Caught the end of tail when closing the door

Dagreek

New Member
My lizards tail got,caught on the door when I was closing it. I didn't close it really hard but about 1/5th of the end of his tail is now very dark green and it's in a constant curl at the end part that got damaged. When handling him after he did straighten it out completely so I don't think I broke it. Is the color of his tail going to change back after the blood leaves? Is it blood thats making it that color?
 
Welcome to the forums. Sorry to hear about your chams tail. When you can please post a picture. Hopefully it will be ok but it might turn black and get hard and fall off. I'd recommend putting some Silver Sulfadiazine cream on it twice a day.
 
If it turns black and falls off will it regrow just as it was? That's the best pic I can get.
 

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If it falls off, it won't come back. Luckily it's just the tip of it!!

However, you still have a chance of saving the piece of it... jannb ^^^ has a good solution.
 
Here it is. I don't know why it's upside down but double click on it and you'll have a good resolution. They love hanging on the water tubing under the black heat lamp. I plan on putting large vines in when they fully mature.
 

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Those enclosures need a lot of work. Here are a few things that I would recommend changing.

1. Get rid of the substrate! Chams can accidentally ingest it and become impacted, which can be deadly. A bare bottom enclosure is best.

2. Add more foliage. They need a lot more space to climb and hide than they have now. horizontal climbing branches would be a great addition as well.

3. Remove the water dishes, they do little more than breed bacteria. Chameleons do not drink from standing water.

4. If you have a Chameleon in each of those enclosures, place something between them so they cannot see each other. If they can see each other they may become very stressed and in time very ill.

5. You will need to get larger enclosures soon. The minimum recommended cage size for a male Panther Chameleon is 24"x24"x48". Your little enclosures are fine for little babies, but will need to upgraded by the time they are about 6 months.
 
One of them drinks from their bowl. I'll get something to separate the cages. I have one Cham in each tank. How will they walk without substrate?
 
One of them drinks from their bowl. I'll get something to separate the cages. I have one Cham in each tank. How will they walk without substrate?

Just because they will drink standing water in a bowl doesn't mean they should. Chameleons walk just fine without substrate because they live in trees. ;)
 
One of them drinks from their bowl. I'll get something to separate the cages. I have one Cham in each tank. How will they walk without substrate?

A Healthy chameleon will rarely, if ever, come down to the ground. From the day they are born they live high in the trees. By providing lots of foliage for them to climb and hide in, you will find that they stay in and on the foliage. Instead of the water dishes, you should be misting the enclosures several times a day (it looks like you already have a misting system). They will lick the water from the leaves, another reason to add more foliage.
 
Usually when a Cham drinks from a bowl or dish it means they are not being offered enough mist to drink. Mist more and loose the dishes :)
 
First you should go through these threads to get some ideas.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/official-enclosure-picture-thread-49688/

https://www.chameleonforums.com/official-enclosure-picture-thread-2-post-your-pics-94781/

You should check out our site sponsors if you are interested in purchasing a pre-made screen cage https://www.chameleonforums.com/index.php?page=sponsors. You want to put in lots of horizontal pathways with vines and also a tree and other plants for coverage. Chameleons are tree dwellers and love to climb but are also shy so tend to be happiest with lots of coverage from leaves. You can also make you own cage if you are so inclined.

It is important to separate the chameleons right away and get the cage set up properly.

Here is a basic starter idea

Cage4.jpg
 
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