Does my veiled have a disease?

[Mom of Eva]

I noticed it one day and I was worried I rinced it with water 3 times a day and it seemed like it was healing but now it looks like it moved down his spine a little more. He is acting fine .. He moves around just fine . Does anyone know what this is and what I can put on it to heal it?

 

[carol5208]

Do you have him under a hot basking light? How far down is your basking branch? Can his skin come in contact with the screen or the bulb? It could be a burn, but it is kinda hard to tell from the pics. It could also be some type of fungual or bacterial infection. I would take him to a vet and have him checked out. Silver Sulfadiazine is good for burns and can be used on chameleons but you have to see a vet and get a prescription for it if that is what it turns out to be.

 

[Mom of Eva]

Thanks for responding .. I took a pic of RANGO he doesn't touch the screen near the basking lap at all ... I was wondering if that was what was happening ... I just got a larger cage in December and his back started looking like that in his old cage. Also when I was changing cafes taking things out to clean I noticed a couple of black beetles .. I looked it up to see what they were and I guess it used to be meal worms that dropped in the bottom of his cage and turned into beetles and I was wondering if they bit Rango because Rango kept laying at the bottom at night which I thought was strange because he always laid on his stick at the top. I will definitely get him to a vet and take care of his issue. I will look for that cream you suggested as well . Thankyou

 

[carol5208]

What wattage light are you using?. It looks awfully bright. But you say, this condition happened before and not in this cage? Be mindful that the skin of the chameleon does not have to touch any part of the screen or the light to get burned. They get what is called a thermal burn. Kinda like us getting a sunburn. I have seen many, many chameleons on here with their spines burned off. They will never grown back once they are damaged or fall off by the way. It could be too that he is burned and now the burn is infected. I have never heard of the superworm or meal worm beetles biting a chameleon. I have heard of crickets left in the cage doing damage to chameleons, however. Not saying that it could not happen with the beetles, just don't recall seeing any case of it, atleast not on this forum anyways.

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

No he was not bitten. That is a nasty burn. It will take a long time to heal and he will need antibiotic cream from the vet. poor guy.