Strange white dot on his nostril

[vladdimir26]

Today I took Spyro out of his cage for his daily 1-hour-free-ranging. I noticed there was a white little stick out dot on one of his nostrils. I gently poked it and it was pretty solid. When I went to gently poke it again I was able to get it off without even trying. I can now see his nostril and it doesn't seem to be blocked by anything else anymore. I am not sure what this was but I was wondering if you guys maybe knew what it was. I attached some pictures here so you can see it. Also filled how to ask for help. P.S!!!! He recently just finished shedding!

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male veiled chameleon. 4 months old( i think)Have had him maybe 2 weeks and a half
Handling - Handle him once a day for maybe 7 mins then put him on one of his fav plants for about 30-60 mins. He is a very chilled guy and doesn't show signs of fear. Will actually crawl into my hand.
Feeding - Feeding him adult size crickets. 8 crickets every day at about 1:00 pm. Gut loading crickets with wet gut-load blended mixtures of cabbage, lettuce, apples, bananas, bell peppers, oat meal, tomatoes and carrots.
Supplements - Rep-cal WITHOUT D3 everyday, Repti-Cal with D3 and herpetive multivitamins twice a month.
Watering - Cup drip system into one of those leaves. Mist him maybe 4 times a day for a minute. I do have seen him drink
Fecal Description - Poop is just brown and in the white part, no orange so no signs of dehydration. It does smell if you smell it really close but I guess thats how all chameleon's doo doo smells! He has not been tested for parasites
History - I got him from Petco. I have bought all my pets from that store and all of them were nice and healthy. Their cage was actually very tall with lots of plants and a drip system. So I'm not too concerned about it. He has also been trying to eat some of the soil of my plant, but I already covered it, but he still finds very tiny little pieces through the creeks between the rocks.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Full mesh cage 12x18x20
Lighting - For UVB just a 5.0 Repti-Glo 26w screw-in bulb, (not the linear tube long one) for for heat/UVA just a 60 watt regular bulb with a ceramic heat lamp that I got from the pet store.
Temperature - The cage temps are about 72s in the cool side and about 87-89 in basking spot.(basking branch is about 5-6 inches from the heat lamp) In the night it's in the cool 65s.
Humidity - Humidity is always keeping the ranges from 40-60%. I am having trouble keeping the humidity levels up since it's winter with heat turned so the air gets really dry. Have to mist him really often (more than 5 times a day) to keep the humidity up. Mist him for about 1 min, other wise the cage would be too soaking wet.
Plants - Both of my plants are real. I have a ficus benjamin bonsai, and a pothos.
Placement - Cage is in my room. Very low traffic area. Close to a window(which is close) it's about 2 ft from the floor. Not near any air conditioner or anything like that
Current Problem - There was a white dot on one of his nostrils.

Heres the link to his 4 pictures
http://www.flickr.com/photos/72364259@N02/6629305727/in/photostream/lightbox/

 

[snipeusa14]

its either shedding or extracting salts i think it was.....idk what they extract but its white

 

[StickyTongues]

white crust on the nose could also be a sign or over supplementation. i would try skipping a couple days of dusting.
The cage size you have seems to be a bit small for a Veiled. I would look into getting him in something bigger. Nice looking chams you have in those pics.

Danny

 

[StickyTongues]

white crust on the nose could also be a sign or over supplementation. i would try skipping a couple days of dusting.
The cage size you have seems to be a bit small for a veiled. I would look into getting him in something bigger. Nice looking chams you have in those pics.

Danny

 

[camimom]

white crust on the nose could also be a sign or over supplementation. i would try skipping a couple days of dusting.
The cage size you have seems to be a bit small for a panther. I would look into getting him in something bigger. Nice looking chams you have in those pics.

Danny

not a panther, spyro is a veiled. and hes only 4 months old.

 

[StickyTongues]

lol.. thats what i ment.

Danny

 

[Elizadolots]

I wouldn't skip dusting any days as this is a young chameleon. If it is caused by over supplementation, the crust is not harmful. So, can just be ignored. If you want it to go away, I would suggest reducing the amount of calcium used at every feeding. You can also just dust half the feeders (every day). Up the misting for a few days and the crust should go away.

 

[vladdimir26]

white crust on the nose could also be a sign or over supplementation. i would try skipping a couple days of dusting.
The cage size you have seems to be a bit small for a Veiled. I would look into getting him in something bigger. Nice looking chams you have in those pics.

Danny

Thanks. I think I over did it today. Since it was the 2nd of jan I needed to dust his crickets with his calcium with d3 and multivitamins and his calcium without d3. I don't know if it's ok to mix those 3 when ever its his "special" supplementation days. Also I think i shouldn't have given him the two calciums today. Only the D3 one should have been enough.

 

[vladdimir26]

white crust on the nose could also be a sign or over supplementation. i would try skipping a couple days of dusting.
The cage size you have seems to be a bit small for a Veiled. I would look into getting him in something bigger. Nice looking chams you have in those pics.

Danny

That cage was the tank I had him for 2 days while his new cage arrived. He is already in a bigger cage.

 

[Sikchick341]

The white crust is not over supplementation but salt excretions which is normal. Nothing to worry about.

 

[Elizadolots]

The best guess is it's excretion of calcium salt caused by over supplementing. The calcium supplements we use are calcium salt.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Frequently Asked Questions

The third question down addresses salt excretion through the nose.

 

[ChameleonNerd]

my girl had that re-occurring for the longest time. try blowing on it. they blew right off of my girls nose.

 

[Elizadolots]

Putting something in a thread and labeling it FAQ does not make it a fact. The theory that it's "salt" but not calcium salt is based on the research of Lisa Hazard.

I believe that research has been grossly misinterpreted.

Dr. Hazard proved that the salt gland of an iguana adapted to the environmental salt, that it was not restricted to any one salt. Whatever salt it adapted to, the gland would continue to excrete throughout the animal's life.

Her report can be read here: http://bio.research.ucsc.edu/~barrylab/Lisa/PDFs/Hazardchap06proof.pdf

(that's a .pdf file)

She says in her report:

The ontogeny of salt glands in lizards has not been studied, and it is possible that individuals exposed to different ions early in life may retain a tendency to secrete different ions in a laboratory situation

Different being something other than the potassium and sodium that the iguanas she studied excreted.

As captive raised chameleons are exposed to calcium salt in considerable quantity, logic says their salt glands will adapt to excrete calcium salt.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

I never claimed it was a fact. You put forth your advice and so did I. While you may think calcium is involved you have yet to provide any proof of it. In what I have found it exclusively mentions salts other than calcium (sodium, potassium and chloride), meaning they have proof of those salts repeatedly but have not found calcium as one of them. It is possible that is may be involved, but you don't actually have anything to say so. And the research doesn't weigh in your favor.

I actually think that it is you that is misinterpreting one sentence that on its own could be viewed as supporting evidence. However, in the entire 11 page PDF you link to where you got your quote it does not mention calcium, or any other salt besides sodium, potassium or chloride as components even once. It mentions variety of composition of these salts in the ratio of sodium to potassium, not ever implying that the variety may be in relation to other salts of any significant quantity. IF calcium can be excreted through this salt gland it would be a very minor contribution, and possibly not even enough to be measured, or else it seems like someone would have found it, especially when this study is focused exclusively on the content of the salt excretion. And if that is the case then it really should not even be considered because it would not be causing the salt buildup we see. The driving factor would still be the primary components of sodium, chloride and potassium.

As captive raised chameleons are exposed to calcium salt in considerable quantity, logic says their salt glands will adapt to excrete calcium salt.

Maybe...but more probably not. Something that is evolved for a particular purpose cannot be repurposed so easily. Sodium, chloride and potassium are very important ions for water regulation of your body water on a cellular level. Too much or too little of any or the wrong ratio of any of them together can have very significant effects ranging from overwhelming dehydration causing lack of proper perfusion and cellular death to cellular swelling that can lead to fatal brain edema or lysis of cells (incompatible with life) or heart abnormalities in the case of potassium that can cause fatal arrhthymias. For this reason extra regulatory measures may be needed to complement excretion by the kidney to make sure those devastating effects do not occur. Calcium does not have an effect on water balance, and while a deficiency can be devastating to a reptile, that would not necessitate the excretion from a gland. And too much calcium in the system can have damaging effects over a long period of time (which gives the body enough time to compensate for it usually), especially if phosphorus is off, but the kidneys easily excrete excess calcium and we never see this causing problems. So why need a backup if it is easily excreted and doesn't have life threatening consequences if the level in the body if off? If the water balance is off the kidneys undergo changes that don't allow them to control the levels of chloride, potassium and sodium as well in response to water balance changes. In that case a backup method of excretion seems prudent. But it doesn't make any sense that calcium would need that system. So logic of the more cellular levels affected and why the system is in place dictates that calcium wouldn't need to be excreted through the salt gland.

I hate to argue with you, but I still see nothing that supports that the salt gland would excrete calcium.

In the end I think that the all too common lack of adequate calcium that we see in chameleons makes it paramount that we continue to provide calcium to ensure proper growth and development and to prevent MBD. I hate to see people stop using calcium for fear that it is causing the salt buildup we are seeing (which is totally harmless regardless) when there is no evidence that that is the case and we see MBD much too often.

 

[Elizadolots]

You pointed to your thread labeled FAQ and suggested it was the answer...that suggests you believed it was, in fact, a FACT.

I'm not trying to be hostile, I'm just saying I think Dr. Hazard's research has been misinterpreted.

Dr. Hazard's research seems (if I read things on the internet correctly) to be designed to prove that the salt gland is infinitely adaptable, so not necessarily the gift of a creatively designing God.

I suggest you read the study Dr. Hazard wrote (I posted a link). She clearly proves that the gland which excretes sodium in one environment excretes potassium in another and she concludes that the gland would probably excrete any ion it was exposed to during growth.

I actually don't care if you want to think that it's not calcium (for whatever reason) but on this board, the support for that stance seems to be Dr. Hazard's research (as posted by Kinyonga and carried on by you) and I believe that is a gross misrepresentation of Dr. Hazard's research.

Currently, it seems I'm the only one who's bothered to read her report...

**edited to add**

Ask yourself why some chameleons have the "white stuff around the nose" but others don't.

Ask yourself why some chameleons have issues with excess calcium and others don't.

Dr. Hazard's theory would answer those questions. Chameleons raised with calcium supplementation would excrete excess calcium through their salt glands. Chameleons not raised with calcium supplementation would be subject to the normal problems of excess calcium like kidney and bladder stones.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Ironic that you say that I claim false facts when you have absolutely nothing to support your own "fact" that you refuse to reconsider. I just read her report again from start to finish and find nothing to support your claims at all. The fact you imply that I havent is actually quite an immature lash out. And I gave you some more data to consider - did you read it at all? Consider it at all? It makes more sense to consider the science behind it than believing your gut feeling.

"Dr. Hazard's research seems (if I read things on the internet correctly) to be designed to prove that the salt gland is infinitely adaptable, so not necessarily the gift of a creatively designing God."

Please provide the evidence where Dr. Hazard says it is "infinitely adaptable". I saw no such claim whatsoever. I do not believe you are reading it correctly at all actually. You are adapting her words to what you want them to say to try to be right. It is not just one environment either. She posted salt gland compositions from 16 different species of lizards. Most have drastically different environments than marine iguanas. And still no mention of calcium.

You wrote to Dr. Hazard asking this question. Ever get a response?

 

[Elizadolots]

Well...I already provided that, but here you go again:

it is possible that individuals exposed to different ions early in life may retain a tendency to secrete different ions in a laboratory situation

Is that somehow unclear?

**edited again***

Here's what she says in the intro to her study:

An underlying, sometimes unstated, assumption of studies on marine species has been that their glands are adapted for sodium excretion, whereas the glands of terrestrial herbivores are adapted for potassium secretion. However, it is possible that there is little or no difference in the actual secretory capabilities of the glands of marine and terrestrial species, and that the sodium or potassium secretion observed in the field is simply dictated by dietary ion content.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

It is entirely unclear. Never once does it say calcium. For all you know she could be talking about magnesium. And it also says that it is possible. Meaning no one has proven it or quite possibly even looked at it. She's leaving the option open since she can't definitively say otherwise based on her research. But infinitely adaptable? That is a far stretch.

 

[Solid Snake]

I also find it unclear, this is the first time ive seen any other info other than someone saying "its salt chill" and I find it interesting.