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He LOVES going out in the sunlight; just doesn't like me...and he used to be so sweet.

Michele

Just wanted to post the full size pic.

get so active in the sun, isn't it? My male was nearly un-handleable when I had him out the other day for a few hours.

I wish I could actually capture the intensity of his colors with a camera. Inside, it's fine, but when he's outside, the colors seem to be so bright, they cannot be captured by a camera - I tried. His yellow and orange are so bright and intense, it's actually hard to look at in full sun. I never liked high-orange ("sunburst" veileds because I like the yellow stripes. But this guy has both. In person, the orange is absolutly unlike anything you've ever seen.

He's really nasty, normally, but he's calmed down over the years. That is, until I put him in the sun again... it turns them evil I tell you. I had to grab him to ge thim out - normally, I can get him on my hand and he's fine...but not after being in the sun. Hence the last picture.

In these pics, the scar tissue from his burn is clear. Especiall yhis right knee - it's almost painful to look at. What's truely amazing is how much the skin has healed. Much of it is as good as new, color and all!

How they're perfectly fine indoors, and when they hit the natural sunlight, they go Beserk! Capuchi is usually a chameleon that's receptive to handeling, but that's not the case once I get him outdoors. That doesn't seem to happen with my Panther though, he's always a sweetheart.

Wonder if it's only a Veiled thing??? -By the way, you have one amazing Veiled, Eric. Just stunning colors. Amazing how tough they are as well...How did he burn himself?

Michele

He wa sin a large cage on th efloor - it was actually a screened in section of a free-roam setup. I trusted my deremensis to be penned in, but I wasn't going to trust this monster in a cage that didnt' have a latch. In fact, he pushed the door open one day and assaulted my two female deremensis.

That was the final straw. I pulled my old cage from retirement (the garage), and mounted it on the wall. I had to rig somethign in order to mount a light. Previously, it was used for a deremensis, so I didnt' need to have a heat lamp. With the veiled, I had to have a 100W bulb. To do that, I had to mount the clamp lamp above the top of the cage - about a foot away. I screwed in a 1x2, and put the clamp lanp on it, angling it towards the basking branch.

When I cam eback to check on him a few hours later, he was basking as if nothign was wrong. Unfortunatly, the wingnut on the clamp lamp became loose, and it rotated downward onto the top of his cage. He was still several inches away, but he'd been there for hours. He cooked himself very thoughly, too.

Abotu 30% of his right side and 50% of his right leg was burned. It turned black, and then a few days later, started to crack, peel and scab up. the parts around the blackened area were obviously damaged as well, as they scabbed up too.

I go thim some baytril, and after 2 days or so of treatment, he started to crap out - not eating, not acting right. So I stopped. I just applied Silva Sulfadiazine cream, every night. The day after I stopped using baytril, he was acting as if nothign was wrong. Aside from SEVERE nerve damage to his rear legs, he's been fine ever since. He's learned to use his tail with more skill now that his legs are a bit messed up.

the scabs fell off, came back and fell off again over about a month, leaving a raw tissue behind. It was so bad, I could see his ribs through the thin, skinless tissue.

I should have taken pictures of him when the scabs fell off. More than half of his skin has grown back - perfectly. only the area where scar tissue formed has it not grown back, color and all.

Plus, the damage was so severe to his knee, the connective tussue was compromized, andthe joint is partiall dislocated. He gets along well thoguh.

I have maintained dozens of veileds minus UVB. In fact, all of my early veileds were completely UVB free from egg to adulthood.
Of course, now that good MVB bulbs are availabel, I use them. However, every time I put these animals outside in the sun, and see such a drastic behavioral change, it's clear that it's just not 100% right. I know they can be healthy and happy even in the most artificial conditions, minus UVB and all - but that's nto the point, for me anyway.

To truely see them at their best, to see their real behavior, they should get sunlight. I need to see if the same color and behavioral changes can be brought out by newer MVB bulbs...

Gosh, Eric, as you have been guiding me through my misery with Valentino you made it sound like your's got a "little" burned. He is still gorgeous. I'll still love little Val even if he's the most unusual, freaky looking cham of all time, but looking at your cham gives me a lot of hope for the future outlook. it's been over a month and we still have a lot of scabby skin. Do you think I can take him out in filtered sunlight on warm days for some therapy? Diane
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dianedfisher@yahoo.com

My 3 CWD-Avanyu, Tripod and Drago
Valentino, Veiled Chameleon
Chyam, Nosy Be Panther Chameleon

I don't think sun would harm him . It's probably never a bad idea, unless there's some serious tissue damage.

http://chamaeleonidae.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=358

here's a burn with some bad tissue damage. Look how well it heals up.

Kristina Francis(studiocham) had a baby melleri suffer a serious burn - it blinded it for a few days, cooked off it's nose horn, and did lots of tissue damage. This was a very young animal. Kristina thought she would have to have it put down. She applied the SS cream, and the little sucker not only thrived, but I do believe it's her biggest baby.

Thanks for that link, Eric. The pictures helped, as did the realization that I'm not the only one who ever did this. It doesn't help make Valentino feel any better, but it sure helps salve my wounded feelings. It's a beauty of Spring Day here in Southern Indiana, so he gets some actual rays when I get home from work. diane
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dianedfisher@yahoo.com

My 3 CWD-Avanyu, Tripod and Drago
Valentino, Veiled Chameleon
Chyam, Nosy Be Panther Chameleon

Very pretty pics, lots of color in this boy, felt like i was at the movies looking at the BIG SCREEN ,huge pics LOL
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PHEve / Eve

Contact PHEve

Wow... so brilliant! He sure has a lot of orange on him... love the way the turquiose (sp?) is "peeking" through all those firey oranges! Beautiful guy you have there Can't forget about your panther either... such a sweet face!
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1.1.0 Leopard Geckos (Booger & Gimp)
1.0.0 Veiled Chameleon (Lucutis)
0.0.1 Quince Monitor (Pollux)

Can't get any more perfect looking than this,
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PHEve / Eve

Contact PHEve