Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I haven't been to this forum before but this week I noticed that my approx. nine month old veiled hasa been getting white blotches over his face and legs and tail. He eats fine, gets plenty of heat and water but is acting a bit lethargic in addition to the blotching. I am going to try and get pictures tomorrow. Help would be appreciated and any suggestions welcome. He eats about 5-10 crickets every two days with dusting of a mix of calcium and twice a week of multivitamin. This is my first time having a chameleon so I want to make sure he is perfectly happy.
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Jess
2.4 adult BRBs (Sango, Dude, Copper, Cleo, Cherry, Dudette)
1.1 baby BRBs born 6/18/06 my first litter(Zeek, Isis)
0.1 baby BRB produced by Dave Colling (Sable)
1.1 Pacific/celestial Parrotlets (Dewey and Delilah)
1.1 MORE Pacific/Celestial Parrotlets (Tickle and Booger)
1.0 normal corn (Pop the Cornsnake)
1.1 african brown house snake (Nellie, Lacie)
1.1 crested geckos (Chips, Dijon)
1.0 Veiled Chameleon (Calais)
1.1 western hognoses (Google, Yahoo)
0.1 paranoid mother "too many snakes!"
1.0 significant other that gives me a funny look when I say a baby snake is cute

You said..."my approx. nine month old veiled hasa been getting white blotches over his face and legs and tail"...could it be shedding? (I'm sure you know what shedding looks like by now, but I just have to ask anyway.)

You said..."He eats fine, gets plenty of heat and water but is acting a bit lethargic in addition to the blotching"...have you changed UVB lights lately? What brand and type (compact or linear/tube) do you use? What is the basking temperature and does he bask?

You said..."He eats about 5-10 crickets every two days with dusting of a mix of calcium and twice a week of multivitamin"...what brand of both do you use? (I'm looking for the phosphorous/calcium/D3/vitamin A content and what the source of the vitamin A is.)

You said..."This is my first time having a chameleon so I want to make sure he is perfectly happy"...if the husbandry is good and you are lucky to have one that has no health issues he could be with you for more than 7 years!

No, not shedding.He finshed a full shed last week without a problem, there are still a couple pieces on his face that haven't fallen off yet but no open sores or anything worrisome like that.
No, I haven't changed the UV lights, I haven't turned them on as often but only because I have been getting sun into my room for him, could that be the problem? Despite him being close to the window (not right next to it but he gets direct sunlight through part of the day) is he still not getting enough light? Since it has been cloudy for the last few days I have had the light on. It is a zoo-med UVB linear light. His baskinng spot gets to be about 85-90 degrees, the lamp is outside the cage so that he cannot climb on it.
I use the Rep-Cal supplements the multi-vitamin and the calcium with D3.
Thanks for trying to help, I really appreciate it and so does he.
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Jess
2.4 adult BRBs (Sango, Dude, Copper, Cleo, Cherry, Dudette)
1.1 baby BRBs born 6/18/06 my first litter(Zeek, Isis)
0.1 baby BRB produced by Dave Colling (Sable)
1.1 Pacific/celestial Parrotlets (Dewey and Delilah)
1.1 MORE Pacific/Celestial Parrotlets (Tickle and Booger)
1.0 normal corn (Pop the Cornsnake)
1.1 african brown house snake (Nellie, Lacie)
1.1 crested geckos (Chips, Dijon)
1.0 Veiled Chameleon (Calais)
1.1 western hognoses (Google, Yahoo)
0.1 paranoid mother "too many snakes!"
1.0 significant other that gives me a funny look when I say a baby snake is cute

You said..."I haven't changed the UV lights, I haven't turned them on as often but only because I have been getting sun into my room for him, could that be the problem? Despite him being close to the window (not right next to it but he gets direct sunlight through part of the day) is he still not getting enough light? Since it has been cloudy for the last few days I have had the light on"...this won't likely have anything to do with the problem....but the sun or UVB light should not pass through glass or plastic.

Please post some pictures of the blotches if you can.

hey,
i've owned my chameleon for a year and a half now..you should use miner-all(minerals) as well as the vitamins and calcium(while hes growing still,use each about 2 times a week,for adults once a week for each)..also,uv doesn't pass through glass soo you should have his uv light on all the time execpt for bed time..i am not sure about the spots he is getting on his skin,but maybe try to mix up his diet alittle bit too..try buying some phoenix worms from somewhere,they are really good for a chams. diet and you don't need to gut-load them like crickets..in my opinion,gut-loaded crickets and phoenix worms are 2 of the best feeders for chams..phoenix worms aren't as big as some other feeders so you'd need to feed more to give the same amount of food intake you give him now..also,what are his basking temps??i'm pretty confused about why that would happen to his skin without actually seeing pics..hope this helps..
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Jonny Blaze
1.0 Nosy Be Panther
1 Bearded Dragon--sex not determined yet
0.1 Yorkshire terrier Brandy,10 years old
1.0 Golden lab-Dusty R.I.P May 16,2007,14.5 years old
1.0 Black lab "wiggler",2 years old
s136.photobucket.com/albums/q173/jonnyblaze_04/?sc=3

If you rub the white spots gently with a damp tissue does the white come off? Chams who have trouble shedding completely can develop patches of pale looking skin, but rubbing them gently might make that obvious. Are the white spots raised up or swollen around the edges? If you look closely do you see any lumps or reddish patches? All these things could point to a bacterial or fungal skin infection, but without pics or a vet's testing it is really hard to say. What water do you use to spray? Is your water hard or does it contain chlorine or chloramine (treated city water). There is a chance you could be seeing hard water staining of old unshed skin that hasn't loosened up. Any water spots on your plants?

The UV light is definitely a problem. He needs at least 12 hours of UV light EVERY DAY unless he is kept outdoors where he can bask in unfiltered sunlight. He's starting to show nutritional deficiencies from lack of proper lighting probably.