What is this in the nose?

[zombiepixel]

Cage Info:
Cage Type - screened 16x12x18
Lighting - day glo blue basking bulb, and a reptisun 10 tube flourescent
Temperature - basking spot stays in the mid 80's, night temps don't get below 65-70 degrees
Humidity - Humidity fluctuates during the day because of the habba mister, but stays in the 50-70 range
Plants - a small ficus and some fake vines
Placement - elevated in an office with light traffic
Location - bay area california

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - 5 mo old, male, Veiled Chameleon
Handling - once every 2 weeks maybe
Feeding - 15+ 1/2-3/4" crickets daily, gutloaded on collard greens and carrots
Supplements - rep cal calcium twice a week, rep cal calcium with D3 once a week, multivitamins twice a month
Watering - habba mister for 30 secs every 3 hours and a warm hand misting almost every morning.
Fecal Description - feces are consistently dark brown, urates usually white some times a little on the yellowish orange side
History - He was a Lancecham baby and he has been a seemingly healthy, aggressive little cuss.
Current Problem - There is a white thing coming out of his right nostril (pictured below) looks like skin but I don't think he has shed.

it's coming out of his nose, I don't know if he is getting ready to shed or if it's some kind of infection. The other nostril looks fine.

 

[Syn]

Picture is unavailable. It could be shed or minerals coming out of his nose. Perhaps you are dusting too often/much?

edit: I see it now. It looks like he is blowing snot bubbles out of his nose! LOL. But it could be skin.

 

[zombiepixel]

I don't dust that often and it's only a tiny pinch. It looks solid, i would touch it but he doesnt let me close to his face

 

[Syn]

Hmm, no idea then. I would say try to gently touch it to see if it's solid or soft, but that could be potentially harmful if he is aggressive towards you.

I say it's a booger.

By the way, what kind of plant do you have in there?

 

[zombiepixel]

the plant is a ficus, the other leaves are fake.

 

[Syn]

Lol no wonder I didn't recognize the plant! Can you get a picture of another angle of the nose?

 

[Sang]

It looks like a mineral build up, try not to dust so often.

 

[zombiepixel]

That's crazy, I have been thinking i've been dusting him lightly, a few times a week only. I'll cut it down.

 

[Sang]

once a week is plenty. maybe even to much. as they get older you can cut back on the amount of suppliment,

i think i really only dust twice a month for my chams.

 

[spinachlove]

hey everyone! newbie to the forum and first time cham owner..just got my fischer chameleon two wks ago! what exactly is dusting? does that mean dusting the food or the chameleon itself? cos i shake n bake his crickets & worms with calcium and multivitamins before i feed him, but now i'm wondering if i need to dust him too?

 

[thealissa]

I used to only dust about 3 times per month, and mine had that white build up outside of her nostrils. That makes me say that I highly doubt it's from dusting too much because now I dust every other day and I have no issues. What kind of water are you using for the mister/dripper? I found that when I didn't use bottled water (which has added minerals for taste) the build up started to go away. Now, I just use water from my tap (which is soft water, with potassium pellets added, not salt.) If you're able to try that, I would.

 

[hiihenry]

I had signed up for the 5 day course chameleon care lessons by screameleons.com

After reading it, and then seeing your post, a little lightbulb went on.
This is one of the health problems that screameleons discussed:
"Problem 5: My chameleon has white "salt" in his nose.
If you notice white powder around the nostrils of your chameleon,
this is a sure sign that he is not getting enough water. You
should be offering your chameleon water at least 3 times a day.
One mistake new keepers make is simply offering water and walking
away. When you offer water, stick around to make sure that he/she
is drinking! Once you adjust the amount water that you offer your
chameleon, you should see this problem go away."

maybe that's it?

 

[CleaTheChameleon]

Clea had this to i thought i was over supplementing but it happened ever since i got the reptisun in there. When i clean her cage and take her out its gone. Im sure its nothing really to worry about but remember don't over supplement

 

[zombiepixel]

It looked like it was gone today and he is looking really whitish so hopefully he is getting ready to shed and not getting the ET phone home sickness

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

hey everyone! newbie to the forum and first time cham owner..just got my fischer chameleon two wks ago! what exactly is dusting? does that mean dusting the food or the chameleon itself? cos i shake n bake his crickets & worms with calcium and multivitamins before i feed him, but now i'm wondering if i need to dust him too?

Dusting is what you are doing with the feeders. Your chameleon does not need to be dusted.

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

I used to only dust about 3 times per month, and mine had that white build up outside of her nostrils. That makes me say that I highly doubt it's from dusting too much because now I dust every other day and I have no issues. What kind of water are you using for the mister/dripper? I found that when I didn't use bottled water (which has added minerals for taste) the build up started to go away. Now, I just use water from my tap (which is soft water, with potassium pellets added, not salt.) If you're able to try that, I would.

What you are seeing is snalt. It may or may not have anything to do with supplementation. It is how they expel excess salts. It is harmless and normal.

With adults

I dust some feeders with cal every other feeding. D3 once maybe twice a month and a multi vit once a week or so.

 

[jake01]

My cham got this even with extremely light calc dusting (he gets natural sunlight all day). Cleared up in a couple days no problem and hasn't returned.