What is this? How do I help my chameleon?

[Jtspeedy21]

Hello and thanks for adding me to the forum. I am new to owning chameleons and done alot of homework regarding chameleons. I have tried my best to give the 2 that I have the best environment to live in. My chameleons are kept in a screen cage 60x32x18. I noticed this a few weeks ago and thought it was just skin peeling but it now looks like this. I very concerned and looking for advise. This is my female vailed chameleon. I feed vitamin/calcium covered superworms and crickets. Has anyone seen this before? I have a Male in the same cage but his skin is perfect.

Thanks
John

 

[Beman]

Hi John. first off they have to be in separate cages. They can not be housed together. They will hurt one another. He will mate with her and stress her.

Now she has a VERY bad thermal burn. You need to start calling around to vets in your area that treat reptiles and get her an appointment asap. She needs silver sulfadiazine cream asap and this can only be prescribed by a vet. This should be gently applied with a q tip twice a day to prevent infection and heal the burn.

Your basking lamps are either too close, wrong bulb type, or too high of a wattage. Or a combo of all.

 

[kinyonga]

To test your basking light....hold your hand inside the cage as close as the chameleon can get to it....if it's too hot for you to comfortably leave your hand there, then you need to raise the light.

Definitely separate the two before its too late. The male will mate with the female ass soon as she is receptive and you will end up with fertile eggs and babies to care for....if the fake doesn't die from the stress of the male being there first. In the wild they can move away from each other....in the cage they are trapped too close.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

She needs silver sulfadiazine cream asap and this can only be prescribed by a vet.

Silver sulfadiazine cream is available OTC at most pharmacies, but I would still have that wound seen by a herp veterinarian. If you need help finding one in your area, see the sticky posts at the top of this forum.

 

[Beman]

Silver sulfadiazine cream is available OTC at most pharmacies, but I would still have that wound seen by a herp veterinarian. If you need help finding one in your area, see the sticky posts at the top of this forum.

Right but it is not the same as what the vet perscribes. You have linked a clear gel form and it does not even give the % on it.

 

[MissSkittles]

Silver sulfadiazine cream is available OTC at most pharmacies, but I would still have that wound seen by a herp veterinarian. If you need help finding one in your area, see the sticky posts at the top of this forum.

I’ve used various silver products for human wound care and they do the job very well. The silver gel is just silver and doesn’t contain the sulfadiazine. In a pinch until the cham can be gotten to the vet, one could probably try the silver gel. However, my experience with those types of gels is that they don’t spread and stay on nicely on their own. Usually they need a cover dressing to keep them in place. I would think that the gel would be falling off as quickly as it’s applied...especially to a moving cham.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Right but it is not the same as what the vet perscribes. You have linked a clear gel form and it does not even give the % on it.

My apologies; the link is not to silver sulfadiazine, but another product that is not.
AFAIK, all Silver sulfadiazine is 1%, veterinary or otherwise, and IS prescription only.

Again, I apologize for the confusion.

 

[RescueMom]

My little guy had a thermal burn back in February, but not nearly as bad as what you're dealing with ? I took him to the vet (his regular vet was not able to see him right away). She prescribed the silver sulfadiazine cream AFTER I asked for it ? Needless to say I was not impressed with her lack of knowledge of my Panther Chameleon.

I finally took him to his regular vet a couple of months later because I was concerned about one of his eyes he was closing in the evening.

She saw the burn and gave him laser therapy treatment (called class IV laser, or K-laser). Who would have thought laser therapy treatment for a Cham!?! She said the silver sulfadiazine was "okay" but the laser therapy would prevent any further damage and speed up the healing process, since chams are so slow to heal, allowing much faster growth of the new skin.

I'm still waiting on him to shed again, very anxious to see how things are going to look after the treatment ?

Maybe you could see if there are any vets in your area that do this laser treatment as well ?