Weird Coloring on my Panther - Pics attached

[braboett]

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Male Ambiloboe 6-7months, in my house for 2 months.
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? 2 times a week to take him outside to get some sun, he hates it/me
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? Crickets, I put 10 in his cage and he may only eat 2 every other day he hasn't been eating much. I have only seen him eat a few waxworms within the last week. I have been gutloading with carrots and spinach. I have some dino fuel on order.
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Just started on Repashy calcium plus with every feeding
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? Spray 3 times a day and use dripper 2 times a day. He LOVES water, he will come up to my sprayer and just stand in front of it letting me spray him. I am ordering a mist king tomorrow.
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? I haven't seen a poop in a little over a week. His urate was orange last time so i've been trying to step up the water sprayings.
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. Purchased from a reptile show here in az, breeder was from texas and had many reptiles, unfortunately i don't think they had much knowledge of chameleons. I bought this guy because he had the best looking colors at the time.


Cage Info:

Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Screen 24x24x48
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? Repti Sun 5.0, Blue Bulb 60w for basking, 18" flourescent daylight bulb for more light (all at top of cage)
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? 67 on bottom, 72 in most of the cage, basking is around 88-90. Measured with a laser heat gun and also temp gauges inside the cage
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?40-70, guage
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? Golden Pothos & fake vines/leaves.
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? In a nook in a high traffic area, height is 6ft from floor.
Location - Where are you geographically located? Phoenix Arizona


Current Problem - I'm concerned about the large white spots on his sides, he has them on both sides and I have only seen them go away once. They blend in and seem better when he is asleep. It almost seems like the spots dont change color with his mood. I am also wondering about the patches on his knees and right foot. They haven't gotten bigger but they haven't gotten smaller. He has had them for a month at least.

 

[ChromaChameleons]

Possibly burns....

 

[braboett]

That's what I thought, I did have a 100w basking bulb in right when I got him and realized a few days later that it was waaay too hot. What about the large white marks, those don't really look like burns to me? The ones on the legs do. Also, is there anything I can put on it to help him out? He really doesn't seem upset by them. He seems to be doing fine besides not eating as much as he should.

 

[camimom]

The leg ones look like healing burns. the side,, either its very strange markings..
or maybe a skin fungus?

 

[ataraxia]

From the animals intake and the same coloring on the same spot both sides...In my opinion i would get a xray done ASAP. From my observations some animals wont change colors (typically it is dark coloring, im not talking about bruising) in spots where there is underlying trauma/illness/organ failure to the area.

He could also just have some sort of pigment disorder.

 

[mphelps]

Both the patches on his legs and on his sides look like burns to me. In my experience, burns which have not destroyed skin tissue cause it to blanch in color.

Often chameleons will go about their daily business, even though they have significant burns. So his normal behavior does not mean that the problem is not severe.

Here's a test. Hold you hand under his basking light for a couple minutes. If your hand starts to feel uncomfortably hot -- like you have to pull your hand away or it will start to burn -- then your basking light is too hot for your chameleon and will burn him. Sometimes the reflector behind your basking light will create a hot spot, which will burn your chameleon.

You may need to reduce your wattage and get a different sort of reflector.

 

[braboett]

I did the hand trick and that's when I realized my 100w was crazy hot, luckily I only had it in there for a couple days but looks like I burnt the poor little guy. I have since moved to a 60w which is nice and warm and won't burn my hand and hopefully him. I'll keep an eye on him and see if the spots start decreasing. If they don't in the next few days then I'll take him in. What do x-rays/blood work and such usually cost?

 

[braboett]

I looked last night and noticed that the white markings go away when he's asleep. Do you think this is a good/bad thing??

 

[Texas Panther Man]

Judging from the shape hes in I'd say he's wc. I would def take him in and at least have a fecal float & smear test run. That will tell you if he has parasites or not. In the meantime since its a long holiday weekend. I would either give him long 10 to 15 min misting sessions with the mist king daily or I would give him some long 30 min lukewarm not hot shower sessions in my shower every day. He needs to be properly hydrated before any medications are administered. Meds are hell on chams kidneys so they have to be really hydrated to handle that stress on their system.

Do not take this guy to a vet that doesnt regularly see reptiles and hopefully that inc chameleons. An ignorant vet can cause more problems than they fix.
DO NOT administer any meds without first running fecals or bloodwork. Preferably both but at least get fecals done first if you cant afford the blood panels at this time.

Burns will heal over time you may have to apply a topical ointment like polysporin or something stronger. I wouldnt worry so much about those at this time as I would getting him properly hydrated and checked for parasites.
He could be eatting 20 feeders a day but if hes loaded with parasites its not going to do him any good to eat em. Good luck you got a lot of work ahead of you to get him acclimatted & cleaned up bro......

 

[braboett]

Here is the same cham in the shower a day after i took the first pics. He LOVED it. The weird thing is that the white spots on his side almost instantly went away? Then when I put him in his cage and he turns dark they come back. I have a vet appt this friday so we will see. He does seem to be eating better.

 

[ABCChameleon]

strange mark

what could that strange mark be my Chameleon has one like that on her tail.

 

[Video Master]

what could that strange mark be my Chameleon has one like that on her tail.

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