Possible injury?

[tony97]

Hey y’all, i have a 4 month old nosey be chameleon who’s been doing great, but noticed a piece of his crest near his nose came off. It doesn’t look like a burn to me since it’s in just that small area and his heat bulb doesn’t exceed over 85. I was thinking maybe he rubbed on a branch, let me know. Here’s a picture below, thank you

 

[elizaann2]

@MissSkittles @Beman @kinyonga - do any of you know?

 

[MissSkittles]

Hard for me to tell what that could be from. It could be a small burn, a cricket bite, an injury from rubbing against something sharp, etc. So let’s try to cover them all. Raise your basking light a few inches above your screen top. Babies love walking upside down and have no idea that they’re getting burned. 85 is just a bit too warm for such a youngster anyhow. 80 is ideal for at least a few more months. Make sure that all uneaten crickets are removed from his enclosure and just in case, leave a small piece of produce on the bottom for any stray crickets to eat instead of going after your beautiful boy. Look thru all of the edges, ends and anything else that could have a pokey end. Finally, you want to keep the area clean and can apply the tiniest dot of neosporin (the plain kind that does not have pain relief in it) to help it heal.

 

[Beman]

I agree with @MissSkittles. And could you post a pic of the entire enclosure including the lighting on top? This will help us determine if there is something with set up causing it.

 

[tony97]

 

[tony97]

The top picture is his initial enclosure setup and we later added branches and plants near his basking spot. His basking spot is approximately 5 inches from the bulb and I can comfortably leave my hand underneath the bulb for minutes

 

[Beman]

The top picture is his initial enclosure setup and we later added branches and plants near his basking spot. His basking spot is approximately 5 inches from the bulb and I can comfortably leave my hand underneath the bulb for minutes

What wattage heat bulb are you using and is it a focused heat bulb or regular round incandescent? Tell me about your UVB type. I am only seeing heat bulb and an LED strip.

Cage overall looks great. Lots of plants for him. Not seeing anything sharp like zip tie ends that could have poked him.

 

[tony97]

What wattage heat bulb are you using and is it a focused heat bulb or regular round incandescent? Tell me about your UVB type. I am only seeing heat bulb and an LED strip.

Cage overall looks great. Lots of plants for him. Not seeing anything sharp like zip tie ends that could have poked him.

Hey, I’m using a 60 watt exo terra sun-glo neodymium and an Arcadia ProT5 6%. The UVB bulb is a bit hidden due to the LED light

 

[elizaann2]

View attachment 347774View attachment 347773

Wow your enclosure is beautiful!

 

[Beman]

Ok so my only concern would be if the injury is possibly a burn. They will lift their heads when they bask and since the nose would be the closest to the heat bulb with the branch being so close below it this would be a thermal burn risk even with the 60 watt bulb.

 

[tony97]

Wow your enclosure is beautiful!

Thank you!

 

[tony97]

Ok so my only concern would be if the injury is possibly a burn. They will lift their heads when they bask and since the nose would be the closest to the heat bulb with the branch being so close below it this would be a thermal burn risk even with the 60 watt bulb.

Would you recommend lowering the branch and switching to a regular incandescent bulb?

 

[Beman]

Would you recommend lowering the branch and switching to a regular incandescent bulb?

I would keep that bulb. It is a good bulb but I would lower the branch down. I would also put in a wired probe on that branch and see what your real temps are. If it is 85 at the branch then it is easily 88 or so where they rise up. Typically I shoot for a max of 80-81 at the branch.

 

[tony97]

Ok so my only concern would be if the injury is possibly a burn. They will lift their heads when they bask and since the nose would be the closest to the heat bulb with the branch being so close below it this would be a thermal burn risk even with the 60 watt bulb.

Understood, thank you. I’m not too familiar with burns, is it possible for just one spot on his nose to get thermal burns instead of his while nose?

 

[MissSkittles]

Does he ever climb around the dragon ledges? I notice some of your planters that are hanging on them have hooks. Some of those hooks can have a sharp edge.

 

[Beman]

Understood, thank you. I’m not too familiar with burns, is it possible for just one spot on his nose to get thermal burns instead of his while nose?

Burns are really weird it totally depends on what angle the chameleon is sitting at. I have seen just the top of the legs burned on one side without anything else being burned before. I have seen just the tip of a casque burned while the entire head and spine were unaffected. So with heat I tend to go with cautious since thermal burns can be pretty bad.

It is hard to tell in your pic though. Might have been an injury prior to you getting him and it just sloughed off now. From what I have seen with these guys they tend to heal slowly so something that you don't really see at first can be an issue as it finally heals through.