Viridis with black patch - can anyone help?

[lizzybengal]

Hi

I have a male and female pygmy (viridis). I have had them since xmas and they have been eating (crickets fed with calcium plus formula), and fruit flies) and moving about well and also drinking off the leaves. They are in a viv with mesh top. glass front, temp. is around 75 in the day, 58 at night. Humidity varies depending if i have sprayed. is about 70%. I use two uva/uvb bulbs and a 40w heat lamp as it was getting too cold in there. They have soil on floor with moss, and natural plants. They have 12 hour cycles.
About 2 weeks ago my female viridis started to develop what looks like a black vertical patch on her tail, and it is now from the base to half way down it. I cnat see how she could have burnt herself and she is very lively and actively hunts. Could she have a bacterial skin infection? I have noticed that the moss is not drying out between sprays, maybe it is too wet in there? I do not have any drainage, just 2 inchs soil with moss over it.
Can anyone help, is there an antibiotic ointment i can get for her in the UK?

Thanks, Liz.

 

[Chris Anderson]

Can you post any pics of the spot? It may be a fungal skin infection from not being able to dry out. Often vets will proscribe Silver Sulfadiazine cream to be applied to fungal skin infections in addition to systemic medications.

Chris

 

[lizzybengal]

Hi

I have attached some pics. I have been misting quite heavily twice a day, as my male used to drink from a bowl and i was told that he may be dehydrated. He no longer drinks from the bowl. The rest of the viv. the plants etc dry out in between sprays its just the moss & soil.

Thanks,

Liz

 

[Chris Anderson]

That doesn't look like a fungal infection to me but I could be wrong, its hard to tell from the pics. To be honest, the chameleon looks very thin (spine showing) and the rest of the body is fairly washed out in color. What temperature are you keeping the enclosure at?

Chris

 

[lizzybengal]

About 23c in the day. She is very active and is always trying to catch micro-crickets, but unfortunately she often miss's, unlike the male who i have never seen miss. I gave her a wax worm the other day but it was too big and i had to cut it in half which was pretty awful but it did the trick and she ate the half, and i did not even put her off with the scissors! She really loved it, so i am waiting till next week when i can order some lesser waxmoth lava, which should be the right size. Now you mentuion it i can see her spine! I am worrying even more now. I worry about her not finding enough food so tend to shake quite a few micro-crickets in to the viv, when i feed them so she finds it easier to see them, its just her aim is so bad!

 

[lizzybengal]

She was that colour when i got her, and was told by another member of a dwarf chameleon forum that the female viridus is often muted pale browns and not changeable in clour and bright green like the males.

 

[pssh]

Bad aim in true chameleons usually means they have a serious problem. It's usually metabolic bone disease or an injured tongue. I don't know how true that is in pygmies

 

[Chris Anderson]

Kara - There are a number of things that can cause poor aim. You shouldn't make diagnoses on such limited information and knowledge.

Liz - When you say Micro-crickets, how large are you talking? Adult Rh. viridis can easily eat 1/4" crickets (~0.6cm). This is what a healthy female Rh. viridis looks like:

Your female looks more washed out to me.

Chris

 

[pssh]

I wasn't making a diagnosis? Sorry if it came across like that though.

 

[lizzybengal]

Thanks for the photo Chris, she does look pale compared to that photo, although she does go darker shades and i have seen two vertical stripes on her. The male and female seem to get a little upset when they meet each other, her head went black, while her body stayed pale when the male climbed to close to her earlier on today!
The crickets are about 1/4 " but there are some in the viv. that have grown a bit bigger, and then of course they cant swallow them if they do decide to strike. The female does not seem to get close enough to her prey sometimes. I spoke to a nurse at a specialist reptile centre today, who spoke to a vet for me and he said he cant think what the black on her tail coulld be, but he didnt seem to think it was fungal. He wants to see her, but it is an hour's journey and i dont like to stress her so much, but its difficult not knowing how serious it is?
I wish she looked as plump as the Viridis in the photo!

 

[Carlton]

My thoughts would be...

Any time a cham develops a strange marking that spreads, doesn't disappear like other skin markings that respond to light, heat, stress, something serious is going on. If it was a bruise (and bruising often shows up as a dark gray or black area) it should be fading rather than spreading. If it is a burn it shouldn't be spreading over time (and not too likely for a pygmy under low light and correct temps). My guess is some type of infection...but just what (fungal, bacterial, viral) I don't know.

 

[lizzybengal]

I dont think it is spreading, but it seems blacker, i wasnt really aware of it at first so i cant really remember if it appeared like this or grew! I think it started off this size but maybe has got darker more apparent.