Weird growth and burn on my chameleon's crest

[Mort_Jack]

So I got Mort the 8 month old veiled chameleon about 5 months ago and he has been living quite fine and dandy. About a month ago I noticed a brown spot on top of his crest where normally it is bright yellow. I took a closer look at it and thought it looked like dead skin or a burn, but the hottest part of his cage (directly under the heat lamp) is only around 87 degrees so I thought there is no way it could be a burn. I decided to wait it out and see if it would heal on its own. It hasn’t. About a week ago a weird bump started forming at the top of his crest right under the brown spot and has steadily grown. He isn’t sensitive to me touching it and his appetite has not slowed. If anyone has any idea of what this could be and how to treat it please let me know. Thanks!

 

[bobbydigital]

Good looking boy. How far is the distance between his basking spot and the heat lamp?

 

[Mort_Jack]

It is about 3.5 inches away from his highest basking spot and only about 1 inch away from the top of his crest when he is basking.

 

[JacksJill]

I would either move his basking light up off the screen a bit or lower that highest branch. As you already know their casque is very prone to burning.
The bump could possibly be the dead skin/tissue getting ready to slough off, an abscess forming that is pushing up or just some scar tissue contracting. I can't tell from here and I'm sure there are other possibilities. If it persists past his next shedding or gets larger I would consider going to your vet to get it treated.

 

[Syreptyon]

That's interesting, at first I thought it just looked like a routine burn on a veiled's casque, but that swelling is a bit unusual. I would worry that the swelling could be a sign of inflammation due to an infection of some sort. What type of probe are you using to measure temperature?

 

[Mort_Jack]

That's interesting, at first I thought it just looked like a routine burn on a veiled's casque, but that swelling is a bit unusual. I would worry that the swelling could be a sign of inflammation due to an infection of some sort. What type of probe are you using to measure temperature?

I have a temperature gun that reads temperature in a direct spot but I also have a small thermometer that I keep on his main basking branch.

 

[Mort_Jack]

I would either move his basking light up off the screen a bit or lower that highest branch. As you already know their casque is very prone to burning.
The bump could possibly be the dead skin/tissue getting ready to slough off, an abscess forming that is pushing up or just some scar tissue contracting. I can't tell from here and I'm sure there are other possibilities. If it persists past his next shedding or gets larger I would consider going to your vet to get it treated.

Ok thanks. I’ll try lowering his branch and I will make sure to watch the bump