HELP! Kumar has a white nasal discharge

[brudd]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? 5mo old male veiled. I have had him for a month
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? Once and he didn't like it
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? 10 crickets a day gutloaded with cricket crack and mustard greens
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I use Replashy Calcium Plus
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? Dripper and I mist 2-3 times a day. i use Retisafe in both of the waters. I have a container to collect the excess water on the bottom of the cage
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? dark brown with white at the end. never tested
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. unknown

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Screen 18x18x24
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? I use a reptisun 5.0 UVB and a basking light 60W. they are on for 12 and off for 12
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? day temps 85-90 night 65-70
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? I dont have a humidty gauge yet
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? No live plants just fake vines and plants
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? Cage is located in the living room in front of a window no fan or breeze. I dont open that window. The cages stands about 2 feet off the ground ao about 4 feet to the top of the cage
Location - Where are you geographically located? Reno NV

Current Problem - On sunday night I noticed a white crusty discharge coming out of Kumar's nose. It looks like a mineral deposit of some sort. I misted as usual that night. The next day, Monday, I woke up and it was gone. Monday I did not dust the crickets thinking I was over supplementing. Tuesday morning when I woke up I noticed it again. I need help? What is it? Am i over supplementing? Could I be using to much Reptisafe in the water? Also, any other tips on keeping a happy chameleon? I took some pictures of him and the cage. Let me know what you think. You can kinda see the discharge on his nose. Thank you in advanced!

 

[suzi]

It is salt, nothing to worry about. Try and get him to drink more water.

 

[bigcappa]

To much supplementation!

You are probably getting this white discharge from over supplementation, this is how your cham gets rid of excess minerals. Cut back on your supplements, if your giving it calcium everyday without d3, you can knock that down to 3-4 times a week and on only a few feeders for that day. Remember you don't have to drown them in the supplement, just lightly dust the ones you choose to. Hope this helps!

Also try and get a live plant in there, it will help with the humidity since you do not have a gauge!

 

[Syn]

Could be salt, could be over-supplementation.

What kind of water do you use? I've noticed when I spray my chameleon with water straight from the tap he will have more nose crust versus leaving it out over night.

 

[Elizadolots]

You might want to put that cage on a table and set up some drainage.

My suggestion is to get a really cheap table, like something from IKEA (who's site hates me now, or I'd provide a link) and drill a hole through the bottom of the cage and through the table. Put a collection bin under the table.

That will let you keep water dripping for your chameleon as much and as long as possible.

 

[brudd]

You might want to put that cage on a table and set up some drainage.

My suggestion is to get a really cheap table, like something from IKEA (who's site hates me now, or I'd provide a link) and drill a hole through the bottom of the cage and through the table. Put a collection bin under the table.

That will let you keep water dripping for your chameleon as much and as long as possible.

I have the dripper on 24/7. I fill that water dripper 2 times a day and I am emptying the collection tray about the same. But I do like the idea of a drainage system. I am definitely going to have to look into that. Thanks!

 

[brudd]

Could be salt, could be over-supplementation.

What kind of water do you use? I've noticed when I spray my chameleon with water straight from the tap he will have more nose crust versus leaving it out over night.

I use tap water but I add Reptisafe (water conditioner) to the dripper and the mister. I was wondering could I be using to much of that?

 

[Syn]

This could be outdated, but Reptisafe does add calcium to the water, but like I said, they may have changed their formula. Your best bet may be to simply leave an open container of tap water overnight (unless you have unsafe levels of heavy metals in your tap, then I doubt Reptisafe would be of any use regardless) to allow some of the salts (chlorine, etc.) to dissipate that way.

 

[camimom]

I have the dripper on 24/7. I fill that water dripper 2 times a day and I am emptying the collection tray about the same. But I do like the idea of a drainage system. I am definitely going to have to look into that. Thanks!

You dont need to run your dripper 24/7. chams cant drink when they sleep. lol.

 

[fluxlizard]

You don't need to worry about this so much. Salty discharge is normal for some lizards and is a way to conserve water - glands in the nose take care of some of what normally comes out in the urates. If what comes out of a veiled chameleon's nose worries you, you should get an iguana sometime- they snort this salty stuff all over the place - it's a little more liquid in iguanas and it dries on the glass of the tank.

 

[carol5208]

I have the dripper on 24/7. I fill that water dripper 2 times a day and I am emptying the collection tray about the same. But I do like the idea of a drainage system. I am definitely going to have to look into that. Thanks!

why are you running the dripping at night when he is not going to drink?

 

[camimom]

why are you running the dripping at night when he is not going to drink?

Hehe I said the same thing.

 

[brudd]

why are you running the dripping at night when he is not going to drink?

I never thought of turning off the water at night. Thanks.