Black spots on face

[korykory]

Yesterday I noticed these black dots and what looks like a black eye…? Should I be worried at all?

The only post online I found that looks alike to what my cham has going on said that it could just be bruising and he puts his face/bumps into the mesh of his cage when he’s walking around sometimes so could it just be that?

I also looked into parasites but nothing I found looked anything alike to what he has right now. His poop looks completely normal and he’s eating very well and is totally active.
The only reason I slightly suspected parasites is because the black dot on his face almost has a slighttt blueish near it.

I didn't want to totally blind him with the flash while he slept do I don’t know if the photo will do it justice so, I drew what it looks like to better clarity it.

 

[LizardLurkin]

Do you happen to leave feeder crickets loose in the enclosure? Bug bites can appear somewhat like this. Is it like this on only one side of the face? And are they smooth or upraised any?

 

[korykory]

He hasn’t eaten crickets in a couple days so would they show up days later? But I also don’t think that that’s what this is since whenever I give him crickets, he eats them almost immediately.

Its on both sides of his face unfortunately
I attached a picture of the other side of his face (ignore bad quality, it’s hard to take a photos with the way he sleeps).

They’re smooth.

I also added better pictures of what it looks like.

Maybe they’re burns? I had the incorrect screw uvb light for almost a month and I just got the t5 uvb.

His casque is also blackish on the top (charring form incorrect light I think?) but I think the two are separate since this has only showed up yesterday.

I feel so bad that this is all happening to him

 

[LizardLurkin]

I know as veileds get older, black patterning may start showing up on their face and elsewhere. If it's the same, or similar, on both sides, that's where I'd first lean.
Keeping an eye on it is always a good idea, though.
To me, it seems pretty scale-like, especially around the eyes.

That said, how far is the t5 UVB from the basking branch? 8-9 inches is the recommended distancing to avoid UVB burns.
You mention him walking into his screen: Does he rub his face against it with purpose, or does he only sort of brush against it as he moves around?

 

[LizardLurkin]

Here's a couple photos of veiled chameleons with black markings on their face:

I don't want to lead anyone astray though by saying "it might not be anything to worry about" so do keep an eye on it just in case. I hope that he's just got some cute face moles.

 

[BleuSaphir]

Looks to me like natural pigmentations. But it be better to post daytime for clearer shots.

 

[korykory]

But would those patterns be apparent even when he’s asleep?

The t5 is around 9-10 inches above the basking branch. Since I have the smaller cage (I’m aware that he needs a bigger one and am working on it, I’m slowly fixing all the mistake from the “death kit” I bought when I first got him) I have it balanced on his Dripper and the dual light fixture.

About walking into the screen, there’s branches at the bottom of this cage and he likes to shimmy through them and walk back up the cage, there’s a specific spot near the corner where the fit it a little tight and as he crawls through them and up the cage, his face will softly drag against it, but rough enough that I heard “scratching” if that helps. Thats what I specially had in mind that I thought could’ve bruised his face.

Thank you so much for trying to help me figure this out!

 

[korykory]

Here's a couple photos of veiled chameleons with black markings on their face:
View attachment 365497View attachment 365498View attachment 365499View attachment 365500

I don't want to lead anyone astray though by saying "it might not be anything to worry about" so do keep an eye on it just in case. I hope that he's just got some cute face moles.

These honestly look pretty similar to what it looks like, I just thought that when he slept, there wouldn’t be any “harsh” patterns/colors. Do they?

 

[LizardLurkin]

Their colors become very apparent in their sleep, typically. I agree that a daytime photo would really help, but I do lean towards pigmentation myself. Here's a cute thread of chameleons in their "pjs" to look over too. You can see several veileds showing off their dark blacks even in their sleep.

Your guy sounds a lot like mine. As a teeny thing he could squeeze through the darndest places...And then wouldn't realize immediately when he was getting too big for those routes. They do find other ways to travel over time, never a bad idea to add more branches or fluker's vine to create more pathways to make up for their new size.
UV positioning sounds good also.
How big is his enclosure?

 

[korykory]

Looks to me like natural pigmentations. But it be better to post daytime for clearer shots.

I’ll make sure to send photos of his face during the day, I just thought that it would be easier to determine what it was when he was sleeping since he gets so light green.

 

[korykory]

Their colors become very apparent in their sleep, typically. I agree that a daytime photo would really help, but I do lean towards pigmentation myself. Here's a cute thread of chameleons in their "pjs" to look over too. You can see several veileds showing off their dark blacks even in their sleep.

Your guy sounds a lot like mine. As a teeny thing he could squeeze through the darndest places...And then wouldn't realize immediately when he was getting too big for those routes. They do find other ways to travel over time, never a bad idea to add more branches or fluker's vine to create more pathways to make up for their new size.
UV positioning sounds good also.
How big is his enclosure?

I had no idea! That thread it adorable and eases my worries of something being seriously wrong. I’ll still keep an eye out though. I didn’t expect this pigmentation (if that’s what it is) to show up so sudden.

Loll, it’s so fascinating to watch them try to squeeze their way out of a corner after thinking they could get through.
Day by day, I buy and add more and more things to try and fill his enclosure.
His enclosure is 30x16 and I plan on buying him the XL enclosure when I can. I know it’s not ideal but I bought it when I first got him and was uneducated on nearly anything concerning what chameleons need since he’s my first and I hadn’t done my research (stupidly) since he was an impulsive buy.
He’s still very small (4 months) so I hope this size isn’t horrible for him until I get his new one.

 

[LizardLurkin]

It's very nice you ended up finding good info very early on and can make adjustments to better his environment in time
No judgement also, I was just curious if maybe, if it was a smaller sized enclosur,e he might be trying to "get out of" by rubbing aggressively against the screen. They do grow fast, but I do think he can manage in that size in the meantime. Especially with the good everything else on his side.

Boys start growing into their colors. When I first got mine, he was just totally green with some brown stripes sometimes. He quickly started getting yellows, browns, and oranges sooner than I thought. It is really cool to watch!

 

[korykory]

It's very nice you ended up finding good info very early on and can make adjustments to better his environment in time
No judgement also, I was just curious if maybe, if it was a smaller sized enclosur,e he might be trying to "get out of" by rubbing aggressively against the screen. They do grow fast, but I do think he can manage in that size in the meantime. Especially with the good everything else on his side.

Boys start growing into their colors. When I first got mine, he was just totally green with some brown stripes sometimes. He quickly started getting yellows, browns, and oranges sooner than I thought. It is really cool to watch!

It’s all thanks to this forum. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without it, I’ve learned so much and deeply appreciate everyone’s help. This community is awesome.

I understand! I just feel the need to explain myself since I want it to be known that I’m truly tying my best. I was also looking for help on chameleon stuff on Reddit before I found this forum and not fully explaining yourself will get you mean comments lol.

Thats so cool! I would love to see pictures of your chameleon if you want to share. When I first got mine, he was just plain darkish brown (matching exactly to the basking branch) and he’s still mostly just brownish (neutral is general) but sometimes very dark green/emerald will peak through and I’ll get so excited. Sometimes he’ll be light green but that’s only when he’s playing around in the bottom of his cage (don’t know if there’s a reason for that). Only time he’s realllly green is when he’s sleeping. I can’t wait until his colors start to show.

Here’s a photo of him sleeping once that I thought looked really cool!

 

[LizardLurkin]

I hope me and all the other regulars can help you to continue learning. I've learned a lot here thanks to resources like chameleon academy and neptune the chameleon, as well as just lurking threads, new and old.
Reddit in general, like many social media spaces, is unfortunately a largely unmoderated so knee jerk responses and assuming the worst runs rampant. I hope no one said anything too rough to you there, but I also started my research there and saw so much meanness.

But! I'm rambling! Seeing chameleons sleep really is so cool (and cute) I swear young veileds love the screen more than the comfy plants and branches you offer them lol It's a treat getting to see their polka dots!
(I also have a small album of my cham if you're curious!)

 

[BleuSaphir]

Don’t come on Reddit for advice. Come straight here for professional advice.

 

[korykory]

Looks to me like natural pigmentations. But it be better to post daytime for clearer shots.

Here is a picture while he’s awake.

 

[Beman]

When did the thermal burn to the casque happen? Did you get silvercream from the vet to treat the burn and underlying infection?

With the T5HO fixture you want a distance of 8-9 inches to the branches directly below it for the right UVI level if you are using the 5.0 or 6% bulb strength.

 

[korykory]

When did the thermal burn to the casque happen? Did you get silvercream from the vet to treat the burn and underlying infection?

With the T5HO fixture you want a distance of 8-9 inches to the branches directly below it for the right UVI level if you are using the 5.0 or 6% bulb strength.

I started noticing black on his casque around 10 days ago and bought silver cream online.

The fixture is 9-10 inches from the branch.

 

[Beman]

I started noticing black on his casque around 10 days ago and bought silver cream online.

The fixture is 9-10 inches from the branch.

May I please see a picture of how you have the cage set up? Burns like this do not happen with UVB lighting.

Also can you show me exactly what you purchased because silver sulfadiazine cream is prescription only topical medication. You may not be using the right thing.