Stuck Shed - Need Advice

[Kbomb]

Hey everyone,

I posted a pic of my 4 month old panther who had a bit of stuck shed over the top of his right eye. I followed some responses advice and left it alone hoping it would fall off, but he just went through another full body shed and the same spot seems to be stuck. I am hoping someone could provide some guidance as to what steps to take from here.

Chameleon Info:
- Male Panther Chameleon
- 4 Months old
- ExoTerra Large Screen cage 36x18x36
- Reptizoo High Pressure Misting system
- Reptisun 5.0 UVB
- 75 Watt ExoTerra Basking Spot lamp
- T8HO UVB Hood 30”
- Household Cool Mist Humidifier
- Cricket Crack gutload
- ZooMed Electronic Humidity/Temp Gauge

That’s should be everything. Here are two photos one from my prior post and one I just took today.

 

[CamoChameleonsHuman]

@Brodybreaux25

 

[Beman]

Hey everyone,

I posted a pic of my 4 month old panther who had a bit of stuck shed over the top of his right eye. I followed some responses advice and left it alone hoping it would fall off, but he just went through another full body shed and the same spot seems to be stuck. I am hoping someone could provide some guidance as to what steps to take from here.

Chameleon Info:
- Male Panther Chameleon
- 4 Months old
- ExoTerra Large Screen cage 36x18x36
- Reptizoo High Pressure Misting system
- Reptisun 5.0 UVB
- 75 Watt ExoTerra Basking Spot lamp
- T8HO UVB Hood 30”
- Household Cool Mist Humidifier
- Cricket Crack gutload
- ZooMed Electronic Humidity/Temp Gauge

That’s should be everything. Here are two photos one from my prior post and one I just took today.

Hi there. I just looked at your last thread. Can you please fill out this form in total detail so we can provide thorough feedback.

Here is some recommended information to include when asking for help in the health clinic forum. By providing this information you will receive more accurate and beneficial responses. It might not be necessary to answer all these questions, but the more you provide the better. Please remember that even the most knowledgeable person can only guess at what your problem may be. Only an experienced reptile veterinarian who can directly examine your animal can give a true diagnosis of your chameleon's health.


Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• 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 - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------

Please Note:

1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
2. Photos can be very helpful.

 

[Kbomb]

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - Panther Chameleon, Male, 4 Months Old, In Care 3 Weeks
Handling - Never, Exercising using food enticement in progress, but no handling is forced.
Feeding - Morning or Early afternoon depending on constraints, I feed BSFL, Crickets, Superworms(Rarely and only 1), I gutload the superworms with Flukers High-Calcium diet and I gutload the crickets with Cricket Crack.
Supplements - I supplement with Reptical Calcium w/o D3 daily, Flukers Calcium with D3 once every other week, and I supplement ExoTerra Multivitamin once every other week.
Watering - ReptiZoo High Pressure misting system. Low Setting, Every 2 hours, for 1 minute. or Medium setting every 4 hours for 2 minutes.
Fecal Description - Black fecal, white Urate, not tested for parasites, fecal matter is moist yet firm.
History - He has had a bit of stuck shed over his right eye since I got him 3 weeks ago as shown in the first image.

Cage Info:

Cage Type - ExoTerra Large Screen Cage 36x18x36
Lighting - ZooMed Deep Dome with 75W ExoTerra Basking Spot Bulb, 30"Reptisun T8HO hood with Reptisun 5.0 UVB, Lights on at 7am, lights off at 10pm.
Temperature - Lowest temp 72' Daytime Highest 93' Basking Spot Daytime. Lowest Temp nightime. 70' Ambient
Humidity - Range from 40% to 65% Daily based on when humidifier is on in the morning and at night, off during mid day. Digital Hygrometer.
Plants - Fake Silk Foliage, with two live pothos at the bottom of the terrarium.
Placement - Bathroom, elevated, 3 feet, fan 10 feet away oscelating to maintain ambient daytime temp at or below 78'.
Location - Northern Idaho

 

[Kbomb]

Side Note: 12 hour day/night cycle is impossible with current circumstances based on the structure of our house. I can cycle the lights to go off and on every 12 hours, but natural sunlight with bleed through at 7 am and the sun is up until 9:00pm regardless of what I do, so he will not be in complete darkness.

 

[AmandaS]

Side Note: 12 hour day/night cycle is impossible with current circumstances based on the structure of our house. I can cycle the lights to go off and on every 12 hours, but natural sunlight with bleed through at 7 am and the sun is up until 9:00pm regardless of what I do, so he will not be in complete darkness.

Unless you get a cover. That might help.

 

[Beman]

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - Panther Chameleon, Male, 4 Months Old, In Care 3 Weeks
Handling - Never, Exercising using food enticement in progress, but no handling is forced.
Feeding - Morning or Early afternoon depending on constraints, I feed BSFL, Crickets, Superworms(Rarely and only 1), I gutload the superworms with Flukers High-Calcium diet and I gutload the crickets with Cricket Crack.
Supplements - I supplement with Reptical Calcium w/o D3 daily, Flukers Calcium with D3 once every other week, and I supplement ExoTerra Multivitamin once every other week.
Watering - ReptiZoo High Pressure misting system. Low Setting, Every 2 hours, for 1 minute. or Medium setting every 4 hours for 2 minutes.
Fecal Description - Black fecal, white Urate, not tested for parasites, fecal matter is moist yet firm.
History - He has had a bit of stuck shed over his right eye since I got him 3 weeks ago as shown in the first image.

Cage Info:

Cage Type - ExoTerra Large Screen Cage 36x18x36
Lighting - ZooMed Deep Dome with 75W ExoTerra Basking Spot Bulb, 30"Reptisun T8HO hood with Reptisun 5.0 UVB, Lights on at 7am, lights off at 10pm.
Temperature - Lowest temp 72' Daytime Highest 93' Basking Spot Daytime. Lowest Temp nightime. 70' Ambient
Humidity - Range from 40% to 65% Daily based on when humidifier is on in the morning and at night, off during mid day. Digital Hygrometer.
Plants - Fake Silk Foliage, with two live pothos at the bottom of the terrarium.
Placement - Bathroom, elevated, 3 feet, fan 10 feet away oscelating to maintain ambient daytime temp at or below 78'.
Location - Northern Idaho

Ok so I am going to go through line by line so give me a few to do this.... Do you have additional images of your cage and lighting currently that you could post?

 

[Kbomb]

Couple of Enclosure photos, the hood is actually a 24 inch.

 

[Beman]

Couple of Enclosure photos, the hood is actually a 24 inch.

Ok now what is the distance between the top of the screen and where his highest perch is below the T8?

 

[cloverthechameleon]

It will come off on its own just leave it. Lower your basking temps a little bit, 93 is abit high for a panther that small. switch to a 60 watt regular incondescent house bulb. Also where did you get that misting system ive never seen one of those before, very interesting.

 

[Kbomb]

Ok now what is the distance between the top of the screen and where his highest perch is below the T8?

12 inches

 

[Kbomb]

It will come off on its own just leave it. Lower your basking temps a little bit, 93 is abit high for a panther that small. switch to a 60 watt regular incondescent house bulb. Also where did you get that misting system ive never seen one of those before, very interesting.

Amazon

 

[cloverthechameleon]

There is no need to buy actual reptile basking lights ie, (exo terra, zoomed ect) they are overpriced and have a short life cycle. regular household halogen or incondescent bulbs work just fine.

 

[Beman]

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - Panther Chameleon, Male, 4 Months Old, In Care 3 Weeks
Handling - Never, Exercising using food enticement in progress, but no handling is forced.
Feeding - Morning or Early afternoon depending on constraints, I feed BSFL, Crickets, Superworms(Rarely and only 1), I gutload the superworms with Flukers High-Calcium diet and I gutload the crickets with Cricket Crack.
Supplements - I supplement with Reptical Calcium w/o D3 daily, Flukers Calcium with D3 once every other week, and I supplement ExoTerra Multivitamin once every other week.
Watering - ReptiZoo High Pressure misting system. Low Setting, Every 2 hours, for 1 minute. or Medium setting every 4 hours for 2 minutes.
Fecal Description - Black fecal, white Urate, not tested for parasites, fecal matter is moist yet firm.
History - He has had a bit of stuck shed over his right eye since I got him 3 weeks ago as shown in the first image.

Cage Info:

Cage Type - ExoTerra Large Screen Cage 36x18x36
Lighting - ZooMed Deep Dome with 75W ExoTerra Basking Spot Bulb, 30"Reptisun T8HO hood with Reptisun 5.0 UVB, Lights on at 7am, lights off at 10pm.
Temperature - Lowest temp 72' Daytime Highest 93' Basking Spot Daytime. Lowest Temp nightime. 70' Ambient
Humidity - Range from 40% to 65% Daily based on when humidifier is on in the morning and at night, off during mid day. Digital Hygrometer.
Plants - Fake Silk Foliage, with two live pothos at the bottom of the terrarium.
Placement - Bathroom, elevated, 3 feet, fan 10 feet away oscelating to maintain ambient daytime temp at or below 78'.
Location - Northern Idaho

Ok See all feedback in Red bold. Let me know what questions you have.


Your Chameleon - Panther Chameleon, Male, 4 Months Old, In Care 3 Weeks
Handling - Never, Exercising using food enticement in progress, but no handling is forced.
Feeding - Morning or Early afternoon depending on constraints, I feed BSFL, Crickets, Superworms(Rarely and only 1), I gutload the superworms with Flukers High-Calcium diet and I gutload the crickets with Cricket Crack. Feeding in morning will be better so that he can digest all day. let him eat as much as he wants with the crickets. He is more then likely eating about 18 feeders each day which is good and normal.
Supplements - I supplement with Reptical Calcium w/o D3 daily, Flukers Calcium with D3 once every other week, and I supplement ExoTerra Multivitamin once every other week. This is good. Make sure that your multivitamin and calcium with D3 are being rotated on opposite weeks from each other.
Watering - ReptiZoo High Pressure misting system. Low Setting, Every 2 hours, for 1 minute. or Medium setting every 4 hours for 2 minutes. This is good. I would lean more toward a longer misting session just because it takes them a bit to clean their eyes. But watch your humidity levels.
Fecal Description - Black fecal, white Urate, not tested for parasites, fecal matter is moist yet firm. I would get him tested for parasites. Call around to reptile vets and see if anyone will let you bring in a fecal for testing without having to bring the baby in. put the fecal in a plastic baggy then take in.
History - He has had a bit of stuck shed over his right eye since I got him 3 weeks ago as shown in the first image. Stuck shed is typically due to improper nutrition, gutload, or humidity levels. So since he came to you like this your working at a disadvantage needing to make sure everything is perfect.

Cage Info:

Cage Type - ExoTerra Large Screen Cage 36x18x36 You need some sort of drip pan... You can find something like shoe mats that have a rim or even build your own wood base and edge then use flexseal so that it holds the water. You don't want water sitting in the bottom. This cage I am sure you know will need to be upgraded for him as he gets older.
Lighting - ZooMed Deep Dome with 75W ExoTerra Basking Spot Bulb, 30"Reptisun T8HO hood with Reptisun 5.0 UVB, Lights on at 7am, lights off at 10pm. So I would do a 12 hour cycle and get a black out curtain to wrap around the cage then remove when you go to bed. I have to do a curtain as well. It works wonderfully and provides total darkness for him. I just sewed on little hooks so that I can hook it to clasps onto my cage frame.
Temperature - Lowest temp 72' Daytime Highest 93' Basking Spot Daytime. Lowest Temp nightime. 70' Ambient Too hot at basking. needs to be more like 82ish. You can try a regular incandescent bulb that is a lower wattage or lift the basking lamp higher. Get a temp gun off amazon they are only 15 bucks and give you an exact reading.
Humidity - Range from 40% to 65% Daily based on when humidifier is on in the morning and at night, off during mid day. Digital Hygrometer. I would move the humidifier further away from him since you are using it during the day. The concern here is that moist air with the hot lights can create a respiratory infection. What are your levels without it running during the day? Typically we run these at night only when the cage is at its coolest. It can be used during the day but you want it to be farther away from the cage in my opinion.
Plants - Fake Silk Foliage, with two live pothos at the bottom of the terrarium.
Placement - Bathroom, elevated, 3 feet, fan 10 feet away oscelating to maintain ambient daytime temp at or below 78'. Is this a bathroom you use?
Location - Northern Idaho


Here is some additional info as well.
www.dragonstrand.com fantastic enclosures
www.chameleonbreeder.com great podcast full of info on chams
www.lightyourreptiles.com if you ever need other lighting fixtures. I love his quad T5's

Your care sheet https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/panther/

 

[Beman]

12 inches

Ok this is too far away to get the proper UVB... I am not as good with T8's but I am going to tag in someone else here...

@nightanole They have a T8 with a 5.0 bulb at 12inches away from basking. I am not good with the T8's the way I am with T5's what is the best distance to achieve a 3UVI for a Panther?

 

[Kbomb]

It will come off on its own just leave it. Lower your basking temps a little bit, 93 is abit high for a panther that small. switch to a 60 watt regular incondescent house bulb. Also where did you get that misting system ive never seen one of those before, very interesting.

That is the hottest it gets at the perch right underneath the spot lamp. Changing the bulb is a catch 22 because the screen under the lamp gets hotter than his normal basking perch so I had to raise the lamp using those wood 1x1s. If I change the bulb his basking spot will get down into the mid 80s, but the screen top would be well over 90 because I’d have to place the lamp directly on the screen top to maintain that temperature range. This coupled with the misting system dropping the temp every 2-4 hours would just negate the usefulness of the basking spot all together. It would rarely get over 82, which I could do without a basking spot at all. The setup I have now gets a little too hot(93’) very briefly between misting, but since I have it raised off of the screen he won’t burn himself from climbing upside down underneath the bulb because the distance keeps the temp of the screen from getting into a dangerous territory. He doesn’t do very often, but I have seen him do it.

 

[cloverthechameleon]

If the basking perch gets to 93 degrees now propped up, lowering the wattage either by a dimmer or by switching out to a lower wattage bulb would probably get you in the sweet spot.

 

[mkeBob]

I would buy a dimmer switch for your basking bulb. You can leave in the same location and just turn it down to the correct temp.

clover you beat me to it.

 

[Kbomb]

Ok, I’ll get a dimmer or another bulb to try an lower the temp there, my temp gun just showed it at 84, so it definitely fluctuates. Regardless of the basking temp, the tiny portion of shed needs to come off shortly because I am primarily concerned about it compounding and causing issues. Should I use a Qtip or Softbrush to gently try to remove the shed?

 

[nightanole]

Ok this is too far away to get the proper UVB... I am not as good with T8's but I am going to tag in someone else here...

@nightanole They have a T8 with a 5.0 bulb at 12inches away from basking. I am not good with the T8's the way I am with T5's what is the best distance to achieve a 3UVI for a Panther?

Uh with a T8 5.0, rub the cham against the bulb...

You cant get even 1.0 UVI out of the bulb. I believe its limit is .5 UVI at 6".

T8 5.0 is for "tank" lizards such as geckos and anoles. Things with foot tall cages that have no problem running up the side of the tank and sunning themselves directly under the bulb


PS havent read this thread, just responding to beman request.


Proper distance for a T8 5.0