My chameleon's leg turned white!!!

pimpdaub

New Member
I'm not sure if he injured himself or not, but today i noticed one of his back legs turned white. Could this be because of the sun lamp i'm using or nutrition, or does this happen to a chameleon when they have an injured appendage? Also, could this just be him shedding and i'm overreacting? any insight on this will be very appreciated
 
Have you seen him shed before? This is probably a shed. Keep your eye on him for a day and you should see him pop off his skin as he sheds it. He also may munch on some pieces of it since it is good nutritionally for him.
 
Good luck and welcome!

Load some pics of it for us to take a look.

I am going to bet your cham is just shedding.

How long have you had him?
 
with the whole leg changeing to white might just mean that it's shedding, check if you can see any puncture wounds, sometimes they will cause the surrounding skin to turn a paler colour.
 
I thought my veiled was showing some AMAZING white the other day. Next day it was pealing off lol. So yeah I agree that it's prob about to start shedding.
 
Probably a shed. Most likely a shed. But - the other thing it could be (skin color changes are usually a shed, a stain or a burn) is a burn. What kind of sun lamp and how close is it?

In the winter, when the temps are cooler, chameleons tend to bask closer to their bulbs. All my chameleon burns (if not all, almost all of them)took place in the winter.

Usually, you'll see very pale, "glowing" white skin, then it'll turn black sometimes. Bad burns are sometimes black outright.

If the skin is loose, and translucent (especially when soaked with a sprayer), it's a shed. If it looks normal except for the color (and seems to glow at night - when he's sleeping and you put a light on him, of course) it may be a burn. Take a pic (in good focus, blurs will make it useless) as close as you can get, and post it.

Another thing to do is take the temp where he basks. See how hot it is. A quick test to to put your hand near the light (as close as the chameleon can get in his cage - even if he's got to climb upside down), and see if YOU get burned. If you can't take the heat, it's a potential burn hazard.
 
I know this has been said, but I just thought I'd re-inforce it.

Shedding. It's great when you see them turn completely whiteish gray, then their eyes start shedding and they're just moving them around in circles, it's one of the best times of being a chameleon keeper for me :)
 
I'm not sure if he injured himself or not, but today i noticed one of his back legs turned white. Could this be because of the sun lamp i'm using or nutrition, or does this happen to a chameleon when they have an injured appendage? Also, could this just be him shedding and i'm overreacting? any insight on this will be very appreciated
Injuries are usually dark or black in appearance. Shedding more likly.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom