2 Month Old Veiled - Black Pattern (one side only??)

seancosta714

New Member
Hello ladies and gentlemen and thank you for having me here...

I am new member here with a passion for reptiles and I have currently (this week) acquired a new two month old chameleon. I am unsure of gender yet. I am told this is the place where the experts gather, and these forums have helped me in the past, so thank you in advance!

I am waiting for a photo from my girlfriend as I am currently at work and can't get this concern off my mind. My chameleon has what appears to be a black oval spot on his right side , and his entire top of his veil is black. It looks very much like a pattern, as I could have sworn I have seen it fade and darken again. The odd thing is, is this spot is only on the right side of his body. Can veiled chameleons show a stress pattern on one side?

Photos I have looked at seem to show that my guy is NOT suffering from fungus or mites. It's day three in his terrarium. It is a mesh , tall enclosure with plenty of cover, a humidifier and drip system. His appetite has slowed today, and the black spot and veil remain.

Where he was purchased, he had very basic lighting, we have all the UVB, basking, and red lamp in place and temp is reading 85 degrees in basking spot, humidity is barely between normal and tropical level, and terrarium temp in general is about 70 degrees.

I assume this is a stress pattern, thought maybe it was a burn. We are going to give him some time and not handle him as to not stress him out. I will get photos out ASAP but could somebody please help with some advice? I care about the little guy tremendously and you people seem to be my only hope, please help!
 
Hello ladies and gentlemen and thank you for having me here...

I am new member here with a passion for reptiles and I have currently (this week) acquired a new two month old chameleon. I am unsure of gender yet. I am told this is the place where the experts gather, and these forums have helped me in the past, so thank you in advance!

I am waiting for a photo from my girlfriend as I am currently at work and can't get this concern off my mind. My chameleon has what appears to be a black oval spot on his right side , and his entire top of his veil is black. It looks very much like a pattern, as I could have sworn I have seen it fade and darken again. The odd thing is, is this spot is only on the right side of his body. Can veiled chameleons show a stress pattern on one side?

Photos I have looked at seem to show that my guy is NOT suffering from fungus or mites. It's day three in his terrarium. It is a mesh , tall enclosure with plenty of cover, a humidifier and drip system. His appetite has slowed today, and the black spot and veil remain.

Where he was purchased, he had very basic lighting, we have all the UVB, basking, and red lamp in place and temp is reading 85 degrees in basking spot, humidity is barely between normal and tropical level, and terrarium temp in general is about 70 degrees.

I assume this is a stress pattern, thought maybe it was a burn. We are going to give him some time and not handle him as to not stress him out. I will get photos out ASAP but could somebody please help with some advice? I care about the little guy tremendously and you people seem to be my only hope, please help!
Get rid of the red lamp, if it’s too cold at night, use a ceramic heat emitter instead.
 
Basking site temperature is a steady 85 degrees, 70 degrees for the rest of the enclosure. he has been favoring the branch below his normal basking site. There is a white outline all around it which made it seem like a pattern, but could be wrong. The fact that its only on one side makes me think against it being a pattern. Could anyone tell by his/her veil the gender? The sales person could not tell me gender. I know males get a larger one later... Will go to a breeder from this day forward.

https://ibb.co/m1G31p

Left (no spot) side. This photo was taken the same time as the ones showing the spot.
 
If you see this...
veiled_thumb3.jpg

Then you have a male. There is a bump on the back of the rear feet. If you take a picture of the back legs we should be able to tell you for sure.
 
https://ibb.co/fU6T1p

Ah, starting to think my chameleon is a lady. We named (her?) Fibbonacci, which is gender fluid I suppose.

So SHE may have a burn or bruise, what can I do to treat? Should I just leave her alone and let her heal? I was going to stop handling her for a bit until I see improvement.

If we are ruling out illness by the photos I would definitely feel better. I am going to... eliminate the red light, and buy a heat emitting element.

You people are very knowledgeable and kind, I appreciate it immensely.
 
https://ibb.co/fU6T1p

Ah, starting to think my chameleon is a lady. We named (her?) Fibbonacci, which is gender fluid I suppose.

So SHE may have a burn or bruise, what can I do to treat? Should I just leave her alone and let her heal? I was going to stop handling her for a bit until I see improvement.

If we are ruling out illness by the photos I would definitely feel better. I am going to... eliminate the red light, and buy a heat emitting element.

You people are very knowledgeable and kind, I appreciate it immensely.

If you are using the light during the day for heating, just use a regular incandescent bulb. You don't need a heat emitter unless the temps get below say 50 degrees at night.
 
157A4A7F-D9CE-400C-85AB-FFA5C9574C03.jpeg
06946C86-C32B-4117-9322-B94AF5B8B3FA.jpeg
Now that I am (somewhat) out of panic mode, I got home from work and took some new pictures. I found another thread and it does in fact look like what others have identified as a thermal burn. It’s only a day later and instead of Black the area in question has faded to gray.

I have attached a picture of what it looks like now , also a better angle of the back foot. I see a tiny nub , maybe Fibonacci is a boy after all ?

Hey thanks again for all you do here staff and members. My local reptile shop recommended these forums. I appreciate your years of skill and the fact that you share this knowledge with those getting stared.

I feel ashamed this happened to an animal in my care. I knew the responsibilities and still didn’t see a burn coming. I hope this isn’t painful for the animal, but likely it is and that really bothers me. I wonder how long something like this takes to heal ?

You guys are awesome thanks again for all you do !
 
I would recommend to just watch it carefully, and make sure no infection or anything sets in. I don't know of any effective ointments if you decide to use them.
 
There is a bit of that burned skin on the cask, I failed to mention in the original post. We first noticed both spots before lights out time last night , panicked about it all day and came home to see that it has faded.

Appetite has been enormous ! When I first saw the darkness I assumed stress , and we both stopped approaching the terrarium unless it was necessary. I’m going to continue to not touch him as he heals , I’ve adjusted lighting and basking spot. Tonight before lights out we were at

75 degree general temp (Fahrenheit)
80 degree basking branch zone
55% humidity

Some notes on Fibbonachi’s behavior, as I get to learn his personality:

We chose Fibb over his tank mate where he was purchased as when his drawer was opened , he reached out over the top and the sales person allowed him to climb onto my hand , and he curled right up on me for warmth. His tank mate was timid , and there was no way I was putting him back as I kind of already felt bonded to him at this point.

We had a veiled chameleon before that was quite shy , and we gave him his space. The most intelligent thing I learned from the care sheets and people here is that think of this life we nurture as a hobby, a responsibility rather than just a “pet”. He still comes up to the front vine when we open the house terrarium door and it is only day three , no hiding in the foliage like our first veiled.

He doesn’t appear to be in pain but I’m going to assume he is and just leave him alone. His appetite and mannerisms haven’t changed , his grip amazes me , hanging from just his tail to snipe crickets and super worm snacks. I’m trying to keep the stress as low as I can. Just going to get close enough to look for healing , hydration , and change his water dropper and humidifier.

If the area looks worse or same tomorrow he’s going to the vet which luckily is knowledgeable of reptiles , but the best advice has seem to come from here so keep the knowledge flowing, please !
 
I know you said you adjusted the lights but I want you to take a temp reading at the very top of the viv as close to the light as she can possibly get if she were to climb on the roof. Youngsters are notorious for that...
 
Chams do feel pain and I’m sure they do hurt. Not trying to beat you up. I also see burns along her spine above her rear hips. Normally if was a single burn I’d say keep neosporin on it but we are talking about a large burn here with multiple smaller ones spread out over her entire body. If she starts to turn down hill it is going to happen fast. She needs a vet appointment, the sooner the better.
 
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