White spot?
- Thread starter letterkenny
- Start date
Steve A
Chameleon Enthusiast
That's just his bar! totally normal from what I can see.
elizaann2
Chameleon Enthusiast
The black around his white spot is interesting to me. I’ve not seen that before. @MissSkittles you have panthers, what do you think?
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
I’m thinking that looks like a thermal burn. It’s a bit of an unusual spot though. I’d like to see some pics of the top of your enclosure, including the lights. What are your basking temps like? Does he walk upside down along the screen top still?
Chameleon_mama
Member
Jumping in here as @letterkenny’s wife and Rainy’s mom haha. @MissSkittles thank you so much for responding. I’ve been monitoring it and I think it is related to his color changes because he actually has a similar spot on the other side and I see the one originally posted change size. That being said, it doesn’t look like entirely normal coloration changes so I’ll continue to monitor. We are transferring him to a new (better) enclosure in a few days.
To answer your question about basking, his basking temp is about 80 and we use the 45w daylight bulb and it’s about 10-12 inches higher than his basking branch. I don’t think it’s a thermal burn because in everything I’ve seen about thermal burns, it looks like the scales actually change texture (kind of like the burnt bark on a tree). His scales are the same texture (little round scales), they’re just dark. But again, I will continue to monitor to make sure things don’t get worse!
Let me know if you think otherwise though, esp after seeing both sides!
To answer your question about basking, his basking temp is about 80 and we use the 45w daylight bulb and it’s about 10-12 inches higher than his basking branch. I don’t think it’s a thermal burn because in everything I’ve seen about thermal burns, it looks like the scales actually change texture (kind of like the burnt bark on a tree). His scales are the same texture (little round scales), they’re just dark. But again, I will continue to monitor to make sure things don’t get worse!
Let me know if you think otherwise though, esp after seeing both sides!
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MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
It just doesn’t look like a normal coloration to me. I was thinking a burn as sometimes when it’s just happened, the very damaged tissue will initially turn white before either sloughing off or turning into a black eschar. While he does have some cream color along his sides, it’s not the same pure white. Even though he does have the dark areas on both of his sides, they are too much of an irregular splotch to be a natural pattern. If not burns, they are some other process such as maybe a fungal infection. How long has he had the areas?
Chameleon_mama
Member
Maybe about 1.5 weeks? We only got him about 3 weeks ago and he didn’t have that discoloration at the pet store. Photo attached of when we got him for reference (although that’s the other side)
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Chameleon_mama
Member
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
I agree with @MissSkittles looks like a thermal burn and that is a very common area that they get them...
Can you tell me about the UVB being used and the type of heat bulb? Also may I see a few pics of the enclosure lighting down so I can view positioning of everything?
Can you tell me about the UVB being used and the type of heat bulb? Also may I see a few pics of the enclosure lighting down so I can view positioning of everything?
Chameleon_mama
Member
Dang, ok! UVB is reptisun T5 5.0. Heat bulb is zoomed 40w daytime bulb (picture attached). As you can see in the photos, both of them are about 6-8” from the baking branch. I actually just lowered it a tad yesterday because I noticed he was darker all day and the temperature in the cage ranges from 68-78 during the day. According to the temp gun (which I know isn’t super accurate) his basking spot is about 80.
Thank you for your help!
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Something is off then... Would not be a thermal burn with these items. Did you have something else before?
Can you tell me your total distance between the screen and vines right below the UVB?
Chameleon_mama
Member
Here is another photo of the spot
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letterkenny
Member
It’s actually a T8 but that’s less UV. We have messed around with the light positioning before but it has been like this for a while. I’ll let my wife say the distance as she’s home with Rainy.
Ok so is he able to get all the way up to the screen under the heat?
Were you using another bulb before this one?
So if it is a T8 it can not be lifted... These put out far less UVB then a T5HO.
I need to know the bulb strength of the UVB. is it a 5.0 or 10.0? Then I can give you the distance of the branches below the screen with the UVB placed directly on the screen.
Steve A
Chameleon Enthusiast
Keep in mind I am a newer chameleon keeper myself. I've learned a lot over the last several months, but I am rather inexperienced compared to who's helping you currently.
I really don't have any idea what the mark is. To me, it really looks similar to the marks Spike has. But.... I also now see you shared pics of him not having that before. So I really don't have a further opinion on that.
However, I do think you should adjust your lighting. And, this is just my opinion. Maybe someone more experienced can chime in. I am not saying this is related in ANY way. I just saw your pic here and noticed this and I think you should really elevate your lights in a different way.
To me, you are blocking almost HALF of your UVB bulb from hitting the enclosure, because you have the UVB propped on those boxes. And then on top of that it looks like your fans are also blocking a lot of that UVB. potentially. I am not sure based on the angle but it kind of looks that way.
So... I wonder if rather than a burn, if this is somehow a sign of deficiency from your chameleon not getting enough out the UVB bulb? Probably not... I am just thinking this now as I am typing it. And I surely do not know enough to say.
However, I really do think that regardless of the mark.... you can be getting a lot more out of your UVB bulb (again just my opinion!) if you had it propped up on something not blocking so much of it.
letterkenny
Member
It’s a 5.0. We can put it on the top but this is all going to be changed on Friday/Saturday when the Tamura enclosure comes in. We will be replacing with a T5 6.0 Arcadia.
Right you want to drop it down to the top of the cage. Right now he is not getting any UVB with it up high. A T8 and a 5.0 bulb he would need to be within 5 inches of it.
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
Have you always had the basking light elevated off the screen the same as in your pics? If you touch the screen below the light (on the inside of the enclosure), can you hold your hand there for a couple of minutes or does it feel too hot?
