Why my chameleo has white head?

[koooorl]

Hi every one I am new in this web site and I am here because i want ask you about my chameleo. i read teh help how to post here so here are teh inportatn information:

Cage Info:

* Cage Type - 3 side wood (cover to look like rock) front glass top and on side the air holes
* Lighting - one light tube with UVB and one heating point light with UVA light
* Temperature - from 22-32 °C depent of the palce in cage I light him form 8 to 21
* Plants - I have about 10 kind of leave plant in cage
* Location - well this sound strange but I have the cage in my office whitch is situated in suteren of my house but this room is preaty light (but no straight sun lite)


Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Chameleon calypratus male 4 mounts old
* Feeding - I am feding him mosutly by flys whitch I am catching outside so tehya re nature 60%. Then I am giving him fly worms 2% (but very little they are fat) Then cricked form store 20% then moles 10% 8% others i give him 1 -2 middle size cricked per day plus 10-20 big flys 1-2 fly worms
and about 5-10 moles. The anture bugs I am not putting in calcium and vitaminec but the cricked and escaped flys i am (calcium+B+Mg+Si etc)
* Supplements - Most my feedign are form anture but the crickeds are eating carot and cole
* Watering - i am spraying him plant two time per day nad I have my own siple watering system small pipe slously droping water he is using a lot and i see him offen dring (more than I would expect)
* Fecal Description - the fecal is preaty big always three part join together first is moustly white then two black and whole is packed in some kind liquid
* History - i bought him when he was 3 weeks old from profesional from that time he is groving nicely and changing skin every 14-18 days.
* Current Problem - Ok here comes the probelm. Last weekedn i was out for couple days so my mam take care about my "chamik" but unfortunately the point heat light died so teh tempereture for three day was just 20 degre at day and maybe 17-18 in night and to make it worse the chameleon drop his skind at these days. When i came back i fix teh tempareture but from this time he has this strakge head color he had on whale body most of time but after last droping the skin he has this strage coler jsut in head. the head is mostly white with some black shales. The rest of body is changing color nature but the head is still strage and do not chage colors a much. so can anybody tell me what it means and if somebody seen this before and what I supposed to do?

And sorry for my english i can not write even in my nature language

 

[Marc10edora]

my juvenile female veiled looks exactly the same. Her head has begun to turn a little white. I figured that it might be a humidity problem, since I've had problems keeping a consistent humidity. I just bought a humidifier and am in the process of testing out the humidity problem. Hopefully this helps her. If her head is still white, then my next guess is that it is sunburn from the basking lights. One or two days ago the temp in the basking spot reached 90*f. Can anyone give some input on this, since I have a similar problem. If it is sunburn, then how can I treat her to recovery?

 

[Jewel]

To me it looks like she hasn't shed the skin on her head yet.

 

[Brian S]

But why are his eyes not white? What kind of supplements are you using?

 

[titan501x]

try misting her alot, if she hasn't shed that skin yet, she will after a few days of heavy direct misting.

 

[Jordan]

I would try to up your temperature. In the basking area maybe getting this to 35*C. The lower end of the cage 24*C seems like a better low. I would suggest keeping the humidity range in the 50-75% range.

I would suggest a couple diet changes. I would switch his cricket intake to 60% of his diet. These guys need to be gut loaded good. Carrots are not that good. If you are going to use them just use the tops. They are know to be high in oxcalates which can hender calcium absorbtion, although, the levels are dramatically lower in the heads of the carrots. I am not sure what "Cole" is? If this is cabbage in any form I would recommend that you stop using it. Cabbage has several forms of goitrogens. This can suppress thyroid functions. The types of goitrogens that are found in cabbage are also know to bind iodine. If the thyroid is denied iodine it will stop producing some chemicals and hormones. The condition is know as hypothyroidism. This could also impare skin production and shedding.

Two vitamin deficiencies that are know to cause problem shedding are: Vitamin B-2 (riboflavin) deficiency symptoms include skin appearance and problems shedding, Vitamin B-3 (niacin, niacinamide, nicotinc acid) deficiency symptoms include malfunctions in the nervous sytem, diarrhea, skin and shedding problems. All B vitamins (except B-12) have to be replenished daily and can not be stored in the body. Cabbage contains riboflavins and carrots contain niacin. It would be hard to tell at what level these could be absorbed if other problems where present.

My suggestion is not to try and figure out exactly what is going on. Rather start gut loading all your feeders with alot of variety. If you are going to use flies stick them into a container for a couple hours and have access to food. When you have to remove them simply stick them in the refridgerator for a couple minutes or spray them with water this will make them easier to handle. Out of what you named as feeder crickets are probably the best for gut loading potential so I would use them as my primary feeder. When he gets some more size try adding in feeders that are of substainal size that can eat good quanities. I personally like throwing some flies in the cage but not as a primary food source. There are various threads concerning gut loading and different feeders searching around on this site can help you to get some ideas there with what you have access to in your area.

What kind of supplements are you using?
How often are you using them?

 

[koooorl]

Hi thank you for your opinions.

1. I am defenately sure that is not old skin there is alot provments that is not old skin. it chages coleor little bit when the rest body is chnaging there is no border betven old and new skin and muh more.

2. the humidity is about 70 %

3. the tempareture is now perfect before I had higher tampereature something form 25-35 and the chamaleo was acting wird he were so hyperactiv and he use to trying to find way out of the cage and offen he fall down so I degrace the temperature and he is now mopre normal

4, supplements:

I use Microcalcium it is calcium with 3 micromilimetres size of particle so it is very strongly cohesive.

then I am using B compex it is complex of B1,B2,B6,B5,BPP

THEN TEH DOLOGRAM : Ca na Si

and i am giving him dayly with every feed which not came from nature (crickeds)

5. yes the cole is cabbage.So waht I shoud use to feed my crickeds?

6.and I am also sure that is not sunburn! there is no way he can do it! and it looks also differnt this is more like he losing his power to drive teh head corel so the head is becaming white

can anybody help ?

 

[Brad Ramsey]

I am not attempting to tell you what is going on with your cham or diagnose anything, but, the same exact paleness occurred with Kitty about a month ago.
He shed and his head stayed really pale. I thought he hadn't shed his head but I knew he had. Then 2 or 3 days later he started shedding on his casque and I thought I was going crazy I knew he had had a full shed.
He had another complete shed (his whole body).
After shedding twice in a couple of days the pale head was gone. Don't know if that helps....anyone else experience this?

-Brad

 

[Marc10edora]

. Don't know if that helps....anyone else experience this?

-Brad

My cham is going through the same thing. I know she shed her whole body about 2 days ago. But her head is still white. I know that the water from my tap is hard and when I shower with it, it makes my skin really dry. I use repti safe fluid to break it up before I shower my cham with that water. Could Hard water be the cause of this?

 

[MdngtRain]

I would suggest taking a closer look at the health of the cham. My cham was only that grey when he was sick. The grey looks more like a pigmentation thing, rather than a bad shed...

 

[Laragail]

What kind of plants do you have in there?

 

[koooorl]

reply:laragail

Hi I think that this is peaty good question. Because i find out that the chameleon is eating the leaves of some plants and that can be the problem (not sure if they are not poisoned)

1.i have for kind of the : Epipremnum pinnatum
2.then i have 5-6 kind of suculents whitch he is not eating.
3.then I have in cage couple plants which I have no idea about the names but he is not eating these as well so no to need to know.


witch it is I thing little poised but somebody make me believe that the chameleon is not eating them but he is !!



I tried give him today couple leaves of sallet but he really strongly attacked this leaves like they are male competitor but he did not eat them. But after couple hours I sow him eating the Epipremnum pinnatum again

guys I really apprecipiate your advices but still did not find somebody with same problem and with the solution

I am attachign picture of the cage if it help

 

[Laragail]

Even if he's not eating the plants you should still find out if they are poisonous or not.
Apparently, Your feeder insects might eat the poisonous plants and pass the poison on to your chameleon.

Now, weather or not this would make his head white- i dont know.
I was looking through some breeders websites and saw a veiled with a white head. Maybe its normal?

Regardless-- You should still double check your plants.

 

[Melany]

worrying again

I have the same thing going on. Though my male veiled chameleon shed his whole skin a few days ago his hole head isn't white/grey like the previous posts. Its just along the back sides of the casque and around and between his eyes. Should I wait to see if it goes way with the next shed? I'm really broke right now because the school year just ended (university) and I am just starting a summer job. Never the less I will take him to the vet if that is the only way to make him better. Any one have any cheaper suggestions on whats wrong, if anything? (I worry alot)
His bones are all strong and straight except for a new curve in his casque that has developed over the last few weeks in which he has been growing alot. His casque is still hard and nothing is rubbery, he eats drinks and is active.
Hes got some fake vines a hibiscus and a Schefflera arboricola and a couple of fake hanging plants. The real plants he eats everyonce in a while. All washed and soil changed no perlite. His humidity is 50 to 80. His basking temperature is 90 (just took that temprature again to make sure) and ambient temperature is from 65 to 75 usually right around 70. He has one basking bulb over a foot away from basking area, a uvb bulb and a plant light (no heat from it or uvb). I was supplementing him every few days with calcium and once every few weeks with multivitamins but I think with my gut load for the crickets and kettle water, he was getting too much; as I started seeing crusties form in his nose. So I stopped calcium for a few days and moved into a once a week calcium routine. His crickets are gut loaded with cricket food (dry) and a home made gut load that has one egg yoke collard greens, dandelion leaves, apple, orange and any combination of the above ingredients. One day i feed him as much as he wants and the next I just feed him twice about a dozen medium crickets. I alternate.
Anyone have any suggestions on improvements or what is up with the gray head There area pictures in my gallery most recently posted are the newest photos of spud
thanks for any help
Melany

 

[FaunaBgirl]

Yes.. my male did a double head shed too at 6 mos old.