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Here's a couple of pictures that show a skin condition that pull off of the skin with each shed. I've named it Barnacle disease. I've shown to 3 different vets, and consensus is that it's viral. Everyone I've talked to so far has never seen it before. The outbreak is limit to two Parson's chameleons. And while the initial outbreak was heavy, a big improvement is made with each skin shed.
Has anybody out there ever seen this before?

Beautiful Parsons! It would be terrible for something to happen to them...so I certainly hope its nothing of importance.

Could you possibly show a closer picture of the "barnacles"?

This looks very much like something two of my panthers experiences many years ago. Local vets were puzzled. I went to several, without definitive result. None of the tests that were done showed anything. But because I didnt have so much money at that time, having just been laid off, to be doing test upon test upon guess upon test upon lab this than and the other thing, not every possible test was done.

The two guesses I found most likely were a viral skin infection, OR pox (like humans can get smallpox or chickenpox). The vet felt it may be a form of reptilian pox, as it looked a lot like an outbreak of crocodilian pox he'd seen in the past. This kinda fit, as the second one to get it had its enclosure close to the first one, and those that did not get it were some distance away. One of my chameleons recovered very quickly (better with each shed, as you are indicating) and the other, the first to get the spots, did not get better.
Are the spots slightly raised, and a bit like callused plugs of dead or discoloured skin?

I still feel guilty about Clifford, as he's the only cham I've ever had who died of something I perhaps could have resovled had I been more financial sound at the time.

Hope yours recover fully.
S
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Sandra
BC Canada

Are the spots slightly raised, and a bit like callused plugs of dead or discoloured skin?

Yes, and Pox makes much more sense than my barnacle description. It difinitely has a life cycle. And hopfully that cycle is coming to a end in the afflicted animals. (fingers crossed)
I tried to blow up some of the photos I previously took, to get a closer look, but a little on the blurry side. My camera does'nt work so good on micro images.
First image is at shed, and when most visable. Second image is a day or two before shed.
I have removed a few manually with tweezers, once they had reached a size of seasame seed. A slight depression is left on the skin where removed, but area seems to heal quickly and no signs of reinfection to area.
Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Almost forgot, I added a little more air circulation to their cages. And this seems to have had a positive effect on their health.

Yes! One of my baby parsons also had this problem,
don't pluck them off!! My chameleon got over it eventually,
and shed all the pox and is fine now. The pox seem to appear, dry up, and fall off without scaring.. so don't pluck them. My vet also seemed to think it was a pox like virus, he recommended STRICT quarantine and disinfect everything as this type of virus is very resiliant in the environment, and can easily infect other animals (he compared it to a herpes like virus.) Keep the temps around the upper range, feed and water as normal not doing anything. Should resolve on it's own, hopefully!
Garrett

I have seen this type of lesion and heard of it in not only chameleons but other lizards....and pox is what it was diagnosed as in some. The exact same looking "pox" lesions have tested positive for bacteria and fungus and virus...and in some cases its quickly fatal.

Biopsy samples of it from one of my chameleons were supposed to be sent to a Doctor who studies pox....but it never happened.

It is a mixed infection both fugal and bacteria. The bacteria is called dermalifidis, it is a bacteria that acks like fugal. It is best treated with silver sulfadiazine. You can ask your vet for some, apply a thin layer to all inffected areas once daily until completely healed. I have a few parsonii that had it and I had a biopsy done by my vet Scott Stahl and that is what he found. Hope this helps....Also keep him on the dry side

Curtis

You said the bacteria is called "dermalifidis"...I can't find anything on it. What fungus is it?

I'll spelled it wrong...The name is dermatophilus and there are a few different types of fungus. I didnt have them culture the fugus so no names for it but the treatment worked. MOST but not ALL of the time they will heal without treatment as long as they are kept dry. Here is a link to some info on it.....http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/70600.htm

Thank you for the wealth of knowledge. The Parson's are getting better ( physically and in appearance ), and if there's a downturn, I now have some information and a course of action for my Vet. Many thanks to all that contacted me.

Here's another picture showing the symptom back in May.

Looks like the cyst made when a small subcutaneous worm dies. I once treated a wild Parson's with Panacur and these "barnacles" or "pox" showed up all over the animal's body. They dried up all crusty and fell off with the next shed.
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