Help! White spots on 1 year old Panther Cham!

[kona_the_cham]

Hi everybody! I have a 1 year old male panther chameleon. Recently we've been noticing white spots on him typically on his sides and he recently got one on his eye after his last shed (about a month and a half ago). The spots seem to disappear after he sheds and they tend to pop up more when he's about to shed which I believe he is about to. Since he isn't shedding as much the white dots are staying longer. They don't change in size after they appear but they also don't go away until he sheds. I was thinking this could be papilloma virus. I am planning on bringing him to a vet once I find a good one but I wanted to get some opinions in the mean time. He occasionally has days where he doesn't move around too much and doesn't really leave his sleeping spot but he is awake and alert, this started once winter began and it tends to be on days that I don't feed him. His regular feeders are dubia roaches, crickets and nutrigrubs but we have been out of crickets so he tends to only eat the nutrigrubs. His temps are good, his humidity is something we're struggling with a bit, his feces are normal, he's not handled very often, and he's eating well.

 

[Beman]

Hi there. You are going to want to have him seen by a really good reptile vet... My worry too would be papilloma virus by the look of it and what your saying. But they have to biopsy it to confirm.

 

[kona_the_cham]

Hi there. You are going to want to have him seen by a really good reptile vet... My worry too would be papilloma virus by the look of it and what your saying. But they have to biopsy it to confirm.

That’s what I plan on doing. He is my only reptile so I’m not concerned about the virus spreading but I don’t know much about it and haven’t been able to find much. Is this virus something that’s manageable? I know it’s not curable

 

[Beman]

That’s what I plan on doing. He is my only reptile so I’m not concerned about the virus spreading but I don’t know much about it and haven’t been able to find much. Is this virus something that’s manageable? I know it’s not curable

Yeah it is not curable and contagious. My understanding is that it is not an easy one to deal with and it continues to worsen until you have to think about the animals quality of life. There is a thread on it by a friend of mine. He is rarely online anymore but you might try reaching out to them through private message if you get a confirmed diagnosis. He is very nice. https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/scabs-after-sheds.168994/

Good luck fingers crossed that you get good news.