Stuck shed

LouieTiel32

Member
My chameleon has some stuck shed around one of his eyes. I feel really bad because he can’t seem to shake it. I was just fixing something in his cage and he was using his foot to try to scratch it away (at least I think that’s what he was doing, he’s my first chameleon so I’m not exactly sure) I can’t really do anything about it though because I only just got him less than a week ago and he’s a baby who isn’t very friendly. Should I just leave him be and hope he’ll get it off on his own?
 
Well, in case anyone else reads this thread-

  • Your Chameleon - I have a 4 or 5 month old veiled chameleon, he’s been in my care since Thursday, so 5 days.
  • Handling - Haven’t tried to handle him at all yet
  • Feeding - I am feeding super worms dusted in calcium powder. About 4 or 5 each feeding, and he’s fed twice a day, once in the morning, once at night. I will be switching to gut loaded crickets this weekend, just couldnt get any right now.
  • Supplements -I’m supplementing with reptacalcium
  • Watering -I mist my chameleon 3 times a day, in the morning right when he wakes up, in the middle of the day around 2 or 3 pm, and then at 7 pm an hour before he goes to bed. He also has a dripper that stays on whenever I’m not home. He gets misted for 1 minute in the morning, and 30 seconds the other times. I see him drink mainly from the dripper.
  • Fecal Description - normal chameleon poop
  • History - He came from a local reptile store, that’s all I really know about him, the store didn’t provide that much info.

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - The cage is a reptibreeze open air mesh cage. It’s 16 by 16 by 30, and is fine for now, but I will be upgrading to a larger cage that is mesh and glass in the summer.
  • Lighting - For his UVB I’m using the lucky herp 15 inch, 14w light. For heating, it’s not a light but a heat emitter and it’s 75w. The lights go on at 10 am and off at 9 pm.
  • Temperature -I have one thermometer right now at the cage floor, it’s always around 70-75 degrees, I also ordered another thermometer and a hydrometer to measure the basking temps, and the humidity in his cage but they won’t be here until tomorrow. The temps at night are in the 60s but no less than that.
  • Humidity - Like I said, I’ll be getting his hydrometer tomorrow. The cage is pretty humid though when I stick my hand in. Unfortunately what helps is the moss at the bottom of his cage, but I’ll be removing that because I don’t want him to get impacted. The misting helps a lot as well.
  • Plants -Not using live plants at the moment, but when I upgrade the cage in the summer I will get love plants.
  • Placement -The cage is in my room on my nightstand. There is a fan on the ceiling but it’s never on during the day and my room stays at a good temperature. I don’t live near any high traffic areas, and the house is usually peaceful and quiet. I have 2 dogs but they don’t bother Rocky, my chameleon at all.
  • Location - Gilbert, AZ

Current Problem - Stuck shed on his eye. I don’t think it’s a huge problem, I wrote more about it at the beginning of this form
 
Hand misting or automatic?
Im not a advocate for CHE for primary heat source i prefer heat bulb which have some visible spectrum UVA aswell as infra-red.
You'll need a multi vitamin & a d3 supplement given twice a month on alternative weeks with your calcium on all other feedings. Watch your cham doesn't acquire a worm addiction, a variety of feeders gutloaded see the resources for good gutload and different staple feeders
 
Hand misting or automatic?
Im not a advocate for CHE for primary heat source i prefer heat bulb which have some visible spectrum UVA aswell as infra-red.
You'll need a multi vitamin & a d3 supplement given twice a month on alternative weeks with your calcium on all other feedings. Watch your cham doesn't acquire a worm addiction, a variety of feeders gutloaded see the resources for good gutload and different staple feeders
Thanks for the help, but my main problem right now is the shed stuck on his eye 😕
 
I am so sorry I couldn’t get a picture of the stuck shed. He just isn’t friendly enough for me to get that close and it’s hard for me to get a picture through the screen. It is looking better though, less shed around The Eye. Attached is a picture of his setup, and the UVB I use. I have already been critiqued on my setup, and once he’s larger I will be upgrading the cage size, getting a cage that is glass and mesh, getting live plants, and bigger branches for when he’s larger. I have also updated his supplements. He now will get a D3 and phosphorus free calcium 6 days a week, and then every other week on Saturdays I will alternate between calcium with D3, or reptile vitamins without D3. I am very grateful to have found this website! Anything that I didn’t have before, I now have or am getting in regards to care.
 

Attachments

  • 0772C9A0-811B-4FD9-B4D6-BB524EE5DF05.jpeg
    0772C9A0-811B-4FD9-B4D6-BB524EE5DF05.jpeg
    251.4 KB · Views: 62
  • C82CE5FF-96F7-43B6-999F-977EDF468C39.jpeg
    C82CE5FF-96F7-43B6-999F-977EDF468C39.jpeg
    337.6 KB · Views: 60
This is the bulb I use for his UVB, and I am going to start him on crickets tomorrow. I will be feeding the crickets mainly vegetables that are high in vitamins, and safe for chameleons. I’m going to buy a heat lamp, and not a heat emitter as well.
 

Attachments

  • 78113697-ABBC-4BC4-B06F-227354496271.jpeg
    78113697-ABBC-4BC4-B06F-227354496271.jpeg
    91.6 KB · Views: 57
I am so sorry I couldn’t get a picture of the stuck shed. He just isn’t friendly enough for me to get that close and it’s hard for me to get a picture through the screen. It is looking better though, less shed around The Eye. Attached is a picture of his setup, and the UVB I use. I have already been critiqued on my setup, and once he’s larger I will be upgrading the cage size, getting a cage that is glass and mesh, getting live plants, and bigger branches for when he’s larger. I have also updated his supplements. He now will get a D3 and phosphorus free calcium 6 days a week, and then every other week on Saturdays I will alternate between calcium with D3, or reptile vitamins without D3. I am very grateful to have found this website! Anything that I didn’t have before, I now have or am getting in regards to care.
I’m wondering if perhaps the stuck shed is from your humidity being too high. Chameleons are dry shedders and excess moisture/humidity could cause shed to stick. Ideal daytime humidity is between 30-50%. At night the humidity can be boosted with a cool mist humidifier up to 80-100% but only if your temps drop below 70.
Your uvb is correct, but you need to add many more live plants and branches/vines for your chameleon. You want to recreate a forest edge with lots of branches to travel on and lots of plants to take shade in. You will definitely need a much larger enclosure as a 2x2x4’ is the minimum for adults. Since veiled’s eat at their plants, they need to be all live and safe. Attaching safe plant list.
Besides crickets, there are many other great feeders. Even though I’ve been a lifelong roach phobic, roaches have become one of my favorite staple feeders. They hold a gutload better than crickets. Attaching the feeder and gutloading graphics for you. Caring for your feeder insects and keeping them healthy and well fed is important so that they will be more nutritious.
I’m very glad that you’re here and wanting to learn more and make your chameleon happy and healthy. :)
2D6AB900-44BD-481C-A306-516E2A4C058E.jpeg
A271055D-DD88-457F-98F7-58175298B6F0.jpeg
D45809FA-CE14-4AF4-A189-7390801CB0BB.jpeg
 
Hello , I didn't quite read everyone reply. But I just want to point out that. That is how they get it off. You'll see alot of rubbing branches with their face, eyes & taking they're claws to get it off. It's not so much stuck shed, it's just really itchy & more of a trouble area to get off.
 
Right now his humidity is at 30% and it’s 2 in the afternoon. He hasn’t been misted in a few hours, but usually it’s around 40-50%. I wonder if it just was too high because I’ve decreased how often I sprayed him and now the stuck shed is gone. I used to spray him when he woke up and 3 or 4 times after that throughout the rest of the day but I think that was just too much. At the time I was worried he wouldn’t get enough water, but now he has a dripper that’s on while I’m at school, so I haven’t been misting as much. As far as the cage and things inside it goes, am definitely going upgrade it in the summer. I will buy more plants and eventually I’m going to do live plants, I just want to give him time to adjust to my house and become more comfortable before I change his whole cage up and have to take him out of the cage to do so. (He’s still nervous) And although roaches would be great to feed him, my parents won’t allow roaches and I was barely able to convince them to do crickets so for now I’ll stick to crickets! Thank you all so much for the help!!
 
Back
Top Bottom