Why has his happened? (Shed trouble)

[Miss Lily]

A couple of days ago I found a dark looking piece of shed in Tommy's cage and thought it looked like it had been retained for a while and thought nothing of it. However, today I had him out and checked him over and found that his left lobe has come off with the shed and that was the piece of skin that I found! Why would his lobe just come away with the shed? It doesn't look sore or open or anything and doesn't appear to be causing him any pain, plus he's been acting normally still. Here's a few pics:

Tommy's Right (normal) lobe

Left lobe (damaged)

Shed skin (inc. lobe) - front

back of lobe

 

[CleaTheChameleon]

Oh my. Thats very strange. Im sorry i cant help but i hope he will be ok

 

[PedroANDAshley]

Im totally going out on a limb ehre so dont take me seriously
But do you think it could be a piece of infected skin/had fungus on it D:

 

[laurie]

Tiff I have never had this happen with any of the good number of veils I have had. I took a quick look at my reptile medicine book but didn't find anything useful. Sorry, hope all is well with Tommy.

 

[Miss Lily]

Im totally going out on a limb ehre so dont take me seriously
But do you think it could be a piece of infected skin/had fungus on it D:

Someone on another forum has suggested that too. I dunno! It looked totally normal until it just dropped off! I only posted pics of him outside a couple of days ago and it was intact in those pics, I checked them!

 

[Syn]

Vaguely reminds me of what happens after a sunburn.

 

[PedroANDAshley]

Hmmm well it doesnt look open/infected as you said.
Id say keep an eye on it and if it turns bad, like starts to spread, id take him to the vet asap.

 

[warpdrive]

I too feel that it seems like a fungus problem. yet I'm not the best one to be speaking on this matter.
I would think that a vet trip is in order so that if it is a fugal problem it can be stoped quickly.

I wish you the best of luck Tiff. I'm here for you.

Harry

 

[summoner12]

Looks like he may have been burned. I would be sure to put some silvedine on the tissue to be sure it heals well. And if it is fungus Silvedine should take care of it.

 

[Miss Lily]

Thanks Kevin. I don't think its a burn though - he can't get close enough to his heat lamp to burn himself. As I said, it looked completely normal just a couple of days ago - the pic in my avatar was one that I took and clearly shows his lobe looking normal. Do I need to go to the vet for Silvadene, or can I buy it in a 'people' chemist?

 

[summoner12]

I say it could be a burn because this sort of thing happens to melleri pretty easily even if the basking temp isn't 'too hot'. Because the skin is thin and on the edge of the body it doesn't disipate the heat like, the casque or sides of the chameleon. So the small bits like lobe flaps get burned very easily. It doesn't really even need to be a "burn".... just needs to get warm enough that the tissue dies. In either case, just treat the skin so no infection or fungal growth sets in.

 

[niese4pigs]

Looks like a fungus to me. My veiled got fungal infection along his back about 4 months ago and he lost some of his spikes along his back. Be careful it can spread. My vet prescribed antibacterial/antifungal shampoo to wash him in and topical miconazole lotion to put on lesion. I watch my cham very closely and handle him almost every day & this just seemed to sneak up on me. One day he was shedding and that area looked a little more crusty than the rest of his back and next thing I knew he had a chunck of flesh coming off. My baby is doing fine now but has a permanent defect on his back. Good luck with yours hope it doesn't become too serious.

 

[summoner12]

Looks like a fungus to me. My veiled got fungal infection along his back about 4 months ago and he lost some of his spikes along his back. Be careful it can spread. My vet prescribed antibacterial/antifungal shampoo to wash him in and topical miconazole lotion to put on lesion. I watch my cham very closely and handle him almost every day & this just seemed to sneak up on me. One day he was shedding and that area looked a little more crusty than the rest of his back and next thing I knew he had a chunck of flesh coming off. My baby is doing fine now but has a permanent defect on his back. Good luck with yours hope it doesn't become too serious.

Do you have any photos of what the fungal infection looked like?

Did it look like this at all?

 

[ajacobson]

You should be able to get silvadine in people stores. They use it to treat burns in people all the time. I don't *think* you need an RX for it.

 

[summoner12]

You should be able to get silvadine in people stores. They use it to treat burns in people all the time. I don't *think* you need an RX for it.

I think you might need a prescription

Edit: at least here in the states.

 

[ajacobson]

I think you might need a prescription

Edit: at least here in the states.

You're probably right. I worked at a hospital clinic before and we had it, but I didnt know if it was prescribed or not.

 

[Elizadolots]

But what's "over the counter" is very different from country to country. I believe Benadryl is prescription in England, but is OTC here. So, it's worth checking into.

 

[dreamforthedead]

Awww poor Tommy, hope everything turns out ok for him. I to thinks it looks like a burn but i am no expert. Good luck Tiff. Give Tommy a get well soon kiss from me.

 

[niese4pigs]

I don't have any photos of before but do have photos of skin actually lifting off his backand now have after photos. I will post them but don't think they are of much use.

 

[jannb]

I've not seen anything like that before. Poor Tommy. He should be ok just don't let it get infected.