Blisters on his back?

[TheHoff93]

i am new to having a chameleon and have a roughly 12 month old veiled chameleon. the other day i noticed a small blister along his spine which looks like it has fluid in it. ive kept an eye on it and over the passed few days it has grown a little bit in size. the last time he shed was back in june. he has a partial shed on his casque. is the blister just the start of a shed? or should i be concerned? any help would be greatly appreciated. thank you.

 

[camimom]

Pictures would help.

 

[Carlton]

i am new to having a chameleon and have a roughly 12 month old veiled chameleon. the other day i noticed a small blister along his spine which looks like it has fluid in it. ive kept an eye on it and over the passed few days it has grown a little bit in size. the last time he shed was back in june. he has a partial shed on his casque. is the blister just the start of a shed? or should i be concerned? any help would be greatly appreciated. thank you.

If it has fluid in it, it's not part of a normal shed. Could be a thermal burn or an infection. If he is starting a shed it should have opened and started peeling by now. If the area around the blister looks swollen or there is any pink or reddish areas, and if you do see fluid, its an infection and you need to treat it. Try a topical antibiotic cream such as Polysporin (without pain reliever), but if it continues to spread you will need a vet to look into it more.

 

[TheHoff93]

thanks for the help. i will begin to treat it right now. i will post a picture soon to help with the diagnosis. his basking branch is approximately 7 or 8 inches from the heat bulb itself that that info helps.

 

[TheHoff93]

 

[romulan]

your image is not showing. try posting it as an attachment

 

[TheHoff93]

a side view photo and a top view photo. hope these help.

 

[TheHoff93]

sorry the first picture was the wrong one. this is the correct one.

 

[Elizadolots]

That's definitely a blister, not a "pre-shed bubble"....Can we see pictures of the enclosure? Thermal burn seems the most likely cause....

 

[camimom]

I agree with Eliza. That is a blister. ANd shedding wouldnt look like that.

 

[TheHoff93]

here is a photo of Nigel's enclosure as requested. i know it is a bit too small for his age. i plan on getting him a 2x2x4 enclosure soon with a pothos plant and an schefflera along with assorted vines and sticks for him to grab on to. he will also have a mist king misting system and dual dome heat and basking lamp. let me know if i am missing something that would help nigel be more comfortable in his new home.

 

[Elizadolots]

Do you know your temperature at the top? I'm thinking the problem is the light sitting right on the screen. Maybe you can raise if up a bit? Put some cups or saucers on the cage and put the light on them?

Also, is the bulb red or does it just look red in the picture? Red lights aren't recommended by this board. The standard recommendation is a linear UVB bulb and a household incandescent for heat.

 

[TheHoff93]

Do you know your temperature at the top? I'm thinking the problem is the light sitting right on the screen. Maybe you can raise if up a bit? Put some cups or saucers on the cage and put the light on them?

Also, is the bulb red or does it just look red in the picture? Red lights aren't recommended by this board. The standard recommendation is a linear UVB bulb and a household incandescent for heat.

i dont know the temperature at the top. im going to get a new thermometer tomorrow because the one i currently have sucks. and i raised the lamp up a few inches with some microwave safe containers so the bulb doesnt melt them. i currently have a 24" UVB bulb. The light in the photo was a red heat bulb but once i read your post i immediately changed it to a regular household bulb. my only question on that is how to keep the temperature up during the night, or will he be fine with no light or heat source durring the night? thank you so much for all of your help by the way

 

[Elizadolots]

Oh...sorry, I missed the hood on the UVB. (it's like a Ninja....it hides!)

Unless it gets uncomfortably cold in your house, he should be fine at night. Just because it's nice to have a number, I would say if your house is no colder than 50 degrees at night, it's not a concern. If you do let the house get cold then you should consider a ceramic heat emitter....it can be put in the same or a similar fixture but only gives heat, no light. They benefit from a dark cool night.

In that size enclosure, you really do not want a "hot spot". In a bigger cage having a basking temp of 90 degrees would be fine, but you really want a 15 to 20 degree temperature gradient. The bottom of the cage should basically be room temperature. I think I would target 84, 85 degrees at the basking spot.

 

[TheHoff93]

I didn't realize that the basking temperature depends on the size of the enclosure. if i had bought a higher wattage bulb that small blister might have been a bit worse. thank you for your help. I noticed last night when Nigel was sleeping that his color had improved tremendously. i thought he was dark because he was trying to stay warm but it turns out that he was probably dark due to stress. raising the lamp also helped a lot. it lights the enclosure much more and has a better ambient temp. i will post pictures of nigel later to show his recovery.

 

[AllFallDown]

Pull that light up a could of inches. Check the temp and make sure it is in range. It is best not to have the light fixture rest directly on the screen. Even if you lower the basking area, he is likely to climb on the ceiling from time to time and get burned.

If that blister is in fact thermal burn, you are right consider yourself lucky- it could have been much worse. I have heard of chameleons dying from thermal burn. Mine has a scar to this day from accidentally putting his light and basking area too close together. His(my cham's) burn was much worse.

Its great you asked!

 

[AllFallDown]

I didn't realize that the basking temperature depends on the size of the enclosure. if i had bought a higher wattage bulb that small blister might have been a bit worse. thank you for your help. I noticed last night when Nigel was sleeping that his color had improved tremendously. i thought he was dark because he was trying to stay warm but it turns out that he was probably dark due to stress. raising the lamp also helped a lot. it lights the enclosure much more and has a better ambient temp. i will post pictures of nigel later to show his recovery.

Oh oops, sorry, I just noticed you already raised the fixture. Good call

 

[Elizadolots]

I didn't realize that the basking temperature depends on the size of the enclosure. if i had bought a higher wattage bulb that small blister might have been a bit worse. thank you for your help. I noticed last night when Nigel was sleeping that his color had improved tremendously. i thought he was dark because he was trying to stay warm but it turns out that he was probably dark due to stress. raising the lamp also helped a lot. it lights the enclosure much more and has a better ambient temp. i will post pictures of nigel later to show his recovery.

Excellent! I look forward to seeing pictures.

Do be aware that burn damage often progresses after the source has been removed so don't panic if the burn seems to spread a bit after you've made the fix. If the blisters open up, put some neosporin or other antibiotic ointment on them to make sure there's no infection.

 

[TheHoff93]

Excellent! I look forward to seeing pictures.

Do be aware that burn damage often progresses after the source has been removed so don't panic if the burn seems to spread a bit after you've made the fix. If the blisters open up, put some neosporin or other antibiotic ointment on them to make sure there's no infection.

i am putting neosporin on it now ( the blister is still in tact) should i wait until it opens up to apply the neosporin, or will his skin absorb it either way?

 

[Elizadolots]

I doubt the skin will absorb it, but on the other hand, if the blister does break an advance coating of neosporin might be helpful. You might not be there when it does break (if it ever does....don't break it!) so it seems like a good idea. As long as the blister is intact the fluid inside is sterile and cuts back on the risk of infection.