Veiled Male - 11 months - Black Spots Developing on head

[DBDEAN]

Hey - me again.
So in looking at pictures I noticed that he has delived alot of black spots around face.
This image is from November 2014 when he was a baby.

This image was taken this morning.

cropped

is the change in coloration normal?

 

[jannb]

It's hard to say from your photos. Take a look at my veileds which all look normal and see if it's anything like what my boys have.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/my-beautiful-veileds-142194/

 

[DBDEAN]

The black marks look exactly like yours. I just got worried because I noticed suddenly he didnt have them as a baby. I thought maybe he burned himself on the light or something.

The other thing I thought was that maybe it was mold growing on skin because I kept it to moist in the tank.

Im a worrier...i do this with my sons too. I just went through the following thought process. "My son is going to be 18 in 1.5 years. Then he will probably join the military. He could get hurt...or killed...and I dont want him to move away." Panic sets in...and hes only 16. I realized this as I was reviewing his timeline for his Eagle project (which must be done by his 18th birthday).

 

[Kayroxyoursox]

I did the exact same thing when mine started getting his spots. It's normal.

 

[JoeVet]

Is that a swelling on his front leg just above the wrist?

 

[GCash]

Is that a swelling on his front leg just above the wrist?

That was the first thing I noticed along with the possibly malformed casque. Could be some metabolic issues that may need correcting. Would probably be wise to fill out the "How to ask for help" sticky in the health clinic section to hopefully shed light on any problems.

 

[GCash]

I also don't see a fluorescent fixture and only an unnatural blue heat lamp. Just out of curiosity, you didn't get sold one of those incandescent black light bulbs as a source of UV did you?

 

[DBDEAN]

UV light - yes thats what I was sold - the blue light. I will go back and get a UV light as well. (I thought he had one)

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, Male, In my care at home 3 months, at children school 6 months.
Handling - Dont
Feeding - crickets - I tried meal worms and other worms but he ignores them
schedule? I wasnt - just started this week. I am using romaine, kale, apples, potato skins and bits of my fruit from breakfast each morning put into a container - blended, frozen. Also added water jelly with calcium additive.
Supplements - I just started Dusting this week. D3 on monday with multivitamen, reg calcium rest of week. Before was having store dust them once a month.
Watering - I use a spray bottle twice a day and a drip system when we go away. There was a dish at bottom of tank to collect water - I have since removed it.
Fecal Description - poop is normal part brown and part white, or brown one and white one. solid. No testing for parasites.
History - I know previous care was not proper. I am course correcting. also aware there may be some MBD in play because of lake of proper knowledge.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - exoterra 24x18x36, mesh top, vented bottom
Lighting - exoterra blue heat lamp (thought it was UV lamp - will fix today)
Temperature - top of cage is 82 right now (though under heat lamp its hotter), bottom is about 70. overnight temp is 64. I just bought temp gauges this week.
Humidity - I have ordered the humidity gauge - waiting for it to arrive?I spray 2 times a day? ?
Plants - tried live plants, he ignored them and they died. I am awful with plants and have since stuck with plastic. I do better with animals.
Placement -Cage is on table in living room in farthest corner from doorway - low traffic area. Top of cage is 6 ft from living room floor
Location - northern california

Current Problem - As team has pointed out - I probably have some early MBD going - how to correct and is it correctable.

 

[DBDEAN]

since removed substrata, cleaning cage, removing water dish and added dusted crickets (not sure how gutloaded they are yet as I understand that takes a few days) he has gotten more active and started behaving like he used to.

 

[GCash]

Fluorescent and mercury vapor bulbs are the best sources of artificial UVB that reptiles can use. Linear fluorescents are the safest(Reptisun 10.0 or Arcadia 12.0 and get a double fixture so you can also add a 6500K bulb to aid with visible light and plant growth) and used in conjunction with a standard house bulb of the correct wattage to get proper temps for basking. Vary the types of insects as much as possible and I'd suggest gutloading them with Repashy bug burger, Bug Buffet of Cricket Crack until you have a better understanding of what to offer(check out sandrachameleon's blog). They should be lightly dusted with calcium at every feeding, calcium w/D3 twice a month and multivitamins twice a month. Who knows what the pet stores are dusting with. Fruits and veggies offered to your veiled should be offered whole and not blended, frozen or with "water jelly w/calcium" added. If that was in reference to gutloading it's not so bad, but be aware freezing and heat from blending could deteriorate some of the nutrients. Live plants are a good indicator that you are providing a proper environment. If the plants aren't healthy, chances are the chameleon is lacking somewhere as well. Good luck with everything.

 

[DBDEAN]

Fluorescent and mercury vapor bulbs are the best sources of artificial UVB that reptiles can use. Linear fluorescents are the safest(Reptisun 10.0 or Arcadia 12.0 and get a double fixture so you can also add a 6500K bulb to aid with visible light and plant growth) and used in conjunction with a standard house bulb of the correct wattage to get proper temps for basking.

Will get this fixed today.

Vary the types of insects as much as possible and I'd suggest gutloading them with Repashy bug burger, Bug Buffet of Cricket Crack until you have a better understanding of what to offer(check out sandrachameleon's blog). They should be lightly dusted with calcium at every feeding, calcium w/D3 twice a month and multivitamins twice a month. Who knows what the pet stores are dusting with.

What other types of insects in addition to crickets - he doesnt seem to like worms.

Fruits and veggies offered to your veiled should be offered whole and not blended, frozen or with "water jelly w/calcium" added. If that was in reference to gutloading it's not so bad, but be aware freezing and heat from blending could deteriorate some of the nutrients.

The fruits and veggies I mentioned where for the crickets.

I didnt think of offering whole fruits and veggies to Pascal - i will try that today. WHAT kind of fruits and veggies can I offer him?

Live plants are a good indicator that you are providing a proper environment. If the plants aren't healthy, chances are the chameleon is lacking somewhere as well. Good luck with everything.

I had some baby tears in the cage but that was when I had the water bowl in there and i put it in the water bowl to be watered by the excess water that was dripping (before I figured out the drip system). i will try again with live plants.