Skin issue...any advice would be helpful

[Dsignrguy]

He is a 6yo. panther (Ive had him for all 6). He freeranges. has reptisun 5.0, mist 3 times a day for 3 min. spents a few minutes outside every few days (will be moving outside as soon as I can afford plants for his new cage). eats and drinks well. strangely, this started shourtly after adding a humidifier. you can see his current set-up here: https://www.chameleonforums.com/old-cage-new-cage-15435/


His last shed was pretty "splotchy" and a month or so ago. then last week, I noticed a couple of spots that were starting to turn dark and look dry and almost "scabby" these spots were right on the border of a spot that didn't shed during the last shed. This morning, he was starting to shed again (funny thing, the shed started at this "weird spot"). All the scales in the area that looked bad turned black and pealed off with the shed skin this afternoon, leaving a spot that looks kinda like scar tissue.

Has anyone seen this before or know whats wrong? any advice would be helpful.....also, this shed is looking MUCH more even that the last(almost his entire body at once)

This is the only issue I've ever had with him, and what really sucks is The timing couldn't be worse as I cant afford a vet right now (been unemployed for 2 months)!!!

Thanks in advance,
Shawn

 

[Dsignrguy]

in the bottom picture, ther is a very shiny black "crusty " spot....that was one of thr "dead" scales, and it came off right after the picture. underneath it, it looked like the rest of the scarred area.

 

[Sporkthedork]

I'm no expert, but here are my two guesses:
1. It kind of looks like a burn scar
2. I think I read somewhere that if a chameleon doesn't shed completely, you should spray the stuck shed with warm water. If the shed stays too long it can caused an infection. You shouldn't peel it also (which I'm guessing you didn't do).
Hopefully one of the more experiencec people will chime in soon. Well at least it doesn't look like what that poor girl had. She lost 3 veileds.

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy Shawn,

Hummm??? Skin problems like this one sometimes clear-up (or self-limit on their own) with simple antibacterial treatments. Others don't respond either because they are viral, fungal or the wrong antibacterial treatment is being applied for treating that particular type of bacteria. As we have seen, some skin problems are quick killers while others linger or at least spread very slowly.

I'm sure that you probably read this other post, but just in case others missed it: https://www.chameleonforums.com/urgent-skin-issue-15653/#post129827

I'm going to have to re-read the microbiology chapter in Mader's book again just in case I can glean some info out of it. As noted however, without drug sensitivity testing of skin samples, it is not much more than luck if the selected treatment works.