HELP! What's happening to his skin?!

[Drumtam555]

Hi guys, here is my Nosy be cross ambilobe panther chameleon...I've had him for a year and a half now and since july he's had a black patch on his side (as seen in the image). I got that checked out and had a biopsy, which came back as a burn. Over the past few weeks his back has started drying out, becoming black and also cracking with yellow puss. He has an XL reptibreeze cage. The temperature is 30c and humidity sticks between 60-80%. I feed him daily with calcium supplement and spray him 4 times a day. I have two heat lamps running for winter and have an arcadia D3+ uv flood lamp. His behaviour has not changed. I'm also concerned about his size considering he's a year old and I've seen many bigger chams!

Please please help

 

[MelissaB]

Did you change his basking light after he got burned? It sounds like he's getting burned along his back, too. Did the vet give you anything to treat his burns? It sounds like it's infected, if you're seeing puss.
Is the ambient temperature in the room, so low that he's spending too much time under the basking light? Or is the wattage on the bulb too high?
Spot lights tend to concentrate the heat in one intense spot, where a flood light or even a household incandescent will spread it out a little more. Where are you taking your temps? If you're taking it at the branch, remember his back will be closer than his feet, which means it'll be hotter the closer his body gets to the bulb.

 

[jannb]

That looks like a pretty bad burn. What are you putting on it? Do you have his lights where he can get close to them? Some photos of your enclosure would be helpful. That could also be a burn down his back.

 

[Drumtam555]

Did you change his basking light after he got burned? It sounds like he's getting burned along his back, too. Did the vet give you anything to treat his burns? It sounds like it's infected, if you're seeing puss.
Is the ambient temperature in the room, so low that he's spending too much time under the basking light? Or is the wattage on the bulb too high?
Spot lights tend to concentrate the heat in one intense spot, where a flood light or even a household incandescent will spread it out a little more. Where are you taking your temps? If you're taking it at the branch, remember his back will be closer than his feet, which means it'll be hotter the closer his body gets to the bulb.

I'm using 100w heats bulbs, and yes the vets gave me a cream called F10 which works as a disinfectant I will also attach a photo of the whole set up and and the cream I was given for his burns. I have risen one of the heat bulbs but maybe I should raise it a lot more to spread the heat rather than have it so intense and concentrated.

 

[Drumtam555]

for some reason it wont let me attach any photos at the moment I've managed to upload the photos of the cream and the cage on flickr which I will link below.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/joshstillwell/

 

[MelissaB]

I think he's probably going to have to go back to the vet for antibiotics, if it's infected. Poor guy, that has to hurt like heck.
I would either get a lower wattage bulb, or a dimmer switch for your basking lights. I usually use a 60 or 75 watt household bulb, or if I have to use 100 watts I use a dimmer. The bulb is either too strong, too close, or the room is too cold and he's spending too much time in the basking spot. To get their core temp to where they need it, they will stay in the hot spot even if their skin is getting burned.
I've read about a silver based cream that is sometimes prescribed to treat burns. You may want to ask your vet if they could sell you some.

 

[JamesBryan]

Looks to me as if he's got too close to the heat bulb.

How far away is the bulb to the basking spot?

 

[junglefries]

I use 25w small household bulbs to prevent burns directly on top of cage. Raises temp about 5-7°f.