dumbblondie
New Member
it's the end of it at first i thought it was just changing the colouring on it's tail but now it kinda looks like it's dead any idea why this has happened?
help my chameleons tail is going black
- Thread starter dumbblondie
- Start date
Vibrant Chameleons
Avid Member
It was probably a shed in which the tip didn't shed off and it cut off the circulation to the tip of the tail. This will need to be dealt with or it can move up the tail rather quickly. I suggest taking him to the vet to have them amputate the dead part of the tail asap.
Dave Weldon
Avid Member
Howdy Kazzie,
Got photos?
Supplying this info may be helpful in sorting things out.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/
Depending on exactly what is going on with the tail, a number of things might be the cause. Tail tip necrosis can be caused by a lack of vitamin A. You must be careful with vit A dosages. Too much leads to liver damage etc.
dumbblondie
New Member
sadly i have no photos but the tail does look pretty dead
Dave Weldon
Avid Member
dumbblondie
New Member
it think it's about 2 cm can't really tell as it's curled up it's been like this for about a week i think we first thought it was just her tail gettin a bit dirty
Dave Weldon
Avid Member
Howdy,
A vet can determine if that part of his tail still has live tissue and can be saved or if it needs to be removed. A shortage of vitamin A is still a possibility as the original cause.
Here is an excerpt from one of my old posts in 2005 that discusses potential dosages of vitamin A:
The subject of supplementation certainly has a lot of controversy surrounding it. Vitamin A has had its ups and downs all by itself too. I was reading my latest library addition; "Reptile Medicine and Surgery", 2nd Edition, edited by Douglas R. Mader, MS, DVM, DABVP. It just started shipping a few weeks ago. It's an extensive update of the original 1996 version. It has increased from around 500 pages to over 1200 pages and over 900 images. Chapters are written by Mader and 72 contributing authors, mostly Vets.
I was especially interested in the conclusions about Vit. A and chameleons in chapter 18 (written by Susan Donoghue). I'm not sure just how new that data is but the conclusion that most chameleons are deficient in a source of preformed Vit A and not just beta-carotene got me worried. This deficiency is supposed to be causing real problems, especially noted in Veileds. That got me to thinking about my chameleons (1 Panther and 2 Veileds) as well as another Veiled that I was taking care of for some friends who went out of town for 10 days. Their female Veiled began having troubles staying upright on its branches and vines a month or two ago. She was looked at by an exotic vet who prescribed liquid Ca and more UVB (sunshine). The diagnosis seemed reasonable (she had produced 3 successful clutches) but the treatment didn't change anything for the first few weeks+. While she was in my care, Mader's book arrived. I read about the Vit A issue and decided to give her a couple of Ca/D3/Vit A dustings. I had some ReptoCal product that someone had given me but that I'd never used before. In its many ingredients, it listed Vit. A at 219,900 IU/kg. I dusted with it for 2-3 feedings and she actually began showing improvement after about a week or so. Her keepers returned and after a few more days they said that she was now climbing some and that her stability seems to continue to improve. It could be that the liquid Ca/UVB finally kicked-in or the Vit A did something useful or both.
I knew that there was some controversy about preformed Vit. A verses beta-carotene. I, along with many other chameleon keepers, use the Rep-Cal Herptivite multivitamin product that only has beta-carotene as a vitamin A source and no preformed vitamin A. Mader's book talks about how lizards like chameleons don't process beta-carotene like herbivores do thus leading to the chameleon's troubles. I'm in the process of re-thinking my supplementation. I'm thinking about either a replacement for the Rep-Cal Herptivite product or, more likely, adding some source of preformed Vit A to the dusting schedule (without overdosing). Mine usually get Ca/D3 every other week and Ca no/D3 on any superworms (poor Cah) when not using Ca/D3. They get Herptivite once a month. This was based on suggestions from my vet, Dr. Greek, who has worked on 500-1000 chameleons. My chameleons get 4-8 hours of sunshine when the weather permits (not lately), along with 12 hrs of Reptisun 5.0 every day.
My biggest fear forms around my (unfounded?) concern that preformed vitamin A is easy to overdose. It is one of those vitamins that is stored in the liver etc. and can take months to use up what is stored. Too much can even contribute to a kind of nutritional MBD among other problems including death.
The book recommends a treatment (hypovitaminosis A illness symptoms present) dosage of:
Vitamin A (liquid?) @ 2000 IU per 30 grams body weight once a week for 2 weeks.
Using powder: Dusts containing 86 IU retinyl ester /g DM (dry matter), followed by 60 IU /g DM.
Then as a maintenance level dietary dose:
Dusts providing up to 60 IU/g DM or 5-9 IU/g cricket DM. (I didn't find where it mentions how often to dust at that dosage....)
dumbblondie
New Member
thx i will get her 2 the vet asap
I have just looked on this for any one that may be having the same problem as myself with their chameleon, I woke up about 9 days ago to find my 1 Year old Yemen with a complete black tail, I had seen a zoo programe a few days before and it showed an iguana whos tail had died suddenly afer the temperaure changed in his home, now I do not know if this can happen to chams tails but if so and they do die off what causes it, the temperature in her house has not changed but she has recently lost her mate he died just a few days before, can stress cause the tail to do this?
Niels Pedersen
Established Member
Did it look like this?
http://www.kamaeleoner.dk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=145&Itemid=125#overdosering
try google translation on my site
http://translate.google.com/
http://www.kamaeleoner.dk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=145&Itemid=125#overdosering
try google translation on my site
http://translate.google.com/
Chameleon Company
Avid Member
Blondie
My apologies too Niels, as I did not go to your site or the translation, if this is covered there. Since another member had mentioned a blackening of the tail, while vitamin A deficiency and dead tissue can cause blackening, heavy bruising at some point in the tail can also cause all parts south of it to blacken as a result of the trauma, but not die. It can last up to a month before coloration begins to return, in our experience. A fight with another chameleon, pinch in a closing cage door, etc. are usual causes. Perhaps not in your specific case, but in others with "black tail", I just wanted to throw that into the mix of possibilities that some may encounter.
With dead tissue, usually caused by an external trauma in our experience (again, a cage door pinch), we have easily worked with the injury by applying a topical antibiotic daily until the dead tissue is gone and the stump has healed, usually 7-14 days. The dead tissue will eventually fall off, but as we are usually talking about the end inches of the tail, where it is narrow and not fleshy, we have never had to rely on further medical care to save the animal, in about a dozen cases. You might have to rename it "Stumpy", but that is usually the worst of it. I am certainly not against vet care, but that is your choice to make. Good luck.
My apologies too Niels, as I did not go to your site or the translation, if this is covered there. Since another member had mentioned a blackening of the tail, while vitamin A deficiency and dead tissue can cause blackening, heavy bruising at some point in the tail can also cause all parts south of it to blacken as a result of the trauma, but not die. It can last up to a month before coloration begins to return, in our experience. A fight with another chameleon, pinch in a closing cage door, etc. are usual causes. Perhaps not in your specific case, but in others with "black tail", I just wanted to throw that into the mix of possibilities that some may encounter.
With dead tissue, usually caused by an external trauma in our experience (again, a cage door pinch), we have easily worked with the injury by applying a topical antibiotic daily until the dead tissue is gone and the stump has healed, usually 7-14 days. The dead tissue will eventually fall off, but as we are usually talking about the end inches of the tail, where it is narrow and not fleshy, we have never had to rely on further medical care to save the animal, in about a dozen cases. You might have to rename it "Stumpy", but that is usually the worst of it. I am certainly not against vet care, but that is your choice to make. Good luck.
Brad Ramsey
Retired Moderator
Were the two living together?
You would have to provide more information on your husbandry.
I don't believe a chameleon's tail will turn black/die from stress.
If anything the removal of her "mate" from the enclosure would relieve some stress.
-Brad
