Black spots on my juvenile panther chameleon

kelgan

kelgan

New Member
So we have a male panther chameleon aged 12 weeks. We have only had him for a week and we're new to owning a chameleon.

He has black spots (with a little white?) on his mouth that have developed over the past couple days. It doesn't seem to be spreading drastically and they are fairly small. They don't seem to be apart of his colouration and look more like sores almost?

Not sure what it is... anyone have an idea? From what I've read online he seems normal - regular eating, he is always eager to eat, he seems to have the same behaviour (from what we know from only knowing him for a week), he doesn't seem weak and isn't showing any other physical signs of being sick (although that seems to be the case until it is too late).

If anyone has any idea let us know please!! We love the little guy so much and it would be tragic if anything ever happened to him.
 
Sick Chameleon

Help!! It has gotten much worse and now his lip is deformed..... Is this MBD? Were looking into taking him to a vet
 
kelgan said:
Help!! It has gotten much worse and now his lip is deformed..... Is this MBD? Were looking into taking him to a vet
Click to expand...

When you say the lip is "deformed" what do you mean? Is it swollen or discolored? This looks like abrasion from rubbing IMHO. You could dab some Polysporin on the dark areas to prevent infection. It will take a while to see improvement and in the mean time describe his cage so we can figure out why he might be rubbing. Most often its because the cage is too small, too low to the ground, not enough hiding places (and he's stressed trying to get to someplace more secure from constant view).
 
Carlton said:
Or a snout injury from rubbing on something. Kind of an odd spot for a burn, but can't really tell.
Click to expand...
yeah, that is true. I just thought if it was hanging upside down under the light it could burn its snout no? Well, we definitely know it is not MBD anyways!!!
 
Mouth and Cage Details

Thanks for all the responses... Glad to hear it doesn't seem to be as severe. By deformed I mean that one side of his bottom lip (close to the dark spot) is sticking out a little. It seems that the front of his mouth is indented a bit.

He is currently living in a 18" x 18" x 32" mesh terrarium. He has an artificial rope, sticks and vines as well as a Ficus Benjamina and a small Pothos plant. Currently it is on the ground... but we are moving it so it will be higher elevated. His basking spot is placed around 10" from the light which is a 120W bulb that provides both heat and UVB.

Just some more info incase it can help:

- We use substrate on the bottom which was recommended at the reptile expo
- He has a Zoomed Dripper and we mist 3 times a day to keep up humidity
- His diet is mainly crickets with an occasional mealworm
- We dust his crickets with Repashy Calcium Plus everyday
- We are getting vitamin supplements to start giving him
- The light is on usually 11-12 hours a day
- He lives in our bedroom (there is lots of space and not too much traffic)

We appreciate all this help, so let us know if we can provide any other info. I will try and get a better picture of it as well.
 
kelgan said:
Thanks for all the responses... Glad to hear it doesn't seem to be as severe. By deformed I mean that one side of his bottom lip (close to the dark spot) is sticking out a little. It seems that the front of his mouth is indented a bit.

He is currently living in a 18" x 18" x 32" mesh terrarium. He has an artificial rope, sticks and vines as well as a Ficus Benjamina and a small Pothos plant. Currently it is on the ground... but we are moving it so it will be higher elevated. His basking spot is placed around 10" from the light which is a 120W bulb that provides both heat and UVB.

Just some more info incase it can help:

- We use substrate on the bottom which was recommended at the reptile expo
- He has a Zoomed Dripper and we mist 3 times a day to keep up humidity
- His diet is mainly crickets with an occasional mealworm
- We dust his crickets with Repashy Calcium Plus everyday
- We are getting vitamin supplements to start giving him
- The light is on usually 11-12 hours a day
- He lives in our bedroom (there is lots of space and not too much traffic)

We appreciate all this help, so let us know if we can provide any other info. I will try and get a better picture of it as well.
Click to expand...

Your cage is quite small. He'll need a larger living space when he's older. In the mean time, add live plants to give him visual cover in his current cage and also give him more areas to climb around on. It can help keep him from rubbing on the mesh. Raise the cage height to help him feel more secure. You haven't had him long so he is still adjusting to the big change in his life. Use some Polysporin on the rub. Substrate isn't usually a good idea despite what the expo person told you. Get rid of it.
 
Getting WORSE

Okay, so we've moved the cage up. We know we need to upsize soon in the future. We do have 2 live plants in there already (Ficus Benjamina and Pothos). His mouth seems to be getting worse and rapidly!!!

We put polysporin on it and will try to keep applying. Here is an updated picture, it may even be worse than it shows in the picture. We have looked into going to a herp vet in our area. Looks like its going to cost 95$ just to have him looked at. We're willing to pay, because we love him so much... but just were trying to figure out if we can do anything?!

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/524929_10151889987344465_572087786_n.jpg
 
Going to the Vet asap is your best bet right now. Sorry your Cham is not well. It does look severe. From the picture I am not sure about the mouthrot. It could be a kind of fungal infection as well. But I am no expert nor a vet. Does its mouth have a bad odor when you smell it?
 
Update

Just an update if anyone wants to know: We took him to the vet... She says he has an infection that could have been caused by a burn/rubbing or something of the sort. She said it was good we got it early and that it hasn't spread to his jaw (which is a really good thing). We got him cream and antibiotics so hopefully he will get better soon! :)
 
glad to hear you got him to the vet and got him some meds!

hope for a speedy recovery for him, keep us updated!! :)

by the way he is a very handsome cham!
 
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