Jacksons chameleon discolored tail

tyler71989

tyler71989

Member
Hey everyone,

I am a first time chameleon owner and I have a Jacksons chameleon that has a discoloration on his tail. I wanted to see if anyone has any experience with this because it came up overnight and I cannot find any information on something similar to this. I am hoping its not tail rot or something similar. I have attached a normal picture and the picture of the affected area
20210504_200818.jpg

Chameleon.jpg
 
leedragon said:
Sorry can not help with this one. I haven encontered this but it does need at reptil vet, someone with chameleon experience and knowledge of how much chameleon use their tails.
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yeah whats weird about it is it seems to be going away now after a little bit but I am pretty sure they cannot turn red so......
 
Beman said:
Reptile vet IMO... Looks almost like blood on the tail. Is it? Does it wipe off like blood would. Could be he nipped his tail or it got caught in something in the cage? Anything sharp in the cage? Why is he sleeping in the first picture?
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so its flaking off so I am wondering if the crickets he didnt eat that hid in his plants might have nipped him. For the sleeping thing its because he was still getting used to being held
 
tyler71989 said:
so its flaking off so I am wondering if the crickets he didnt eat that hid in his plants might have nipped him. For the sleeping thing its because he was still getting used to being held
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So him sleeping while being held is actually a coping mechanism and sign of an animal that is so stressed it physically is shutting down. I would avoid doing this anymore with him. Stress in chams causes immune systems to be compromised opening the door for many health issues.

Per the tail... If it is blood you need to figure out what it is from. crickets, cage, him nipping himself... Tail damage is a dangerous area due to them relying on their tail. If it were to become infected it could become necrotic and die off. Again needing a vet to make sure the entire tail is not lost.
 
Beman said:
So him sleeping while being held is actually a coping mechanism and sign of an animal that is so stressed it physically is shutting down. I would avoid doing this anymore with him. Stress in chams causes immune systems to be compromised opening the door for many health issues.

Per the tail... If it is blood you need to figure out what it is from. crickets, cage, him nipping himself... Tail damage is a dangerous area due to them relying on their tail. If it were to become infected it could become necrotic and die off. Again needing a vet to make sure the entire tail is not lost.
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Yeah for that I know thats why I put him back in his enclosure after that was more so looking for medical advice on the tail but thank you for looking out.

As for the tail I have consulted a vet and it seems like it was from scratches or nips which unfortunately happened overnight so since it happened while he was sleeping I am assuming it is the crickets and I am going to be more diligent about removing them at night to see if we continue to run into the issue. I already have iodine solution that I will be watering down per the vets recommendation and will clean his tail with it tonight
 
tyler71989 said:
Yeah for that I know thats why I put him back in his enclosure after that was more so looking for medical advice on the tail but thank you for looking out.

As for the tail I have consulted a vet and it seems like it was from scratches or nips which unfortunately happened overnight so since it happened while he was sleeping I am assuming it is the crickets and I am going to be more diligent about removing them at night to see if we continue to run into the issue. I already have iodine solution that I will be watering down per the vets recommendation and will clean his tail with it tonight
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Hope your cham recovers! I have never seen crickets do anything like this. I have seen small bites from crickets and superworms on animals but never blood like this. It looks like quite a bit from this pic IMO this wouldn't be caused from a cricket bite.
I would definitely take a look at your enclosure to make sure there isn't any sharp edges on anything or decor falling apart.
 
tyler71989 said:
Yeah for that I know thats why I put him back in his enclosure after that was more so looking for medical advice on the tail but thank you for looking out.

As for the tail I have consulted a vet and it seems like it was from scratches or nips which unfortunately happened overnight so since it happened while he was sleeping I am assuming it is the crickets and I am going to be more diligent about removing them at night to see if we continue to run into the issue. I already have iodine solution that I will be watering down per the vets recommendation and will clean his tail with it tonight
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Get a feeder run... These are good for keeping feeders in. This way they do not nip at your chameleon. Here is one that works well with screen and it is rare for the crickets to jump out. https://tkchameleons.com/collections/accessories
 
GrayMadder said:
Hope your cham recovers! I have never seen crickets do anything like this. I have seen small bites from crickets and superworms on animals but never blood like this. It looks like quite a bit from this pic IMO this wouldn't be caused from a cricket bite.
I would definitely take a look at your enclosure to make sure there isn't any sharp edges on anything or decor falling apart.
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Yeah I am also taking a look at some of the fake plants he has to make sure they arent cutting him
 
JacksJill said:
If it wasn't some kind of trauma it could be a D3 overdose. what is your supplement schedule?
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For the supplements we are just essentially giving him protein on his crickets every other day at making sure his water is treated as well. Is there something more we should be doing? We are just going off of what the let store said to give him
 
JacksJill said:
Can we see a picture of the protein powder and what you are adding to the water?
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yeah let me charge my phone and I will upload one. Its the Flukers Repta Calcium with Vitamin D3 in the strawberry banana flavor. For the water I will treat it with reptisafe and typically will do it every other time I change the water
 
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So you want to use the supplements on the feeders dry right before you feed them off. Put the gutloaded bugs you're going to feed off in a cup/bag/bowl/etc. and add the needed supplement for that day in there with the bugs, then swirl and/or shake the bugs and supplement around until the bugs have supplement on them (be careful about getting too much supplement on the feeders, you don't want them looking like powdered sugar covered donuts), then feed off immeditetly. The link @JacksJill posted has the correct supplements needed!
 
If you put a little bit of food for the crickets/insects in the cage it will give them something to nibble rather than nibble the chameleon if one should end up left in the cage. I'm telling you this (even if it isn't the insects that caused this) so you can prevent it from happening in the future.
 
If you are using the Flukers With D3 every feeding that is what is causing the tail problem. That much D3 will cause tail necrosis. Do not use that any more for a couple months. Here is a more detailed write up on the likely source of the problem. D3 Poisoning
Here are a few accepted supplement schedules for Jackson's. My Jackson's Supplement Schedule
Do you have or know of a reptile vet on your area? We can help you find one.
Reptile Veterinarian Links:
 
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