Grey patches on my chameleon

Jnghockey

New Member
Hi, I have a female veiled chameleon about 8 months old. I’m very concerned for her because she has grey patches all over her head and a huge one on her right side almost on the whole side of her body with 2 small black dots. she eats about 10-15 crickets every other day and I water her cage consistently. she’s been like this for 2 weeks and I don’t know what it could be

D4E58B3A-850A-40D5-8C6F-83AD70E45E68.jpeg
D4939598-D4B6-4578-952F-DC0B57E827E0.jpeg
 
Last edited:
I agree with @MissSkittles, those look like burns

Please fill out the husbandry form so we can get a better idea of what is going on.

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.

--------------

Please Note:


1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
2. Photos can be very helpful
 
I agree with @MissSkittles, those look like burns

Please fill out the husbandry form so we can get a better idea of what is going on.

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.

--------------

Please Note:


1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
2. Photos can be very helpful
It’s a female veiled chameleon and is about 7-8 months old I thinkI’ve had her for 2-3 months now
I handle her one every two days for like 30 minutes
She eats about 10-15 small/medium crickets every other day
I don’t use any vitamin or calcium as of right now
I personally mist her cage like 4/5 times a day and water her by putting a bunch of water on the plastic plants I have for her
She’s never been tested for parasites she goes to the bathroom one a day and it’s a brown color with like a cloudy coat over it

I have a glass cage. Size 12x12x18
I have a Exo-terra reptile USB 100, 13w light bulb. I usually turn her light on when I wake up in the morning for school and leave it on for probably 10 hours.
her cage temp is about 70-80°F. Her lowest temp at night is probably around 67°F. I measure her cage temp with a thermometer with a hydrometer.
her humidity levels are 50-70% throughout the day I mist her cage by hand about 4/5 times a day and use a hydrometer to measure the levels
I have two plastic plants no real ones on the two sides of her cage and a vine for her to walk on
Her cage is located on the other side of the room from the vent and is to the side of my ceiling fan. Her cage starts at about 3 feet of the floor and ends about 4 feet from the ceiling.
I live in Michigan around the thumb of the state.
hers a pic of her cage to help
E9710BAB-5493-4B1A-9BF7-3330670D404E.jpeg
 
Hi and welcome firstly you need to change your uvb to a linear t5 ho and a separate bulb for your basking a 40/50 watt incandescent. You've mentioned your viv is around 70 to 80 f but what is the temp under the light where she sits as agree with MissSkittles looks like burns. I would also remove the substrate as it presents an impaction risk. A couple of live plants will help with humidity and needs branches for climbing options. If you go to (chameleon academy) you will b able to find some useful information. Imo
 
She is extremely small for a 7-8 month old chameleon...

Can you show me what the bulb looks like? If compact then she is getting no UVB but also it would mean that this is not a thermal burn because I do not see any way that she could get close to the lamp.
 
I’ll be putting my feedback in red. There’s a lot of important changes that you’ll need to make and it may seem overwhelming. While it would be totally awesome if you could make them all at once, often it takes time and that’s ok.

It’s a female veiled chameleon and is about 7-8 months old I thinkI’ve had her for 2-3 months now She looks much younger than that. I’d guess she’s around 5 months old.
I handle her one every two days for like 30 minutes
She eats about 10-15 small/medium crickets every other day This is a bit much. Start cutting back to 6-8 feeders daily and then in about another month cut back to every other day. You also need to make sure to feed your feeders healthy foods to keep them nutritious for your cham. Attaching both feeder and ‘gutloading’ sheets.
I don’t use any vitamin or calcium as of right now This is essential. She needs to be getting calcium without vitamin D3 at every feeding except once every 2 weeks. That feeding you’ll use Reptivite with D3. There’s lots of different regimens but IMO this is the simplest.
I personally mist her cage like 4/5 times a day and water her by putting a bunch of water on the plastic plants I have for her You’ll want to mist for about 2 minutes 3 times a day...early at lights on, once mid day and just before lights out. You want her enclosure to dry out in between.
She’s never been tested for parasites she goes to the bathroom one a day and it’s a brown color with like a cloudy coat over it I think it’s always a good idea to have a fecal check for parasites.

I have a glass cage. Size 12x12x18 She really needs an upgrade. The minimum size for an adult is 2x2x4’ or equivalent. As you’re a new keeper, I’d suggest screen which is more forgiving with humidity and provides lots of ventilation.
I have a Exo-terra reptile USB 100, 13w light bulb. I usually turn her light on when I wake up in the morning for school and leave it on for probably 10 hours. For best uvb you’ll need to get a T5 fixture with a 5.0 or Arcadia 6% uvb bulb. It needs to be long enough to span the width of the enclosure. For basking, an old fashioned incandescent (try around 40w or 60w) works great. Not LED though...they put off little to no heat. Right now, raise the current light off of the screen. Little ones do screen climb and that is possibly what happened.
her cage temp is about 70-80°F. Her lowest temp at night is probably around 67°F. I measure her cage temp with a thermometer with a hydrometer. Temps are perfect!
her humidity levels are 50-70% throughout the day I mist her cage by hand about 4/5 times a day and use a hydrometer to measure the levels You’ll need to bring this down to 30-50% during the day. Adjusting your misting frequency should help with this. At night humidity can go to 100%.
I have two plastic plants no real ones on the two sides of her cage and a vine for her to walk on Veiled’s eat at their plants and have been known to eat plastic ones and get impacted. You’ll want to get rid of the fake and use only all live ones. Here’s a list of safe ones. https://chameleonacademy.com/plants/ Pothos is my favorite and the easiest.
Her cage is located on the other side of the room from the vent and is to the side of my ceiling fan. Her cage starts at about 3 feet of the floor and ends about 4 feet from the ceiling.
I live in Michigan around the thumb of the state.
hers a pic of her cage to help

So as I said, there’s lots of changes to make. Right now the priority is a vet visit. If that is a burn it is over most of her body and she will need professional treatment.
Next priority is starting her on supplements. Without those she will develop metabolic bone disease and a host of other health problems.
Then you’ll need to get her the correct uvb. After that upgrade the enclosure.
Some of the other changes, while not priority, will cost little to nothing and can be made now.
In a bit of time, you’ll have it all together beautifully and will be able to enjoy many happy and healthy years with your sweet little girl.
One last thing, she will lay eggs whether or not she’s even seen a male. You’ll eventually be needing a lay bin. Since you still have a few months before that, not going to go into it now.
I see @Beman is here. I’m going to leave you in her care as I can’t stay on line much longer. :)

ED113D1D-6C27-47FE-B0C3-763671CF1E88.jpeg
D93CF501-F4AE-4C46-AE69-F042E98016C7.jpeg
 
I’ll be putting my feedback in red. There’s a lot of important changes that you’ll need to make and it may seem overwhelming. While it would be totally awesome if you could make them all at once, often it takes time and that’s ok.

It’s a female veiled chameleon and is about 7-8 months old I thinkI’ve had her for 2-3 months now She looks much younger than that. I’d guess she’s around 5 months old.
I handle her one every two days for like 30 minutes
She eats about 10-15 small/medium crickets every other day This is a bit much. Start cutting back to 6-8 feeders daily and then in about another month cut back to every other day. You also need to make sure to feed your feeders healthy foods to keep them nutritious for your cham. Attaching both feeder and ‘gutloading’ sheets.
I don’t use any vitamin or calcium as of right now This is essential. She needs to be getting calcium without vitamin D3 at every feeding except once every 2 weeks. That feeding you’ll use Reptivite with D3. There’s lots of different regimens but IMO this is the simplest.
I personally mist her cage like 4/5 times a day and water her by putting a bunch of water on the plastic plants I have for her You’ll want to mist for about 2 minutes 3 times a day...early at lights on, once mid day and just before lights out. You want her enclosure to dry out in between.
She’s never been tested for parasites she goes to the bathroom one a day and it’s a brown color with like a cloudy coat over it I think it’s always a good idea to have a fecal check for parasites.

I have a glass cage. Size 12x12x18 She really needs an upgrade. The minimum size for an adult is 2x2x4’ or equivalent. As you’re a new keeper, I’d suggest screen which is more forgiving with humidity and provides lots of ventilation.
I have a Exo-terra reptile USB 100, 13w light bulb. I usually turn her light on when I wake up in the morning for school and leave it on for probably 10 hours. For best uvb you’ll need to get a T5 fixture with a 5.0 or Arcadia 6% uvb bulb. It needs to be long enough to span the width of the enclosure. For basking, an old fashioned incandescent (try around 40w or 60w) works great. Not LED though...they put off little to no heat. Right now, raise the current light off of the screen. Little ones do screen climb and that is possibly what happened.
her cage temp is about 70-80°F. Her lowest temp at night is probably around 67°F. I measure her cage temp with a thermometer with a hydrometer. Temps are perfect!
her humidity levels are 50-70% throughout the day I mist her cage by hand about 4/5 times a day and use a hydrometer to measure the levels You’ll need to bring this down to 30-50% during the day. Adjusting your misting frequency should help with this. At night humidity can go to 100%.
I have two plastic plants no real ones on the two sides of her cage and a vine for her to walk on Veiled’s eat at their plants and have been known to eat plastic ones and get impacted. You’ll want to get rid of the fake and use only all live ones. Here’s a list of safe ones. https://chameleonacademy.com/plants/ Pothos is my favorite and the easiest.
Her cage is located on the other side of the room from the vent and is to the side of my ceiling fan. Her cage starts at about 3 feet of the floor and ends about 4 feet from the ceiling.
I live in Michigan around the thumb of the state.
hers a pic of her cage to help

So as I said, there’s lots of changes to make. Right now the priority is a vet visit. If that is a burn it is over most of her body and she will need professional treatment.
Next priority is starting her on supplements. Without those she will develop metabolic bone disease and a host of other health problems.
Then you’ll need to get her the correct uvb. After that upgrade the enclosure.
Some of the other changes, while not priority, will cost little to nothing and can be made now.
In a bit of time, you’ll have it all together beautifully and will be able to enjoy many happy and healthy years with your sweet little girl.
One last thing, she will lay eggs whether or not she’s even seen a male. You’ll eventually be needing a lay bin. Since you still have a few months before that, not going to go into it now.
I see @Beman is here. I’m going to leave you in her care as I can’t stay on line much longer. :)

View attachment 282495View attachment 282496
Ok and thank you so much
 
She is extremely small for a 7-8 month old chameleon...

Can you show me what the bulb looks like? If compact then she is getting no UVB but also it would mean that this is not a thermal burn because I do not see any way that she could get close to the lamp.
Here’s a picture of the light
image.jpg
 
Here’s a picture of the lightView attachment 282538
Ok follow the info that @MissSkittles gave you. The only thing I can figure is she climbed the back panel and managed to get on the top screen under the compact bulb. I would start making changes to her enclosure with the UVB lighting needing to be changed first. But also I would take her to a vet with reptile experience and see if that is a thermal burn. If it is she will need treatment.
 
Back
Top Bottom