Brown skin on toes

Slofe

New Member
I can't get a pic but my veiled has brown looking skin round his toes. I know this is due to the skin not coming off the toes properly. I doubt it's anything more because this has happened both times he's shed. He's absolutely fine, active, eating and drinking well. Is there anything I can do about this? I can't touch him cause he's very nervous and jumpy if I go too near him but not aggressive, no hisses or gapes. Anything I can do now or shall I wait until his next shed?
 
I got some pics. Apologies for the awful quality but I only have my cell phone camera. As you can see the toes are actually black and not brown. He has had this since his first and second shed. He appears to be in absolutely no pain at all as he's very active, grips fine and can climb with no problem at all. Is this just dead skin from his last shed or something more serious? I think it's the former because if his toes were about to drop off I don't he'd be climbing so well. He's had two sheds since he's been with me and both times the shedding round the toes took longer, I thought the skin came off but it appears I was wrong.

Cage Info:

* Cage Type - Aluminium Screen 4x2x2
* Lighting - Reptisun 5.0 tube and 100w spot bulb, 12 hours on 12 hours of schedule.
* Temperature - Range from about 70 to 80 and basking spot fluctuates between 90 and 95 degrees. Measured with digital thermometer.
* Humidity - 50% most of the time, sometimes drops to 45% if i've had the heater on in my room. Natural room humidity is 50% here.
* Plants - Live plants, camellia, tree mallow and pothos.
* Location - Cage is in my room with me and i'm in it all the time as I share a house. It's in the corner of my room on a chest of drawers. Isambard is always higher than my head as he spends most of the time at the top of the cage.

Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Veiled, 5 and a half months old i've had him just over 2 months.
* Handling - He has walked onto my hand twice since i've had him. I've never attempted to grab him i've just offered my finger for him to walk onto.
* Feeding - Feed him 6 roaches a day, slightly bigger than baby ones. I normally feed him early to mid afternoon depending if i'm home. Gut loaded with roach diet from roach breeder it's a specially formulated gutload. I also use fruits and veges.
* Supplements - I was using just nutrabol 3 times a week, this is what the breeder uses himself and his chams are always happy and healthy. I saw signs of over supplementation so I reduced the dusting to very lightly and only twice a week. The gutload is very nutritious so this seams to take care of most of his nutrition.
* Watering - Hand spray with pressure sprayrer. I mist until all the leaves are soaking and have droplets form, do this twice a day - once in the morning and then about 3 hours before he goes to bed. Yeah I see him drinking :).
* Fecal Description - Faeces is fine. Dark brown, solid and urates are always white with a tiny bit of orange at the top.
* History - He came from a breeder who has lots of babies and four adult chams. I got him when he was 14 weeks old and he spent his time in a high traffic human environment so he's quite comfortable with me around
* Current Problem - Black toes after shedding.

My chameleon is a gentle soul. He shows light green colours 95% of the time, has only hissed at me twice and has hardly gaped his mouth at me either. I think i'm doing everything right and he shows really healthy signs. I just don't know what the deal is with his toes :(
 

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Could have something to do with what he climbs on. Does this wash off at all? Does it flake?

I've HEARD of this before! It's on the tip of my tongue. I will do some researching.

edit: what color are his toenails?
 
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95 is a bit hot, especially if he is at the top of his cage a lot. Does he hang on to the top of his cage? If he does this could possibly be a burn.
 
I agree with the idea that it could be toe burn if he clings to the side of the cage with the heat lamp.
 
95 is a bit hot, especially if he is at the top of his cage a lot. Does he hang on to the top of his cage? If he does this could possibly be a burn.

Agreed!

If your chameleon is climbing on the top of the screen, he can/will burn his toes. feet, Possibly His belly... And yes 95 is a bit hot, Your not making cookies :p
It is my opinion that a basking temp of 95 degrees f. is plenty hot for an adult and younger animals should be provided with a cooler "hot spot".
A basking temperature of 80 degrees f. is sufficient for chameleons 3 months old and younger. Young animals are not terribly good at thermoregulation and may not know to get out of the heat when they need to.
From Brads site, I reccomend you read it..


http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/veiled-chameleon.html
 
Could have something to do with what he climbs on. Does this wash off at all? Does it flake?

I've HEARD of this before! It's on the tip of my tongue. I will do some researching.

edit: what color are his toenails?

His toenails are fine, the normal colour (I dunno how you determine the colour of toenails!) but they're the same colour as a health chameleon.

95 is a bit hot, especially if he is at the top of his cage a lot. Does he hang on to the top of his cage? If he does this could possibly be a burn.

It's only 95 sometimes, 95 is the hottest it gets really. What temperature should a chameleon be? when the light is on the probe it reads between 90 - 95 normally 90 - 93, 95 is the hottest it gets. When he lays his belly o the probe it reads in the high 80s - early 90s so that's the temp he's at and not what the light is at.

Agreed!

If your chameleon is climbing on the top of the screen, he can/will burn his toes. feet, Possibly His belly... And yes 95 is a bit hot, Your not making cookies :p
It is my opinion that a basking temp of 95 degrees f. is plenty hot for an adult and younger animals should be provided with a cooler "hot spot".
A basking temperature of 80 degrees f. is sufficient for chameleons 3 months old and younger. Young animals are not terribly good at thermoregulation and may not know to get out of the heat when they need to.
From Brads site, I reccomend you read it..


http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/veiled-chameleon.html

He never climbs upside down, he done it once, felt how hot it was and quickly moved away! he hasn't done it since and this was long before this problem occurred.

With regards to temp, he is nearly 6 months now and he has started thermo regulating. I've read Brad's site and it's very informative.

The colour on his toes looks blacker in the pics than in real life. I'd say it's more dark brown, hence the original thread title. It's not just on his toes either, it goes round his feet a little bit too. However, none of this is on the bottom of his feet it's just near and on his toes. I really think it's something to do with the skin not shedding properly beforehand.
 
Very odd. Well, if it's not a burn I'd say it's a bad shed or a vitamin deficiency. When's the last time he's gone to the vet?
 
Very odd. Well, if it's not a burn I'd say it's a bad shed or a vitamin deficiency. When's the last time he's gone to the vet?

Only had him a little while so he's never been to the vet. Vit deficiency is unlikely either because he was showing signs of over supplementation (white crust from nose) so I cut his dusting down for a bit. He's also been chowing down on plants! and eating roaches like there's no tomorrow! I offer him 6 a day and he eats them all. I think it's a bad shed, if that's the case what can I do for when he next sheds?
 
Is the plant matter possibly irritating him? I'm not a big plant person but I know some saps of plants can irritate a chameleon... Was anything abnormal when he had shed this time?
 
Is the plant matter possibly irritating him? I'm not a big plant person but I know some saps of plants can irritate a chameleon... Was anything abnormal when he had shed this time?

No sap comes from any of the plants, I checked all the plants were safe before I got them. I researched 6 months before I got Isambard. Nothing abnormal on either shed. The only thing I can think of is the skin, during both sheds, didn't come off the toes properly, that's the only abnormal thing really.
 
Did you try taking off the shed yourself? As in... did you pull off the skin because it wasn't coming off?
 
Did you try taking off the shed yourself? As in... did you pull off the skin because it wasn't coming off?

No I didn't because i've heard this isn't a good idea, besides he won't let me that close to him anyway!
 
Alright that's a good thing then, but I still think his skin is damaged somehow. Does he look like it hurts for him to walk?
 
Alright that's a good thing then, but I still think his skin is damaged somehow. Does he look like it hurts for him to walk?

Not at all, he has no trouble climbing whatsoever. My mum just popped round for a cup of tea and she seams to think it's just dead skin too.
 
Well let's hope it gets better - I would take it to a good cham vet if you have one.
 
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