Concerned about black patches on veil

curlyshirley

New Member
Hi everyone,

I have an 8 month old veiled chameleon. She seems healthy and is eating well but has developed a black patch on her veil and two dark grey/white spots on her knee and side. Is this normal looking or should I be concerned? Can anyone help me? I've attached pictures.

My thanks in advance.

Some info:

She lives in an 18x18x36" screen terrarium with uv light and heat lamp. I live in Canmore, Alberta, Canada so it gets cold here. I keep the heat lamp on at all times, but it is high enough away from cage to prevent her from burning herself. She also enjoys natural sunlight through window. Shes feed diet of crickets (gut loaded with veggies), mealworms, kingworms and wax worms about 4 x a week. All feedings supplimented with calcium and calcium with vit. D every other feeding. I mist the cage several times daily and she does not look dehydrated.
 

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I am no expert so i will refrain from giving any advice. However, it is typically advised to fill out this form so that those that actually know what they are talking about can assist.

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.


Cage Info:

Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
Location - Where are you geographically located?


Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.
 
Hi everyone,

I have an 8 month old veiled chameleon. She seems healthy and is eating well but has developed a black patch on her veil and two dark grey/white spots on her knee and side. Is this normal looking or should I be concerned? Can anyone help me? I've attached pictures.

My thanks in advance.

Some info:

She lives in an 18x18x36" screen terrarium with uv light and heat lamp. I live in Canmore, Alberta, Canada so it gets cold here. I keep the heat lamp on at all times, but it is high enough away from cage to prevent her from burning herself. She also enjoys natural sunlight through window. Shes feed diet of crickets (gut loaded with veggies), mealworms, kingworms and wax worms about 4 x a week. All feedings supplimented with calcium and calcium with vit. D every other feeding. I mist the cage several times daily and she does not look dehydrated.

This looks like a burn to me. Classic sites for burns too. Burns don't happen only because a light is too hot or close, but also how much time the cham sits directly under it. Maybe she spends a lot of time right in the heat because the rest of the cage is significantly cooler. What is the temp right at the spot she sits to bask? This is the key. What are the temps in other areas of her cage? Is the heat on at night? Unless your room drops below 55 F at night she doesn't need it. Sleeping under a heat spot for hours without moving might have been the problem.

To prevent infection and ease healing I would get either some Silvadene (a burn ointment with silver) from a vet or at least an OTC antibiotic cream such as Polysporin and apply it to the patches. She may lose part of the casque patch depending on how deep the burn goes.

BTW, she does not need Ca with vit D every other feeding. Use plain Ca lightly every day but D3 a lot less. Check the basic husbandry links about this.
 
Looks like a burn to me. You should not be leaving your heat lamp on at all times unless your temps are getting really cold, like below 50. What are your cage temps, night and day and basking temp? What are you using for a basking bulb?
 
possible window burn

Looks like the sun coming through the window got her, if indeed the lamps are too far away. the window will magnify the sunlight and can very easily burn a cham as well as a human.
 
Plus doesn't the window glass filter out any UVB so it really is not necessary to let them sit behind window glass?
 
Looks like the sun coming through the window got her, if indeed the lamps are too far away. the window will magnify the sunlight and can very easily burn a cham as well as a human.

Not very likely. UVA burns, heat lamps produce UVA but it is a very focused beam of heat unlike general lighting through a window. One reason they burn a basking lizard that doesn't suffer the same thing when basking in open sun for some limited time. The sun would be coming in from the side, and these burns look like they were caused from heat directly overhead.
 
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Plus doesn't the window glass filter out any UVB so it really is not necessary to let them sit behind window glass?

The general lighting from a window is still a benefit even though the UV radiation isn't there. If the cage was in direct hot sunlight for hours every day it could increase the chance of overall high temps but more likely if the cage was glass or plexi that doesn't allow heat to dissipate.
 
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