Possible burns on Mellers?

[spiralinglotus21]

I think it's a burn but I don't know how he got one. All I had set up was a few flourecense and no heat lamp. My ambient temps peak at 80 and go down to 75ish at night which I thought was warm enough. He seems to be trying to get on top and close to the lights so I hooked up a low watt heat lamp. These marks occurred before the heat lamp. I also raised the flourecenses since I noticed the marks. I've given him a couple showers as well, 30+ min, to get him fully hydrated. Any ideas? (He's going through a head shed as well)

 

[carol5208]

Which marks to you mean? His black nose??

 

[spiralinglotus21]

Sorry I should've been more specific. He seems to have the same markings on his nose/chin area, upper middle part of flaps, and a few back ridges (not pictured)

 

[spiralinglotus21]

I've had him since Sunday and they developed yesterday or at least that's when I noticed

 

[carol5208]

The can get marks like that rubbing their nose and chin on things. Does he try to get out of his cage? They bruise black, so I would say more so that than a burn, if you are confident he is not getting too much heat or touching the light. The uvb light would definitely not cause that.

 

[spiralinglotus21]

Yeah he's in a pretty large free range/cage but obviously is never in the cage. I'm using a metal storage shelf that the lights rest on. I walked in one day to him trying to get through the upper part of the metal shelf to the light. Since then I raised the lights up a couple inches. I'm not sure how easily chams bruise but that could very well be it since the location of the markings would line up with that activity. I found him resting right on the fixture (perks of free ranging) which is why I thought he wasn't warm enough and added the basking. He doesn't have any burn marks on his feet so I don't see how he'd get them on his face. Right when I added the basking he went right under it so maybe he wasn't warm enough. His colors were fine and I thought 80 was warm enough but I guess not.

 

[carol5208]

I think it is from rubbing on something. It should go away on its own. Hopefully someone will comment and give their opinion.

 

[spiralinglotus21]

Thank you. I just want to catch it quick before it turns into something worse. I can deal with bruises though I just have to keep an eye on his behavior

 

[carol5208]

I closed my chameleons tail in the door once and it turned black. It took probably 4-5 days to go away if I remember right. Burns seem very unlikely because of what you described with your lighting.

 

[spiralinglotus21]

Yeah the lights get warm but not hot like a basking lamp would. I didn't know their bruises could look so gnarly! I'm going to keep an eye on it still and make sure it starts to go away. If it happened to be a burn what's the course of action? Apply a topical cream to prevent infection? Are infections obvious like they can be with us? Just want to put this info in the memory bank

 

[carol5208]

Yes, the burns can get infected, but most of the time with some tlc they will clear up without issue. Have seen so many burns on here over the years. They are most common on the spine, casque and the tops of their knees. If you suspect a burn, you can use Silver Sufladiazine if you have any. It is good to keep around for other things too. It will help clear up certain skin problems as well. You can also use Neo or polysporin. It is safe for chameleons.

 

[kinyonga]

Not sure if this is what it is but you might want to look in to it...scan down to infamous skin necrosis....
http://www.melleridiscovery.com/health/health.htm

 

[spiralinglotus21]

Thanks for the link! I'm going to keep and eye on it and if it's just bruising I should see signs of it clearing up soon. Is Silvadene cream only by prescription? I'm going to pick up some OTC stuff (pain relief free) to have on hand anyways.

 

[carol5208]

Yes, I believe it is prescription only.