UV burn on my new chameleon

[sticky2010]

Hello, I picked up a 6month old female ambilobe. Next morning I looked at her and noticed she had a blister on her back, as well as her feet are burned too. The previous owner failed to mention she was UV burned.
The blister on her back, 5 days later, is now going away slowly.
The problem I have is she is missing her 2 outer nails on her front left arm, which does not allow her to climb on mesh and other things. I was wondering if chameleon fingernails grow back or is she handicapped for life now? Thanks.

 

[carol5208]

Most likely it was not a UVB burn but A UVA burn from the basking bulb. If she got too close too it or even touched the screen with her back and foot it could happen. As far as the nails, if they have broken down below the skin line, they will never grow back. If just broekn off, yes. They can still climb and adjust. Also, you did not notice when you picked her up? It would have been like that most likely then. Are you sure she did not get the burn in your set up? how close is your basking branch to the basking light?

 

[ParabuthusKing]

this is a topic I am going to ask input on as well. A while back I posted about blisters on my female panther, and many people thought it was a parasite or something of that sort. I can say for certain it wasn't. It has been almost 1 year since I have adjusted basking branches to make sure that no branch is above approximately 95 F during the day. Also, the animals never have any branches close enough to reach light and do not climb upside down on screening. I now have noticed a small burn on the head of one of my males ;( I don't think this symptom is due to contact as the females burns are on the side of her body. One of my very knowledgeable herpetology friends suggested that it may be due to too high of a level of ultra violet light. I am starting to think this may be the case as I have adjusted all other parameters and still am having this problem. Any advice or input is appreciated. I am currently using a exoterra repti breeze cage for my animals with a 24"x24"x48" dimensions. I have a reptisun 5.0 bulb (18") and a 60 watt halogen light used for daytime supplemented with a ceramic heat emitter at night time. All of my animals are very healthy, active and alert..eating well, so it bothers me to see them with this ailment. I am thinking of completely switching out lighting to a zoomed Powersun 160 watt with a deep hood and a mounting bracket. Finally, I would like to breed my chameleons and want to put into outdoor enclosures this spring, but am a little worried that the burn areas will be extra sensitive to natural light intensities? I don't know of any remedies for the burned areas and covering scales do not seem to be growing back over the affected areas Will they ever grow back if they have not done so after one year? Sorry for all the questions, but I feel this is a serious topic and don't want other owners to have this problem. Thanks for all your support!

 

[sticky2010]

Most likely it was not a UVB burn but A UVA burn from the basking bulb. If she got too close too it or even touched the screen with her back and foot it could happen. As far as the nails, if they have broken down below the skin line, they will never grow back. If just broekn off, yes. They can still climb and adjust. Also, you did not notice when you picked her up? It would have been like that most likely then. Are you sure she did not get the burn in your set up? how close is your basking branch to the basking light?

I am sure she was not burned at my home since I am still waiting on the bulbs to come in mail, I have a heater next to the cage, one of those radiator types. I also open the window when the sun hits the cage so she can get some natural light till rest of the parts come in. Unfortunately I think her 2 nails are gone past the toes so she wont be getting them back. The blister seems to be going away and green skin can be seen underneath.

 

[sticky2010]

this is a topic I am going to ask input on as well. A while back I posted about blisters on my female panther, and many people thought it was a parasite or something of that sort. I can say for certain it wasn't. It has been almost 1 year since I have adjusted basking branches to make sure that no branch is above approximately 95 F during the day. Also, the animals never have any branches close enough to reach light and do not climb upside down on screening. I now have noticed a small burn on the head of one of my males ;( I don't think this symptom is due to contact as the females burns are on the side of her body. One of my very knowledgeable herpetology friends suggested that it may be due to too high of a level of ultra violet light. I am starting to think this may be the case as I have adjusted all other parameters and still am having this problem. Any advice or input is appreciated. I am currently using a exoterra repti breeze cage for my animals with a 24"x24"x48" dimensions. I have a reptisun 5.0 bulb (18") and a 60 watt halogen light used for daytime supplemented with a ceramic heat emitter at night time. All of my animals are very healthy, active and alert..eating well, so it bothers me to see them with this ailment. I am thinking of completely switching out lighting to a zoomed Powersun 160 watt with a deep hood and a mounting bracket. Finally, I would like to breed my chameleons and want to put into outdoor enclosures this spring, but am a little worried that the burn areas will be extra sensitive to natural light intensities? I don't know of any remedies for the burned areas and covering scales do not seem to be growing back over the affected areas Will they ever grow back if they have not done so after one year? Sorry for all the questions, but I feel this is a serious topic and don't want other owners to have this problem. Thanks for all your support!

Please don't steal my thread, thanks.

 

[carol5208]

I am sure she was not burned at my home since I am still waiting on the bulbs to come in mail, I have a heater next to the cage, one of those radiator types. I also open the window when the sun hits the cage so she can get some natural light till rest of the parts come in. Unfortunately I think her 2 nails are gone past the toes so she wont be getting them back. The blister seems to be going away and green skin can be seen underneath.

I am glad she is healing. I just figured it would not take a day to show up but guess I was wrong!

 

[ParabuthusKing]

ok, well I was just trying to get more information and thought it was pertinent to this discussion.. I guess I was wrong.. no offense to you, but this is a new forum to me, and so far the rudeness of people on this forum has turned me off to your website..not to mention people seem to jump to conclusions with no real education or credentials to back them up..kind of sad as I think we all can benefit from each other, but I guess you would rather spend your time critiquing my comment rather than offering any constructive advice ??

 

[djfishygillz]

ok, well I was just trying to get more information and thought it was pertinent to this discussion.. I guess I was wrong.. no offense to you, but this is a new forum to me, and so far the rudeness of people on this forum has turned me off to your website..not to mention people seem to jump to conclusions with no real education or credentials to back them up..kind of sad as I think we all can benefit from each other, but I guess you would rather spend your time critiquing my comment rather than offering any constructive advice ??

the person who commented earlier only has 30 or so post... I wouldn't consider them exactly a person to base the forum off of. People like sandra, carol, there are tons of great, patient people on here. best of luck and hopefully you stick around!!!

 

[ParabuthusKing]

thank you for that, that was the nicest thing anyone has said to me on these forums so far.. I agree, there are likely many knowledgeable people I would love to gain insight and knowledge from, so I will not give up at this point, but I am frustrated when I am obviously concerned about my animals well being, have done my research, and am still having problems I don't give up though!!

 

[carol5208]

thank you for that, that was the nicest thing anyone has said to me on these forums so far.. I agree, there are likely many knowledgeable people I would love to gain insight and knowledge from, so I will not give up at this point, but I am frustrated when I am obviously concerned about my animals well being, have done my research, and am still having problems I don't give up though!!

I did not think what you did was really wrong. I know you were adding to the conversation about burns, which I found to be interesting. It might have got a little off track, but not that big of a deal! I am sorry also, that you have got off to a bad start. I have not seen any of your other posts, so I am not sure who you are referring to or what was said. But there are alot of great people on here and we all share a love for chameleons and that is what is important. So try not and be discouraged!

 

[Elizadolots]

Sticky, I'm sorry your thread got hijacked.

Your chameleon should be able to climb without a few nails. Hopefully they will grow back, but if they don't it should not be a crippling defect. You might want to add some vines or sticks to the sides of the cage so she has those as an available option if she wants to climb the sides but has difficulty.

My guess is she's holding off now because it hurts. As the burn heals, she'll go back to climbing the sides.

 

[ZEUUS]

Just noticed the other day that my female panther lost a nail
Hope both of ours grow back some healthy nails. If not.. I'm sure they'll be fine.

 

[BocaJan]

Once lost, nails do not grow back. Unfortunately, sometimes climbing on screens causes them to get hung up and they can't get loose and they pull the nail out. just watch so it doesn't get infected.

 

[TOMMYBOY72]

Light

this is a topic I am going to ask input on as well. A while back I posted about blisters on my female panther, and many people thought it was a parasite or something of that sort. I can say for certain it wasn't. It has been almost 1 year since I have adjusted basking branches to make sure that no branch is above approximately 95 F during the day. Also, the animals never have any branches close enough to reach light and do not climb upside down on screening. I now have noticed a small burn on the head of one of my males ;( I don't think this symptom is due to contact as the females burns are on the side of her body. One of my very knowledgeable herpetology friends suggested that it may be due to too high of a level of ultra violet light. I am starting to think this may be the case as I have adjusted all other parameters and still am having this problem. Any advice or input is appreciated. I am currently using a exoterra repti breeze cage for my animals with a 24"x24"x48" dimensions. I have a reptisun 5.0 bulb (18") and a 60 watt halogen light used for daytime supplemented with a ceramic heat emitter at night time. All of my animals are very healthy, active and alert..eating well, so it bothers me to see them with this ailment. I am thinking of completely switching out lighting to a zoomed Powersun 160 watt with a deep hood and a mounting bracket. Finally, I would like to breed my chameleons and want to put into outdoor enclosures this spring, but am a little worried that the burn areas will be extra sensitive to natural light intensities? I don't know of any remedies for the burned areas and covering scales do not seem to be growing back over the affected areas Will they ever grow back if they have not done so after one year? Sorry for all the questions, but I feel this is a serious topic and don't want other owners to have this problem. Thanks for all your support!

I have the same cage and a powersun 100w. I hang the light two inches off the top of the cage, and top basking area about ten inches away. My Panther climbs upside down across the top of the cage and he never gets burned and he is healthy and growing fast. He seems to utilize the whole cage and uses various levels of the enclosure.

 

[Olimpia]

Although I think chameleons can in fact be harmed by too much UVB light (especially their eyes), there is nothing in the Reptisun 5.0 that could harm skin. It's got like 1/1000th of the strength of natural UV light, and they don't break out into blisters when outside. I recommend that either of you take your chameleons to a reputable vet, because burns get infected super easily, and sometimes getting on an antibiotic might be the most prudent thing. And to have a trained eye determine if they are burns or if they are something else.

But I don't think that they are UVB related burns.