Concerned

[twatts704]

Not sure if I need to jump the gun with this one yet or not but looking for some insight please. I woke up this morning to find this on Betty my female ambilobe. She has been eating well for me, drinking well for me and pooping/peeing well for me too. Has anyone ever seen this and if so can you tell me what it is?

I have felt it and it is not tender to her, it doesn't feel any different from the rest of her skin, but it also doesn't seem to fade when she starts to change colors. You can see her throwing in dark bars as the pictures progress. She also doesn't seem stressed (more so than usual, no puffing/hissing) when I approach her, pick her up, and handle her this morning.

 

[Trillian]

That does look quite worrying, from the sounds of it, just her skin is affected so far. How have her sheds been going? Could it be discoloured retained shed?

 

[twatts704]

That does look quite worrying, from the sounds of it, just her skin is affected so far. How have her sheds been going? Could it be discoloured retained shed?

No that's what I thought because this is only on that half of the body and not on the other half at all. It was like it got to the spines and stopped completely

 

[camimom]

Ive seen something sorta similar on my female veiled. cept it was on the underside of her belly and went up her sides towards her spine a bit.

i never knew what it was, it didnt change color when she slept either.

It didnt seem like a fungus or a burn.... its gone now though,, it disappeared a few days after she laid eggs.

 

[Trillian]

So she's just got up with it today? Hmmmm. Doesn't look like a burn, does the location bear any relevance to how or where she sleeps? Just wondering if the discolouration could be some sort of fungal growth if she sleeps near damp soil?! When was her last shed? Could well be that this just comes off with her next shed.

 

[twatts704]

So she's just got up with it today? Hmmmm. Doesn't look like a burn, does the location bear any relevance to how or where she sleeps? Just wondering if the discolouration could be some sort of fungal growth if she sleeps near damp soil?! When was her last shed? Could well be that this just comes off with her next shed.

Yeah she had it when she got up today. And no she sleeps in the middle of the cage in her ficus branches. She shed either last week or 2 weeks ago... every week is sort of jumbling into each other its hard to keep up lol but it was a full shed.

 

[camimom]

heres where it was on my girl.

View attachment 62130

View attachment 62131

View attachment 62132

 

[twatts704]

Ive seen something sorta similar on my female veiled. cept it was on the underside of her belly and went up her sides towards her spine a bit.

i never knew what it was, it didnt change color when she slept either.

It didnt seem like a fungus or a burn.... its gone now though,, it disappeared a few days after she laid eggs.

Still trying to understand if she is gravid or not... she shows the signs of being gravid but isn't gaining weight.. I'm taking her outside, feeding her well, and supplementing and she drinks like a camel! She doesn't seem interested in her bin either.

Maybe I can get a doctor to comment on my thread?!

 

[camimom]

my female above.. was gravid in that photo. she laid 30 eggs about two weeks ago.

heres the thing.. her first time she was gravid- she really looked it, got plump, got pissy, changed colors so that id have to be stupid to not see she was gravid..

but in the above photos- it was different.

the first time around- they were fertile..

this second time- pretty sure not fertile at all.



and like i said- after she liad- the coloring went away.

 

[twatts704]

Hmm well hopefully she is gravid and lays soon and the color goes away. If Betty lays they will be infertile.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Right now that looks like an abnormal color change, not a burn or fungal or bacterial. So the color change of the skin is controlled by hormones and nerves. The hormones come into play when they want to change colors with their moods (stress, anger, flirting, etc). The nerve component can cause color change when the nerves themselves are affected, usually by pinching or trauma. In females I always worry about eggs pinching the nerves, especially when it's on the back half of the body. I had a gravid Pygmy have a similar color change abnormality in that region. Or maybe she could have fallen and hurt herself causing some residual damage to her spine or nerves. As long as she is still using her back legs normally then there isn't much you can do for her besides making sure she's eating and drinking well and getting all her normal care. Keep an eye on it though for sure because if it spreads or if she starts acting unusual, especially in the back end a vet visit and x-ray might be in order.

 

[twatts704]

Right now that looks like an abnormal color change, not a burn or fungal or bacterial. So the color change of the skin is controlled by hormones and nerves. The hormones come into play when they want to change colors with their moods (stress, anger, flirting, etc). The nerve component can cause color change when the nerves themselves are affected, usually by pinching or trauma. In females I always worry about eggs pinching the nerves, especially when it's on the back half of the body. I had a gravid Pygmy have a similar color change abnormality in that region. Or maybe she could have fallen and hurt herself causing some residual damage to her spine or nerves. As long as she is still using her back legs normally then there isn't much you can do for her besides making sure she's eating and drinking well and getting all her normal care. Keep an eye on it though for sure because if it spreads or if she starts acting unusual, especially in the back end a vet visit and x-ray might be in order.

Yeah it just worries me to see such an abnormal color... :/

 

[twatts704]

Bump for primetime folks? The more and more I look at it the more and more I get worried.

 

[DavidBuchan]

Bump for primetime folks? The more and more I look at it the more and more I get worried.

It's not very nice to look at, but you asked for a doctor and ferritinmyshoes is a vet so she goes you one better. If she says to keep an eye on it and try not to worry for now, then that's the best advice you'll get I think. Hope it clears up soon by itself for you

 

[twatts704]

It's not very nice to look at, but you asked for a doctor and ferritinmyshoes is a vet so she goes you one better. If she says to keep an eye on it and try not to worry for now, then that's the best advice you'll get I think. Hope it clears up soon by itself for you

Thank you for pointing that out. Was not writing peoples opinions off. Also didnt know ferritinmyshoes was a vet.

 

[DavidBuchan]

Was not writing peoples opinions off.

Oh yeah, I know I just wanted to reassure you a bit more if I could. I know what it's like worrying too much about these little animals And maybe someone else has an idea too, it still might be worth a bump..........

 

[Elizadolots]

Is it at all possible that it's a bruise?

 

[twatts704]

Is it at all possible that it's a bruise?

I don't think it is, if she had one it would be from falling and it would be tender or she would be walking funny. She is completely normal and you can see some normal colors amongst the black too

 

[Elizadolots]

I don't think it is, if she had one it would be from falling and it would be tender or she would be walking funny. She is completely normal and you can see some normal colors amongst the black too

Would she? I find odd bruises all the time on myself and they don't make me limp or anything.... The only bruises that do that are related to sprains, but impact bruises don't bother me at all. I bruise easily (I'm officially a PEACH) I could inventory my body now and find multiple bruises that don't disrupt my movement at all.

Chameleons aren't big on displaying pain so you might not recognize that something is "tender". Heck, I can poke bruises on myself and not have it hurt.

I just don't know if that's what a good bruise would look like on a chameleon. If it was a bruise it would certainly be because of a major fall.

I'm just tossing that out there.

 

[Dr O]

hi all--

i've been asked to comment, but frankly between what ferret and eliza wrote i'm not sure that i have anything major to add.

i will add some minor things; points that have been made and some clarifications. ferret is dead on re: anatomy and nerves, so eggs pressing on a nerve or a fall that injured a nerve can cause a color change. however you would sometimes see some obvious weakening on the affected side. in terms of a bruise, probably less likely; even after surgery i don't typically see bruises that would cause any color change like that. the only time that i do is with injections and that's b/c many of the injectable meds are irritating to the chromatophores and cause localized color change, sometimes temporary, sometimes permanent. but that's obviously not the issue here.

fungal diseases are notorious for causing a darkening (hyperpigmentation) of the skin; but they also tend to really thicken the skin (lichenification) and that's not happening. if it does, well then we've got a better answer. but i don't think it's going to happen.

imo, the scenario that i would place my casino chips on are hormonal due to ovarian cycling. and that just takes tincture of time to resolve and until it does you should have a cham that's acting 99% normal. meaning that she may be a bit cranky or slightly anorexic, but not limping/weak/crashing. i think that's what you're going to see but will have to be patient. short of a skin biopsy (which i don't recommend at this point) i would take a wait and see approach, particularly since she's acting fine and it's not drastically worsening.

please keep us apprised as time goes on.

dr. o—