Panther colors have changed to pale

[Ourzootoyou]

Hi - we have owned a panther chameleon for about a year, but he was at least a year or 2 old already when we got him. Two things going on with him:

1) He has a small outward growth on the side of his mouth. Took him to our vet. It is not mouth rot. Gave us some moist cleansing pads to wipe on it each day, which has not done anything. The vet says sometimes these need to be cut off. Any idea how hard this is on a chameleon & do they recover fairly well?

2) His colors used to be vibrant green, change to orange, etc. For the last month at least we have noticed that all his colors are extremely pale.

We cut back on the calcium at the advice of the vet. He is in a 7ft high enclosure, in a warm room, and has 2 uvb bulbs in his cage. Temp in his enclosure is around 78-80 degrees. He drinks & eats fine. We do gut load the crickets (normally w/ sweet potatoe) however the vet told us to use other things to help add more variety in nutrition.

Rango does act fine. We are just concerned because of the dramatic difference in his color. Any ideas???

 

[sdheli420]

do you have any pics??

 

[carol5208]

It is possible that it is a shed coming on but he is not able to shed properly. Usually at that age they do not do full body sheds though. Pictures would sure be helpful. Are you confident that your vet knows chameleons? Alot of them are well versed in other reptiles but not all are that familiar with chameleons.

 

[steelers]

Wow

Wow!! Do u have pics???

 

[Ourzootoyou]

First pic is of his mouth

2nd pic is of his pale color (just shed and is still pale) Head is darker w/ black ridges along casque

3rd is of his enclosure

 

[steelers]

Wow

I can't believe that would happen

 

[Carlton]

1) He has a small outward growth on the side of his mouth. Took him to our vet. It is not mouth rot. Any idea how hard this is on a chameleon & do they recover fairly well?

2) His colors used to be vibrant green, change to orange, etc. For the last month at least we have noticed that all his colors are extremely pale.

The mouth growth doesn't look inflamed, but how does his gum or inner lip look like? Redness? Patches of cheesy stuff on the surface? It could be an encapsulated abscess that isn't spreading, just self isolating. If it isn't growing or bothering him I'm not sure I'd cut if off because there is the chance of post op infection that COULD be hard to deal with. And, if the cham is in pain he might not eat or drink as the incision heals. Not sure, but maybe a second opinion would help clarify it. Could the vet try to biopsy a segment of the growth first? I once had a verrucosus with a recurring skin swelling on his throat. It was a pocket of old sebaceous material build up. It was easily cleared out with gentle squeezing almost like a pimple periodically.

Doesn't look like a hard shed really. I thought I'd read somewhere of a genetic condition that made the cham get paler as it aged...but can't place it. He looks healthy other than that.

Any major changes in the temp range recently? A warmer cham will often be a lighter color.

 

[Ourzootoyou]

So far he does act healthy in every other way. No temp changes. No feed changes. There are other reptiles in the room but nothing different that I can think of.

The inside of his mouth looks fine. The growth is basicly on the outside only. Has been there for a few months. Does not seem to be fast growing. It was around the same time his color seemed to pale but that could be just coinsidence. He eats about 20 crickets a day and we also feed super worms occassionaly during the week for variety. We use a dripper to water him, several times a day so I make sure that he is drinking.

The main part of his tail is black looking. This is from when I took him into the vet and he did a blood draw. Blood panel looked fine. Just one side of the tail turned darker and has not come back to color yet.

He sheds well. Just finished as shed within the week. Our vet is an exotic specialist and does all the local zoos. He is on the herp. board and does articles in magazines. I wouldn't even know where to go for a 2nd opionion.