Strange thick painful scales?!

[WilcoxAE]

Here is something that just recently developed on a male veiled chameleon.

He in in the middle of a shed, as you can see from the pic, but the "white areas" of his skin have developed these strange thick scales. I believe them to be highly painful as he almost leapt out of his skin when I touched them.

I initially thought it to be un-shed skin that didn't come off correctly so I gently, and I mean GENTLY, brushed at it with my finger for no more than a second and it began to bleed a small amount.

My gut is telling me it is a burn or reaction to his new light. A 50watt Sunray. I am sure someone will jump on that if it's the case.

Any ideas? I am going out of town for a spell and would hate for all hell to break loose in my absence...

Thanks everyone!

 

[carol5208]

That looks like some type of fungal infection. I would get him to a vet. Have it cultured.

 

[laurie]

I agree it looks like a burn. I would see a vet before I left town. How close is the new light to your Cham?

 

[carol5208]

That would be an odd place for a burn

 

[WilcoxAE]

The light is about 10 inches from him when he basks. I might get a 35 watt bulb overnighted to replace it...?

It is odd for a burn but then they ARE on the parts of his skin that lack pigment (he's a tranny...translucent...pah ah ha ha! )

Being New York Schitty, the earliest appointment I could get is next week and I have my doubts with their skills as an exotic veterinarian, and that is following my departure so a vet trip is almost not a possibility. I didn't notice these marks until today. I swear I didn't notice them yesterday and this seemed to almost pop up overnight...

Has anyone else had "burned" chameleons? What was the treatment? Would it be wise to clean it with beta dyne and apply some sort of topical ointment?

Best I got.

 

[shmeenakoz]

It really could be both. Fungus is opportunistic, so a burn sight would be a great place to hunker down and thrive. Wouldn't hurt to have a culture, that way no matter what could now be growing can be treated with the proper drugs, i.e. anti-fungal vs anti-bacterial.

 

[WilcoxAE]

Know of any OTC antifungals that are Chameleon approved?

 

[JamesBryan]

Zoo Med do a Repti Wound Healing Aid, which is an anti-septic spray for the skin. Might be worth giving that a try.

 

[LilBlue]

Does look like a burn, although it is on an odd spot, can still happen. I see my chams in some really funny basking positions. I use betadine for burns, and everything else skin related. You can use it full strength as a swab, 50/50 with water as a spray(spray outside cage so he doesn't rub it into his eyes, I think the swab is the best way to go).You can pick it up at drug stores like Shoppers or London Drugs. I've also used the polysporin "on the go" spray when it's too difficult to handle a reptile for too long because they hurt. I used it twice so far with no problems. Typically if you use polysporin it has to be the non-fast healing kind with no pain killers, which is hard to find, they all have that, but the no name brands are just the regular stuff(wal mart - equate brand is what I keep on hand).

 

[carol5208]

Silver Sulfadiazine(sp) is very good but not otc

 

[ZiggyStardust]

It does look a bit like a burn, but if you look closely at the picture, the skin almost looks "moist" at the edges and that leads me to think that there might be some sort of fungal infection going on here....

OP - I know that you say that it might not be possible to get to a vet, and you have been looking for some solutions on here, but my honest advice to you would be to try to get your chameleon looked at before the Christmas holiday period kicks in.... if you don't and this is a fungal infection, then by the new year it could have become very much worse.

 

[carol5208]

Could have started as a burn that is now infected after looking at it on my computer. I was looking at a small pic on my phone before. Whatever the case, If he were mine, I would take him to a vet.

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

You dont need a specialized heat bulb, just get a regular incandescent house bulb of the right wattage to provide the heat you need. Play with the wattage and height above the cage to get optimal conditions. I used a 60 watt bulb with ambient house temps of 68-70 degrees

 

[shmeenakoz]

As I said before along with another, you need it cultured! Any vet can swab it and send it to the lab. There is no need for a herp vet. The microbiologists who actually take out the swab and "plant" it will also be the ones interpreting what they see on the plate. It can take a day or so depending on the agars used. If it is a fungus it can take up to a week, so its best to get that done sooner than later.

 

[WilcoxAE]

Howdy all and happy new year...belated...

Just an update and hopefully helpful to others.

Alright, so I didn't have any time to go to a vet (2 hours outside of New York Schitty) before I flew out for holiday.

So...

Did the best thing I could think of. Bacitracin ointment! (Neosporin basically.)

Bacitracin ointment is basitracin zinc and used to prevent infection in burns and scrapes.

The points of question on my male translucent male were the areas of white patches right next to dark black patches. I am assuming that those areas seem to be more sensitive to high intensity light than other areas. This is a newer strain after all. Interesting that this strain was initially discovered in the wild no? Doesn't it get ya thinkin?

Anywho, bacitracin coated the spots. Left it there. A few days later it seemed to almost be a gooey scab. The male began to shed and I very gently with a qtip, rubbed off the burn area what would come off on it's own without any extra effort. Anything that didn't, I left alone. Topped it with a little more neosporin and a few days later, repeat.

All is well. He seems to be doing fine. He has one spot left.

Hope this helps someone else! Comments welcome.