Problem!

[Zoe]

Okay, here's the deal. I just got this chameleon recently (the last show) and he was shedding when I got him. He was a crappy shedder, I don't know if it was due to stress or what, but the skin was sticking to him because of these funny little "knobs" that trace says are an accumulation of skin cells. They grow in little wart-like buttons on top of his skin, and they make pieces of shed stick to him. Also, his tail didn't shed until a few days ago.
Today I noticed something strange on his tail... it looks like old, brown shed... I hadn't seen it before because he typically doesn't climb the mesh, and he doesn't like to be held so I never take him out and examin him like I do my female. I know you can't see crap in these pictures, he wouldn't stand still. At one point he even opened his mouth at me :|. Anyway, what exactly is the problem? That really doesn't look normal... I hope I can do something about it!!!
Oh, he's fine otherwise, eating and drinking and crapping and such.

<img src=http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/13502.jpg>

<img src=http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/13501.jpg>

Thanks
Zoe

[Trace]

Hey Zoe!

I don't particularly see the large "knobs" of skin of which you speak... but the bigger scales that I see in the pic are completely normal. I'll try and get a pic of my "lumpy" chameleon later on today so you can compare benign fatty deposits to your chameleon.

As for the brown patches you are seeing... as far as I know are normal. My Panther has this as well. When Chameleons poop they will wipe their bums against a stick when they are finished. From what I can tell, this is ummmmm.... skidmarks! LOL

Hope this helps!

Trace

[Jaylyn]

Zoe,

How's his shed coming along (I'm so far behind!)? The two main reasons for a poor shed are low humidity (easy to correct) or oversupplementation.

I only supplement my chams (except gravid females and growing juvis) once a month and then only calcium. But, my gutload in top notch - full of lots of good stuff. Zeus (my male veiled) came to me in rough shape (as you all probably know) - in consultations with several vets in the States and talking with several AdCham members - I virtually eliminated all supplements. For the first 9 months he had only partial, patchy sheds and humidity didn't make any difference. It's taken along time, but now the old man has full, quick, complete sheds every 6 weeks or so. In eliminating the supplements he health improved dramatically in other areas.

The James/Lopez/Wells gutload can be found at www.adcham.com - I add extra bee pollen and rosehip powder to it.

Jaylyn

[Jaylyn]

How's the brown patch? It is strange looking - it does seem to have an "edge" around it.... Will it wash off? I really don't have any clue. Maybe keep a close eye on it and see if there's any change? If there's none hopefully it will come off with his next shed. A little Polysporin wouldn't hurt either way.
Hoping it's just a "skid" like Trace said.

Jaylyn