Burn marks on my Chameleon?

[Brown]

Could these yellow marks on my chameleons' spikes be burn marks??? It's only on that one side. Also the lamp is not on the cage its about 3 inches above the cage.

 

[carol5208]

burns marks would not be yellow. That looks like your chameleons natural coloring.

 

[deadhd5]

Gotta be an bacterial or fungal infection. I think the spikes would be damaged from a burn.

I would isolate him from any other chams you have and make a vet appointment ASAP.

Good luck!

 

[Brown]

bacteria! oh no! This sucks. I dont even know where to find a vet for exotic animals like Henry

 

[carol5208]

bacteria! oh no! This sucks. I dont even know where to find a vet for exotic animals like Henry

I was looking at the yellow on his side. I reread and saw you said spikes! Sorry! That is kinda strange looking but I still don't think a burn cause that would turn the area black. I am not sure sure fungus looks bright yellow either. Wait and get a few more opinions.

 

[mcbdz]

My pictures aren't very clear. Are those blisters?
If no one on here provides you with a vet just, call any vet and ask them for a reference to a vet for reptiles. You could also call any pet shop that deals in reptiles and they may be able to give you a name they use. Hope your chams ok.

 

[Dr O]

I was looking at the yellow on his side. I reread and saw you said spikes! Sorry! That is kinda strange looking but I still don't think a burn cause that would turn the area black. I am not sure sure fungus looks bright yellow either. Wait and get a few more opinions.

unfortunately my oldest panther had a 2" spike/dorsal burn several years ago. but for the first 10 days or so, the colors were SPECTACULAR. as i had not put 2 and 2 together yet, i thought he was going through some cool color change. however, the colors faded, the area dried, cracked, and sloughed. about 3 months of topical therapy and it scarred over.

so no, they don't turn black and charred immediately (depends on severity/type of burn too).

 

[Dr O]

are those yellowish areas under the spikes a waxy sort of secretion? unclear from the photos.

 

[carol5208]

unfortunately my oldest panther had a 2" spike/dorsal burn several years ago. but for the first 10 days or so, the colors were SPECTACULAR. as i had not put 2 and 2 together yet, i thought he was going through some cool color change. however, the colors faded, the area dried, cracked, and sloughed. about 3 months of topical therapy and it scarred over.

so no, they don't turn black and charred immediately (depends on severity/type of burn too).

ah, thanks Dr. O for setting the record straight. I have never seen a burn be bright yellow like that. Wow, that is good to know though. The yellow area does look very weird almost kinda blistery..

 

[Psychobunny]

are those yellowish areas under the spikes a waxy sort of secretion? unclear from the photos.

Yeah, it does look like soft yellow wax that he rubbed againts
If you look close, you can see the yellow material has thickness over the skin

Like, something got hot (from your basking bulb!!??) and rubbed off on him!!??

 

[Brown]

are those yellowish areas under the spikes a waxy sort of secretion? unclear from the photos.

yes they are. So it is a burn mark is what your telling me?

 

[Brown]

Heres some more pictures of his waxy yellowness. I turned off his basking lamp for the time being. I also check the cage on top and it did feel real hot. If I were to keep my hand on the metal it would of burn me too :/

 

[camimom]

I think you should go see a vet.
if its a burn, it needs a burn cream.
if its a fungus it needs a fungal cream.

all must come from a vet.

till then- put neosporin/polysporin on it.

 

[Dr O]

yes they are. So it is a burn mark is what your telling me?

unfortunately it strikes me as the type of exudate that is common with a burn.

a common procedure for a vet would be to use a prescription ointment such as silver sulfadiazine from now until it completely scars over (assuming it may slough), and systemic antibiotics from now until the first layer of skin heals back over, which can be a few months. sorry for that, but certainly best for him to see a vet.

when my guy burned himself, he had a high snuggle place at night in the cage with a wire top. he was young, and as he grew his spines made contact with the top screen when he slept and hunched. one of my light fixtures on him was a combo fluorescent/incandescent, the incand. for his night heat. but it was old and cheaply made, and eventually the plastic housing around that bulb softened, dipped, and the bulb was touching the screen. it was several inches away, but enough to burn him after the prolonged exposure every night. this was upstate NY where the house would go to 55 at night, so he needed the bulb. it was also one of the black "moonlight" bulbs which make it wicked hard to see that there was a problem (until there was a problem), and those bulbs also get very, very hot.

 

[Brown]

I'm taking Henry to the vet tomorrow so well see what happens. P.S. The bumps look deflated now. They aren't plumpy like in the other pictures. I also Bought a 25W Basking bulb and replaced the 50W Hopefully this will prevent some burning in the future.

 

[Brown]

Alright went to the Vet with Henry and found out what was wrong with him. Only took 200 dollars . It was dry skin clumping on his back. The doc took a warm towel and rubbed his dead skin off. Henry is going to be just fine

 

[mcbdz]

Can we see a new pic of the area since the vet has cleaned it?

 

[Dr O]

Alright went to the Vet with Henry and found out what was wrong with him. Only took 200 dollars . It was dry skin clumping on his back. The doc took a warm towel and rubbed his dead skin off. Henry is going to be just fine

by dry skin, do you mean a retained shed? chams by nature obviously have dry skin. and all the yellowish color is gone, back to normal colored spikes? that's great!! what did he say about the yellow exudate that he had last week?

i'd like to see a photo too if you can.

 

[Brown]

He took a sample of some of the yellow stuff and sent it to the lab he will contact me when the info is available. Heres a pic of Henry after the Vet. He has a small cut from the vet when he took a sample.

 

[Dr O]

He took a sample of some of the yellow stuff and sent it to the lab he will contact me when the info is available. Heres a pic of Henry after the Vet. He has a small cut from the vet when he took a sample.

yerghh......the loveliness of being a vet on the internet.........

i WAS NOT THERE for the exam, and DO NOT KNOW what the vet literally said. but, assuming that's NOT what his spikes and immediately surrounding skin always looked like, i am in no way convinced that is still not from a thermal burn with a possible secondary infection. i don't like the withered spines, the bleeding area, nor the darkening of the skin underneath some of the spines further down his back.

only time will tell, i guess. your vet did not send you home with any meds at all?

p.s.-at the worst, it's not a horrific burn or anything but would still probably leave some scarring. just cosmetic. please let us know what the report says from the vet's test, and how things continue to evolve.