be more fragile. He likely has a parasite load which may or may cause him trouble. Stress will likely affect him far worse than a captive born animal. I think they collect them in Hawaii, so he didn't go through the Hell that a wild caught from Africa goes through so he might not have nearly the health concerns wild caughts imported from the Old World have.

Read up about where they come from and the climate in their native lands and try to reproduce that.

Good luck. He's very pretty.

 

[BCam]

@jajeanpierre I hadn't read up on the differences between wild caught vs captive born but it makes sense. He is pretty friendly and active, but doesn't love being handled (I've only had him for a month and taken him outside for some sun 2-3 times). I'll continue researching his climate and hopefully he stays healthy and happy. I got him a new larger screen cage yesterday (2x2x4ft) and spent this morning cleaning some maple tree branches from my yard for it, along with some wooden dowels. Hoping to create a really nice setup so he has a lot to climb on since he seems to like the branches and vines I had in his smaller cage.

Anyways, thanks again for your help. I (and Cam'ron) appreciate it!