Small thermal burn on male ambilobe

[Tree gem]

My male Ambilobe is nearly a year old. I have babied him his whole life and I recently noticed a small thermal burn above his rear legs along his spines. It's a white stripe about an inch long maybe 1/2 centimeter thick. I applied a small amount of neosporin to it and I'm fairly confident he will be fine.

I don't know if I'll be fine though.....Honestly I am devastated. I bought this guy to be the stud of my first breeding project. Of course he will be able to breed, but he will more than likely be visually damaged. A visually damaged cham is like a car that doesn't drive. I love these creatures mainly for their visual beauty and now that has been tainted. My keyboard is tear stained and I'm close to punching holes in the wall.

This community has been a godsend in terms of information and support. I pretty much just need someone to hold me and tell me everything is going to be ok. But I know it won't. Anyways, thanks for listening...

 

[carol5208]

You sure he is not getting ready to shed? Mine shed from the spine down sometimes and just in one spot like that and not their whole body.

 

[Tree gem]

That's what I thought it might have been but, the whole area stays white regardless of color changes. Usually during a shed the exterior layer of skin will lift and start to whiten but it's transparent and you can still see the base color underneath. I hope you are right and I appreciate your response. All I can do is wait it out, but I fear the worst.

On a side note Gorgeous cham on your profile pic. Wow!

 

[Psychobunny]

How close is his basking spot away from the basking bulb, and what is the wattage of the bulb?
If he is to close to the lamp, the surface of his skin will dry out, even if you mist a lot, and he will have a problem shedding, and could also get a burn.

Chams thermoregulte by internal core body temp, so, like putting a turkey in an oven that is too hot, the outside burns, but the inside does not cook!

Does that make sence?

You should check your basking temps and may need to either raise the lamp a bit, or lower his branch.

I get 90F from only a 40W bulb (with reflective dome) at 8'', so I lower the basking branch to 10'' or more.

Can you post a pic of your cage set up?

 

[tagerlilly18]

Just because his skin could be a little off doesn't mean you should like him any less. He will still be beautiful. It's not like he's going to be an eye sore. He just might have a spot that doesn't look like the rest. There's plenty of cars out there that have a dent,scratch, or rust and they are still very enjoyable.

 

[Tree gem]

Update

My male panther is doing fine. I bred him and am currently waiting on some eggs he sired. He does have a few sections of missing spines along his back unfortunately. I made the amateur mistake of using a crappy therm that was not giving me accurate readings. I have a digi now that works well. But I am also looking to get a laser heat gun. As suggested, I am now using a 40 watt bask bulb and that works perfect. Bottom line my temps were too high. Live and learn. Thank you for the support cham forum. Couldn't do it without you guys !!