Black mass under veiled's toe nail?

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male, Veiled, 2 1/2 years old, with me 2 years.
Handling - Never. He lets me hand feed him and I can lure him out of his cage but that's pretty much it.
Feeding - Mostly crickets, gut loaded with dino fuel and various fresh dark greens depending on what I get that week (this week is water cress). Sometimes I get dubias, silk worms, and horn worms.
Supplements - Mostly calcium. I alternate which week he gets a multivitamin feeding and a calcium w/d3 feeding.
Watering - Hand misting 3 times a day. He only lets me see him drink if I'm very still.
Fecal Description - White urate with a yellow tip, brown poop.
History - He hasn't had any serious problems before.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen. 24 x 24 x 48
Lighting - 24 wide fixture with arcadia 12%, 60watt basking bulb in a clamp fixture.
Temperature - In his basking spot it's 90, at the bottom it's about 75.
Humidity - I used thing shower curtains on the outside to help keep humidity in longer, but usually it's at 50 (when I open my window for prolonged periods it goes down to 40-45). It spikes up when misting.
Plants - Anarchy is only allowed to have succulents because he eats everything else, the majority of his plants are fake.
Placement - He's on a 2 ft coffee table, about 1ft from a window (not the one I open) but he gets a about 1ft of morning sunlight from it for about an 1-1/2 hrs per day.
Location - New Mexico. High desert.


Current Problem -
Today I noticed a black mass under his middle toe nail on his right back foot. Because of it his toe nail is raised, although the toe doesn't look swollen.
What is it?
He likes to climb on his screen, did that cause this? I've tried adding more things for him to climb on but he seems determined to scale the walls like Spidey.
How can I treat him?
I'm assuming it's time to get him an enclosure with less screen (I'm thinking one of those Dragon Strand Breeder series?).

Any input or advice would be greatly appreciated. He doesn't seem to be in pain right now, but I really hope he doesn't get to that point.

Thank you for reading, I'm super worried about my guy...




Sorry about the grainy photos btw...

It is possible he may have snagged the nail and caused some trauma and there is infection now. I don't like the looks of it and If he were mine, I would be taking him to the vet and have him looked it. It is up to you, but If it does not begin to improve, I would get him in.

Yeah, you're right.

I can't take him in for another week though, is there anything I can do for him until I get paid? I'd like to help prevent it from getting worse if at all possible...

maya2 said:

Yeah, you're right.

I can't take him in for another week though, is there anything I can do for him until I get paid? I'd like to help prevent it from getting worse if at all possible...

Click to expand...

Until you can get him to the vet, dab some Polysporin antibiotic ointment on it. Don't use the type that contains pain reliever. If the toe itself starts swelling or looks stiff you'll need more of a systemic antibiotic to deal with the spreading infection. Most likely he'll lose that nail and it may not regrow.

Thank you so much, I'll get some for him today.