Is this a thermal burn?

Its been a while since i posted. Floyd is 8 months old right now and he seems like a healthy happy chameleon. for the last month or so he has had this little spot on his casque where his scales are white. it was only about 3 months ago that i got the multivit powder for him so i thought this could maybe be a vitamin deficiency. it doesnt look sore and his scales are still there they are just a little white. I've also seen the spot disapear from time to time.



He hates my phone, its the only time he gets mad

Hi, Im also seeing some other retained shed on his body. I would not stress over this spot to much. Just let it take its course it looks like it will shed soon. I am however concerned with how thin his casque is. How often are you mistings and for how long each session are you misting him? What color are his urates? If you dont mind filling out a how to ask for help form so we can help Floyd and yourself in any way we can. https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

Edit: No that does not look like a thermal burn.

8 month old, male veiled chameleon in my care for 6 months.
i only handle him when he willingly crawls out on to my hands which is a few times a day, he is very social and happy to come out.
I keep a feeding cup with super worms and crickets inside dailey, he will eat 4 or 5 super worms in a feeding sometimes twice a day and will eat crickets at any time he sees them wander by.
exo-terra calcium powder used dailey on insects in feeder cup. twice a month i give him rep cal multivit powder and calcium with d3.
monsoon automatic misting system goes off for 2 minutes at a time 3 times a day at 2:30 5:30 and 8:00. i see him drink every now and then
his droppings seem healthy his urate is white and a liquidy gel substance along with the blackish brown poop haha.
Hes in a 24" by 24" by 48" screen cage with a hibiscus tree living inside with him. zoo med uva uvb bulb and 2 heat lamps both with 60 watt bulbs.
his tempterature is high 80s low 90s in his basking spot and ranges from about 65 - 75 through out his cage.
the new cage hasnt got a hygrometer yet and ive been meaning to put some shower curtins along the inside on 3 of the walls to keep moisture in the cage. his humidity is probably lower than it should be right now, but he absaloutly hates being wet to begin with.
his cage is in the corner of my bedroom on the a foot off the floor with a water drainage system beneath it. there was a vent on the roof in the room but its sealed off now.
i live in Ottawa, Canada

Ive never had a veiled before so i dont know if his casque is unsually skinny. it doesnt seem thick ad sometimes if hes close to a light you can see the light through it. i never assumed that was something wrong with him though. hope this helps

His casque isn't thin at all. It's just a normal looking casque which doesn't bulge from fat stored inside muscles. This is the way a calyptratus casque should be, although you feed a lot for an adult male (he should have days without food several times a week).

he does have days when he wont eat! that makes me feel really good to know that. some days he will not eat. and it is a couple days a week that he wont. he is definatly not over eating. there was a while he wouldnt eat at all back when he was still in his 2 foot tall glass cage. he would spent all his time waiting for me to open the door and come running out onto my arm. now hes got his own tree that is budding and doing well inside his cage. i will post a video of how friendly he is sometime, ive heard its rare to have a social cham like him.

i agree with ataraxia. Looks not like a burn. Alos, maybe casque is not too thin but contributing to the look is the slightly sunken eye, no? This is what you see ataraxia. He needs longer misting. He could really use a constant dripper. You have some kind of drainage so should be easy to make sure he gets more chance to drink. Just my advice, hope this helps
My personal feel is against so many superworms. Can you get the silkies? Much better for calcium and also for water.

I would agree that his casque looks a bit thin for a captive cham. They would not be as active as a cham in the wild, so some fat storage would be expected. He is getting to the age where I would consider cutting back his feedings, but I would monitor his weight to be sure. I also think his eyes are a "bit" sunken. I would try feeding a hornworm now and then. Great for hydration! Does he eat the hibiscus? I usually offer some greens for my veiled just in case he needs some additional hydration. I do not think that is a thermal burn, but it doesn't look like leftover shed either. If it goes away now and then I would rule this out.

There is no fat pad or storage inside a chameleon's casque, but pure muscle. If muscles began to store fat, the chameleon is really adipose. This tends to shorten life expectancy due to suffering liver and kidneys. It's not healthy at all, neither in captivity nor in the wild. Unfortunately a lot of chameleons (and other reptiles, too) in captivity are too fat. Take a look at this thread or this one for another discussion about this topic. I'm happy to see good looking ones like this little guy here from time to time, too.

About the eyes: The surely look sunken in, but this isn't always caused by dehydration. There's no other sign in this picture which would point to a hydration problem. There are lots of chameleon moving their eyes slightly deeper back inside the orbita if stressed or while hissing at the photographer. Therefore I wouldn't overstate the situation... there's time to worry as soon as the eyes look like this all day long.

Skradmore said:

monsoon automatic misting system goes off for 2 minutes at a time 3 times a day at 2:30 5:30 and 8:00. i see him drink every now and then

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Alexl said:

About the eyes: The surely look sunken in, but this isn't always caused by dehydration. There's no other sign in this picture which would point to a hydration problem. There are lots of chameleon moving their eyes slightly deeper back inside the orbita if stressed or while hissing at the photographer. Therefore I wouldn't overstate the situation... there's time to worry as soon as the eyes look like this all day long.

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The reason i mention hydration is not just in the picture. It is in the text as well. I understand that other factors maybe at play. But this cham "hates being wet" so maybe is not getting enough H2O.

Alexl, I appreciate your opinion here but the fact is this casque is really thin. A well formed casque will come from water sessions, period. Whats truly adequate for this species? I dont have the answer but the casque will become more formed with finding ways to offer more water or techniques to get him drink from. Im not talking from what i have read right now nor from pictures i have seen.. The casque doesnt need to be a super plump area but should be formed. Veileds are a hardy species and adapt much better than most species to low water availability.

Also the eyes appear to be normal for the pose. Many veileds turrets appear slightly sunk in and it is completely normal. Not all need to hiss or or gape to display slightly sunken turrets.

To the op: Your urates are white which is good. Have you tried a dripper on your guy?

Alexl said:

About the eyes: The surely look sunken in, but this isn't always caused by dehydration. There's no other sign in this picture which would point to a hydration problem. There are lots of chameleon moving their eyes slightly deeper back inside the orbita if stressed or while hissing at the photographer. Therefore I wouldn't overstate the situation... there's time to worry as soon as the eyes look like this all day long.

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Agreed, that's why I said a "bit" sunken. Could be from the camera being near or other factors.

ataraxia said:

Alexl, I appreciate your opinion here but the fact is this casque is really thin. A well formed casque will come from water sessions, period. Whats truly adequate for this species? I dont have the answer but the casque will become more formed with finding ways to offer more water or techniques to get him drink from. Im not talking from what i have read right now nor from pictures i have seen.. The casque doesnt need to be a super plump area but should be formed. Veileds are a hardy species and adapt much better than most species to low water availability.

Also the eyes appear to be normal for the pose. Many veileds turrets appear slightly sunk in and it is completely normal. Not all need to hiss or or gape to display slightly sunken turrets.

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Also agreed!

Lol it is good that this spot seems to be no worry. Maybe another picture or two would settle the questions Either way it is very good that Floyd is looking a nice healthy size for 8 months

here are some more pics of floyd



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as you can see his eyes get a lot more sunken when hes mad, and he gets his brightest/happiest colours when hes crawling around on either me or my girl friend

Floyd looks in fine form, finally With a nice big casque too. So, what's up with spot anyway?.......... (I'm sure it's nothing to worry about ) doesn't look much like shed to me, but it easily could be........

thanks! I really do think hes a healthy little guy. that white spot looks like the pigment in his skin has lost its colour, but it doesnt in anyway seem painful or like its bothering him. he hasnt had a full body shed in a few months, he's been shedding in patches the last few times. im going to get some shower curtains today to pin up inside his cage to help raise the humidity. i think this will probably aid him with better sheds