White Crust

[giannarodd]

It’s been about 2 weeks since my parents surprised me with my first chameleon, Edwin (2months old). I allowed him to acclimate to his environment so that we wouldn’t stress him out, only interacting with him when I was feeding and misting his enclosure. When my parents first brought him to me he had a burn on his right side- most likely from a heat lamp. Today when I finally held him I noticed a crust forming in the same spot as the burn. He’s also been having some issues feeding with crickets but ate 10 meal worms today and drank a ton of water which softened the crust on his eye and it just came off. I’m not sure if I should be concerned, or if I should be doing something different. Any advice is incredibly appreciated

 

[Cianb]

Is it affecting him at all?

 

[Cianb]

My Cham wouldn’t eat for about 3 weeks when I got it but after a while he started eating crickets
Make sure the crickets aren’t to big
And don’t feed him loads of mealworms there usually are a treat If you keep feeding him them you will end up with a fat chameleon but if he isn’t eating just keep on with the meal worms
Could it not be shed?

 

[Thehippie]

its most likely the healing of the burn, or an infection of the burn. was the burn healed when you got him or was it still an open wound

 

[Theveiled]

I would feed super worms instead of meal worms, as they can cause impaction. I know veiled can get salt build ups by their nose which are usually white, but the white patch is larger than any salt buildup I have seen so I'm not 100% sure if that is what it is

 

[Thehippie]

I would feed super worms instead of meal worms, as they can cause impaction. I know veiled can get salt build ups by their nose which are usually white, but the white patch is larger than any salt buildup I have seen so I'm not 100% sure if that is what it is

yea i was thinking the same thing!!!

 

[Graves923]

Looking at the photo of the cham in the christmas tree makes me think a possible injury of some sort but it also looks like a salt build up. Chameleons, and most other reptiles, excrete excess salt through a gland inside their nasal passages. If that is a salt build up I would look at your water source. When I got my cham I used tap water and constantly had small salt build ups around his nostrils. Switched over to distilled water and havent seen any white crust since.

Now that I an re-reading your original post its most likely the damaged skin in the process of shedding. All part of the healing process. Keep an eye on it and it should fall off on its own.

 

[giannarodd]

My Cham wouldn’t eat for about 3 weeks when I got it but after a while he started eating crickets
Make sure the crickets aren’t to big
And don’t feed him loads of mealworms there usually are a treat If you keep feeding him them you will end up with a fat chameleon but if he isn’t eating just keep on with the meal worms
Could it not be shed?

Thanks for the advice! I had been feeding him large and small crickets, just seeing which one works best, but there would always be leftover crickets running around all day. He's a big fan of the meal worms and eats them right from my hand. This morning he started his first shed, so I'm pretty sure it was the beginning stages of it.

 

[giannarodd]

its most likely the healing of the burn, or an infection of the burn. was the burn healed when you got him or was it still an open wound

nope, it had scabbed over by the time I got him.

 

[giannarodd]

Looking at the photo of the cham in the christmas tree makes me think a possible injury of some sort but it also looks like a salt build up. Chameleons, and most other reptiles, excrete excess salt through a gland inside their nasal passages. If that is a salt build up I would look at your water source. When I got my cham I used tap water and constantly had small salt build ups around his nostrils. Switched over to distilled water and havent seen any white crust since.

Now that I an re-reading your original post its most likely the damaged skin in the process of shedding. All part of the healing process. Keep an eye on it and it should fall off on its own.

thank you so much, i really appreciate it

 

[giannarodd]

I would feed super worms instead of meal worms, as they can cause impaction. I know veiled can get salt build ups by their nose which are usually white, but the white patch is larger than any salt buildup I have seen so I'm not 100% sure if that is what it is

thank you! I'll start introducing them into his diet! is it okay to dust them with calcium or do i just feed them as is?

 

[Syreptyon]

What is your supplementation schedule like? That looks like excess salt buildup to me. I don't think it looks anything like a burn.

 

[giannarodd]

What is your supplementation schedule like? That looks like excess salt buildup to me. I don't think it looks anything like a burn.

supplementation schedule?

 

[Syreptyon]

supplementation schedule?

Yes. You dust his insects before feeding them to him, right?

 

[giannarodd]

Yes. You dust his insects before feeding them to him, right?

yes, i've been dusting 12 crickets a week in calcium. Yesterday i gave him his first mealworms and he seemed to love them, should i dust them too?

 

[Syreptyon]

yes, i've been dusting 12 crickets a week in calcium. Yesterday i gave him his first mealworms and he seemed to love them, should i dust them too?

You should never feed mealworms to chameleons. They offer no nutritional value and are very difficult to digest, which leads to impaction. It isn't worth the risk.

Do you only have that one supplement you use for him? He needs 3 different types. (1) EVERY DAY: dust all feeders with calcium powder without D3; (2) TWICE A MONTH: dust all feeders with calcium powder with vitamin D3; (3) TWICE A MONTH: dust all feeders with a multivitamin.

It is absolutely essential to your chameleon's health that you include all of these in the appropriate amounts or you will end up with a very sick little guy.
I strongly encourage you to give the following link a very thorough read through. It is clear that you are not altogether familiar with how to care for your new animal: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

What type of enclosure is he living in? What are its dimensions?

 

[giannarodd]

You should never feed mealworms to chameleons. They offer no nutritional value and are very difficult to digest, which leads to impaction. It isn't worth the risk.

Do you only have that one supplement you use for him? He needs 3 different types. (1) EVERY DAY: dust all feeders with calcium powder without D3; (2) TWICE A MONTH: dust all feeders with calcium powder with vitamin D3; (3) TWICE A MONTH: dust all feeders with a multivitamin.

It is absolutely essential to your chameleon's health that you include all of these in the appropriate amounts or you will end up with a very sick little guy.
I strongly encourage you to give the following link a very thorough read through. It is clear that you are not altogether familiar with how to care for your new animal: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

What type of enclosure is he living in? What are its dimensions?

thank you for the brutal honesty. Which worms, in your opinion, do you advise i should stick to?

I have only had him for two weeks, so ive only been dusting his crickets as advised to me by the pet store i bought him from (12 crickets a week).

How should I measure how much calcium and multivitamins I give him per feeding and month?

He is living in a full screen enclosure 16"x 16"x 30" tall

 

[Thehippie]

thank you for the brutal honesty. Which worms, in your opinion, do you advise i should stick to?

I have only had him for two weeks, so ive only been dusting his crickets as advised to me by the pet store i bought him from (12 crickets a week).

How should I measure how much calcium and multivitamins I give him per feeding and month?

He is living in a full screen enclosure 16"x 16"x 30" tall

silk worms bsfl bsf bbf and roaches like oranges ivorys and dubias are good for a starter staple diet.
just sprinkle maybe half a teaspoon to a teaspoon depending on the size of the feeders and how many and shake them around in a bag to coat them.

 

[giannarodd]

silk worms bsfl bsf bbf and roaches like oranges ivorys and dubias are good for a starter staple diet.
just sprinkle maybe half a teaspoon to a teaspoon depending on the size of the feeders and how many and shake them around in a bag to coat them.

thanks so much !

 

[Graves923]

Use just enough to dust each feeder. If the bugs turn white you are using too much. I use a old large pill bottle, toss the feeders in and put a pinch of supplement in then give it a shake. If they dont look dusty I'll add another pinch or less and shake again. Then pour the feeders into my chams feeding cup and wash the dusting container.

Calcium with D3 and the multivitamin are extremely important. Chameleons naturally produce D3 by absorbing UVB from the sun in the wild hence why we use UVB lights in our enclosures. Since these lights are not nearly as strong or efficient as the sun we need to supplement D3 into their diet.

Chameleons use D3 to help their bodies absorb and use the calcium they ingest through feeders and the plain calcium supplements. This is why when a chameleon is either lacking calcium or D3 they end up developing MBD (Metabolic bone disease) which is the loss or softening of bone tissues.