Seriously worried.

[Docility]

im not too familiar with mites. how do they present, and can they eat dermal layers? if so then i might scan over his body with a magnifying glass to see a better idea of how the skin is coming off. just keep a eye one his mood if he does anything strange, or not normal record it down, and let us know here as well.

 

[jojackson]

I've burned a lot of lizards in my time.

Is it reasonable of you to offer advice then? 'alot' seems to indicate you didnt learn much
after the first!

Sorry.

Threadstarter, it could be any one of a hundred and umpty four possibilities, without some more background, better & clearer pics its all just speculation. Do you have reason to beleive its anything other than an odd shed?

Are the flakes that come off actually colored? or just textured? There is no mechanism to 'color'
detached skin (shed) so if theres color that would seem tio indicate it was actually bits of flesh with skin attached, in which case there would be obvious wounds and possible bleeding.

Cricket bites are a possibility too (first time for everything).
Hope you work it out and fix it soon.

 

[leid]

Docility, is it okay if the light is not turned on in the cage when I take the picture? Ill just have my bedroom light on.

Eric, I checked him while he's sleeping. We didnt drip anything on him at all except for water during misting? I don't see any crud on him. What exactly in the picture are you referring to? I haven't touched him for about four days when I cleaned his cage. Im scared to wipe anything though incase I wipe more skin off!

jojackson, Eric is just as qualified to give me advice as anyone else here. There are many circumstances in which a chameleon can be burned, so keep those kinds of comments out of my thread. People on here should be more willing to help each other and offer support rather than try to discredit or talk down to them. Eric was offering me advice that would in no way endanger my chameleon, so your comment appeared to be generated by nothing more than malicious intent. I really don't want this thread deleted.

The flakes are textured. I don't know. They were brown but so was he at the time. There was no bleeding. Just.. grey patches underneath. No cricket bites. I don't leave feeders in my cage overnight, nor do i free roam. I pull their legs off and cup feed. They never escape.

As you can see, gentlemen, this is quite the mystery.
Docility, mites are visible. and do not typically make skin fall off. I don't even know how mites could be possible? I've offered no opportunity for an infestation to arise.

 

[chambabysitter1]

I hope you find out the problem Terra. Hopefully, it is just a minor problem.

I don't really have experience to add, but nobody has suggested a fungus as a possibility. Is that common on chameleons or could it be a possibility?

Good luck to you, and good luck to Fred too. He is a trooper.

 

[leid]

Chris--

Thanks. I would think a fungal infection would be more of a coating rather than just skin falling off, but at first I did think about a parasite. But then, i just had a fecal on monday and the results were clear. Fred himself is fine. He's just hanging out.

Could he have possibly tried to scratch his shed off and cut himself? I find it so strange how this all started with his shed. This has to be connected somehow.

 

[Docility]

Chris--

Thanks. I would think a fungal infection would be more of a coating rather than just skin falling off, but at first I did think about a parasite. But then, i just had a fecal on monday and the results were clear. Fred himself is fine. He's just hanging out.

Could he have possibly tried to scratch his shed off and cut himself? I find it so strange how this all started with his shed. This has to be connected somehow.

thats more or less my initial thought he was shedding and wanted the skin off so he may have even taken his foot to scratch the shedding skin off. i know mine does then when he sheds its actually quite comical lol, but yeah i dont need a light on just want to see the surroundings its a long shot, but maybe i might spot something that could be doing it. have you switched his food or anything? if it persists for more than his shedding then i would really worry, but it may just be he got a little flesh when he was detaching his old skin

im also using some 150w blues, and maybe they dont put off immense amounts of heat like regular bulbs, but i can touch the screen below them and hold on for 3 mins w/o feeling anything but heat after 3 mins my arm gets tired so i figured that would be enough, but its all i can do to keep his temps at 76-85

 

[leid]

But what about the orange poop?! It wasn't runny either. White urates, normal size, shape, consistency... just orange.

But scratch marks seem a little more sensible now that I think about it. It would explain the sudden appearance of them and also for the fact that the flakes looked like they were shredding off. I'll go take a pic of my enclosure.

I feel like such a bad mom.

 

[Docility]

But what about the orange poop?! It wasn't runny either. White urates, normal size, shape, consistency... just orange.

But scratch marks seem a little more sensible now that I think about it. It would explain the sudden appearance of them and also for the fact that the flakes looked like they were shredding off. I'll go take a pic of my enclosure.

I feel like such a bad mom.

well if it was solid sounds like its not mucus, or anything that could indicate an infection/virus.

whats he eating right now, and what has he ate within the past 2 weeks?
What are your feeders eating right now/ past 2 weeks?
have you given him a supplement in the past 2 weeks, or recently?

 

[chambabysitter1]

But what about the orange poop?! It wasn't runny either. White urates, normal size, shape, consistency... just orange.

But scratch marks seem a little more sensible now that I think about it. It would explain the sudden appearance of them and also for the fact that the flakes looked like they were shredding off. I'll go take a pic of my enclosure.

I feel like such a bad mom.

Orange poop from high concentration of carrots I would suppose. I bet somebody can draw a way better conclusion.

 

[leid]

Before anyone tells me I know my viv is bare. We are going to walmart this weekend to try and find some more plants. All i have around me is my spray bottle and cricket bin.

here is a picture of normal fred, shot only a week ago, before his shed. He was perfectly healthy, and he looked like this, just with more yellow and oranges coming in up until this evening.

 

[leid]

lol chris. I haven't fed him any carrots for a couple weeks, after his recovery. I am now just using preformed calc and vit A, with d3 twice a month. I gutload my crickets with kale, carrots, mustard greens and collard greens. I gutload my supers with the same. The only thing he eats are supers and crickets.

 

[Sporkthedork]

It looks like a burn, but I don't think burns cause skin to peel off the way you describe it. It sounds more like a mite infestation or some sort of retained skin that finally came off and took some healthy skin with it. These are just some suggestions though, never dealt with these problems before.

 

[Titan]

I think some good clear pictures of the Chameleon, right now, even if sleeping would sure slow down much speculation.
Everyones Ideas and suggestions are great! and could be the cause to the mysterious situation. I feel another set of the clearest pics possible could sum this up.

 

[leid]

more pics.

ugh, we ended up waking him lol. My husband is holding him while i snapped the pictures.

Those black marks are were i found the peeling skin. It appears they're scabbing over now.

 

[grantman40]

sorry to say this but that ooks like a serious burn to me

 

[leid]

I think we have established at this point that they are NOT burns. Nothing burned him. There was nothing TO burn him. Those black marks are scabs. His skin was all shredded before they scabbed over, and there were NO burns at that time.

 

[Titan]

Well,I'm pretty sure it is burns, but not to bad, should heal fine. It just coincided with his shed. the shed naturaly occuring could have prematurly caused the minor burn to peal early causing the sores. I say this as it is all across its upper back which is also the direction of the light sources.
I would think viruses, parasites ect. the scabs wouldnt have formed especially this soon. It appears the Cham will heal this off. but focus on your heat & light sources. Even if to close to the UVB may be a form of minor sunburn? Is the room Cold? and he crowds the lights?
Thanks for the better pic's and Im sure some other good responces will come in.
Looks like he will be allright in the end.
Thats my opinion anyhow.

 

[leid]

Titan, viewing my enclosure and where/how high my light is, along with the fact that its a 60watt bulb. How the hell did he burn himself? I was thinking a sunburn from the uvb too, which was my initial question because thats the only thing i can think of. Can a 5.0 uvb do that to him? anyone else have this happen to them? At the same time, I've got the uvb fixture exactly the same as most enclosures, so wtf?

Temperatures in my room never go under 70. Usually, he is sitting on his vine between the lamp and the uvb. His basking temp is 80-85, the bottom of his cage is 70-72.

 

[jojackson]

There are many circumstances in which a chameleon can be burned, so keep those kinds of comments out of my thread.

The comment was my perogative and fair I think given the statenment it refered to! No maliciousness intended!

I think we have established at this point that they are NOT burns. Nothing burned him. There was nothing TO burn him. Those black marks are scabs. His skin was all shredded before they scabbed over, and there were NO burns at that time.

Given the first quote, and now the one above, I must say, make up your bloody mind!

Why not take the cham to a vet and have it examined. Nobody here knows whats wrong with your cham , including you! Looks like 'dirty' color with a couple of dark patches to me, How the hell can we tell. Might be fungal in nature, maybe a vitamin A deficiency, a vet could tell you Then you can decide how it came about and enlighten us all ok!

Just get it treated.

If you provided some enviromental info other than temps (which are fine) and some info about the lizards behaviour (aka is it in pain/discomfort/rubbing?) somebody might recognise the symptoms.

 

[Syn]

Agreeing with Jo, I've seen OTHER SPECIES* of animals with fungal infections like this.. I suggest getting to a vet.

*not saying that chameleons are the same, but just listing prior knowledge.