Burnt Yemen

[langers2004]

Langers - it looks like you're on the right track with the husbandry answers you provided but I have just a few suggestions:

Chams need warmth to digest their food so if you want to feed him twice a day I would do it in the morning and afternoon no later than 3pm so he has plenty of time to digest his food before going to bed that night.

Gut loading is absolutely critical to good health, especially in a growing boy! You will want to provide dark leafy greens such as collards, kale, turnip greens, dandelions and a mix of fruits and veggies. The link in my signature has nutritional info on commonly available fruits and veggies to give you an idea of what to use. Aim for those higher in calcium than phosphorus and avoid goitrogens and oxalates as they interfere with calcium absorption. It's a list made for iguanas but the concepts are the same. Feeding those to your crickets before they are fed to your Cham will definitely be much better for him.

Dusting schedule most commonly recommended is calcium (without D3 or phosphorus) at every feeding and alternate once a week between a multivitamin and calcium with D3 so those are given twice a month.

Remember that UVB bulbs only last about 6 months so you will need to change the bulb twice a year even if it's still shining because it is not outputting adequate levels of UVB.

If you have any questions about any of that please feel free to ask. I hope you get an answer for your little guy and he improves soon!

Im going to move the light and see if he lightens in colour. Could be a defense to the heat.

I have been told the mvb i have has a 12 month life span. It is a really good make too ill try and find the box and show you.

Gut loading i will change what i have been doing and give them a better diet.

Can you advise on actually how to feed. Is dropping them in ok?

Also the amount of dusting to use, im worried im using too much as he only gets a few bugs each day.

 

[matthewpstyles]

That is what happened to significant burns over time when left untreated. In the early stages of a less severe burn it often looks like the picture posted here.

Edit due to new pictures posted: that is not normal. I'm leaning more towards fungal again....

@ferretimyshoes

yea seeing these pics i completely agree, looks like early fungal infection setting in.

EDIT: when i say early, i mean before the skin starts to peel off and worse symptoms set in etc...

 

[langers2004]

@ferretimyshoes

yea seeing these pics i completely agree, looks like early fungal infection setting in.

Fungal infection?

Surely that would affect the consistency and feel of the skin. It is exactly the same as it has always been.

I was leaning towards him changing colour as chams do when under high uv, which mine must have been seeing as i had the light set-up wrong and photokeratitis being the cause of the poorly eye.

 

[matthewpstyles]

this is a good website a friend has recommended :

http://www.chameleoninfo.com/Home.html

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

@ferretimyshoes

yea seeing these pics i completely agree, looks like early fungal infection setting in.

EDIT: when i say early, i mean before the skin starts to peel off and worse symptoms set in etc...

Thank you!

Langers- you want to dust the crickets lightly so they're only a slightly lighter shade of brown, not little ghosts running around. You can either drop them in and let him hunt or put them in a bowl or cup in the cage so you can monitor how much he's eating. Sometimes it takes them time to figure out cup feeding so do a search for it on here for more info.

 

[matthewpstyles]

Fungal infection?

Surely that would affect the consistency and feel of the skin. It is exactly the same as it has always been.

I was leaning towards him changing colour as chams do when under high uv, which mine must have been seeing as i had the light set-up wrong and photokeratitis being the cause of the poorly eye.

hmmm, does the skin feel dryer? i suppose the best way to describe what i mean it does it feel like crinkly thin parcel paper? sort of like thin paper.

 

[langers2004]

Am i being stupid trying the light for a few days in a different place?

It does seem like the uv thing explains the symptons?

 

[langers2004]

hmmm, does the skin feel dryer? i suppose the best way to describe what i mean it does it feel like crinkly thin parcel paper? sort of like thin paper.

The skin does feel a little dry yes. Thats why i thought its uv related, but it definitely does not feel like a burn. And fungal seems way off with how it looks and feels.

 

[matthewpstyles]

The skin does feel a little dry yes. Thats why i thought its uv related, but it definitely does not feel like a burn. And fungal seems way off with how it looks and feels.

erm, from my experience, when fungal infection sets in, the top skin layers "die" so will decolour and feel different. for example, sometimes the immune system of a reptile will fight it off, and the skin will fall off to reveal a completely fine looking new layer of skin.id say go get it checked for a fungal infection.

 

[langers2004]

erm, from my experience, when fungal infection sets in, the top skin layers "die" so will decolour and feel different. for example, sometimes the immune system of a reptile will fight it off, and the skin will fall off to reveal a completely fine looking new layer of skin.id say go get it checked for a fungal infection.

Ah it just feels like his skin..Just a bit dry.

Can i move his light, perhaps not give him the light for many hours? and monitor him over the weekend then if there are no improvements take him to a vet?

 

[Miss Lily]

Usually when a cham's skin goes dark to absorb heat while basking it will go lighter again and return to normal as the cham warms up or moves away from the heat source to cool down. If you take a chameleon outside in the sunshine it will flatten it's boy and lean away from the sun to get the largest surface area possible. The side that is facing away from the sun will not go dark. As anexample of how skin changes in sunlight, here's a pic of my first cham Lily in her sunbathing cage. Where the bars of the cage created shadows on her body the skin had not changed colour as it was not exposed to the sun.

 

[langers2004]

Ah ok.

Well as it stands i wont be able to see a vet until next week, so do you think the best thing to do is change the light, Clean his eye and see how he goes over the weekend.

Can i do sort of 2 hours on 1 off or anything with his light incase it is over uv exposure?

 

[matthewpstyles]

i would say if you dont feel that you need to go to the vet straight away, move the lights around and try it. monitor the situation over a day or two. if the skin starts to peel or the darkness seems to spread, youll need a trip to the vet.

to boost the immune system of the chameleon in the mean time, when gut loading food, try to gut load items with high carotenoid content. carotenoids aid the immune system functioning in many reptiles, fish, and other animals etc. typically, these are found in orange foods.

 

[langers2004]

i would say if you dont feel that you need to go to the vet straight away, move the lights around and try it. monitor the situation over a day or two. if the skin starts to peel or the darkness seems to spread, youll need a trip to the vet.

to boost the immune system of the chameleon in the mean time, when gut loading food, try to gut load items with high carotenoid content. carotenoids aid the immune system functioning in many reptiles, fish, and other animals etc. typically, these are found in orange foods.

Ok thanks

Orange foods? Anything?

Is there anything i should do with his light other than move it? Less hours or a few on few off?

 

[Miss Lily]

I wouldn't turn it on and off all day - he'll get confused. Mine tend to know what time the lights turn off (all on timers) and go to their roosting spot just before. I remember reading about a cham who's lights were on a timer and the timer kept going on and off all night - the poor thing ended up not sleeping properly and became stressed.

 

[matthewpstyles]

orange foods such as carrots, oranges, etc. vege and fruit that is orange in colour.

the photoperiod (day length) for a veiled should range from 12 hours a day during spring to 14 hours a day in the summer and them 8-10 hours in the winter months.

UVB bulbs should be around 6%, try to keep the light within 12 inches of the heat lamp.

 

[langers2004]

I wouldn't turn it on and off all day - he'll get confused. Mine tend to know what time the lights turn off (all on timers) and go to their roosting spot just before. I remember reading about a cham who's lights were on a timer and the timer kept going on and off all night - the poor thing ended up not sleeping properly and became stressed.

Righto thanks. I will just shorten the time on perhaps and move it further too.

I'll have to buy some orange food too. Im guessing carrots is a good place to start

 

[langers2004]

orange foods such as carrots, oranges, etc. vege and fruit that is orange in colour.

the photoperiod (day length) for a veiled should range from 12 hours a day during spring to 14 hours a day in the summer and them 8-10 hours in the winter months.

UVB bulbs should be around 6%, try to keep the light within 12 inches of the heat lamp.

The light is a zoo-med powersun uv 100w

And i have just read this in the instructions for the bulb -

however if your animal turns unusually dark in color, goes away from the basking spot then the exposure time should be descreased or the distance from the animal increased!

Surely that solves it hopefully

 

[matthewpstyles]

The light is a zoo-med powersun uv 100w

And i have just read this in the instructions for the bulb -

however if your animal turns unusually dark in color, goes away from the basking spot then the exposure time should be descreased or the distance from the animal increased!

Surely that solves it hopefully

yeah try it, youll never know unless you try it. but remember that if it doesnt get better, have it checked out

 

[langers2004]

I really hope so.

Thanks for all the help everyone. I will keep you all posted.