Baby veiled closed eyes

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male baby veiled chameleon, not sure how old. Not more than 4 months I think
How long has it been in your care? I've had him for about a month
Handling - I don't handle him too much because he hisses and I don't want to stress him out
Feeding - Small gut loaded crickets, he used to eat about 3-4 a day, then only ate 1 or 2 when hand fed & now only eats 2 when I force feed him because he can't see
How are you gut-loading your feeders? Total bites gutload
Supplements - I dust the crickets one weekly with calcium, and I dusted them with reptivite by zoo med today because I heard that not enough vitamin a can cause eye problems, also have the chameleon a very very small dose of vitamin a
Watering - I mist at least twice daily, I see the chameleon drink often
Fecal Description - Brown with a white tip, he has never been tested for parasites
History - Captive bred, was fine up until a week ago

Cage Info:
Cage Type - reptibreeze screen car size small
Lighting - Exo terra repti glo UVB 10.0. It is a compact coil, I know these can cause eye problems & I'm buying the long bulb ASAP. The light is on about 12 hours a day
Temperature - not sure
Humidity - not sure
Plants - Fake plants
Placement - On a table, away from vents & fans
Location - Texas, by the coast

Current Problem - My chameleon has had both of his eyes closed for several days. I heard coil UVB lights can cause this, but the other two chameleons that were hatched with this one have been under a long UVB light and are also experiencing eye problems. I gave the Cham reptile eye drops, dusted the crickets with reptivite containing vitamin a & gave the Cham a very small dose of vitamin a. I believe it is a vitamin a problem because I have another baby veiled from a different clutch that is around the same age in an identical set up & she is doing great. The male cham did open his eyes very briefly today after the eye drops and vitamins. It seemed like he couldn't keep them open though. Am I wrong to think it is a vitamin a problem? Is there anything else that could be causing this? Is there anything else I can do? Do I need to wait longer for results?

Cham last week


Cham now

not a very good picture, I will try to get a better one soon

Hi! I'm sorry you're having troubles I have a couple of suggestions,

At 4 months old they will need a lot of food because they are growing. Feeding them as much as they will eat in one sitting is the general schedule, and the crickets should be no bigger than the gap between his eyes. I also think your gutload could improve, here's a link to Sandrachameleon's blog https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/

You should be using plain calcium daily, multivitamin and calcium with d3 twice a month.

I think you need to must more too, maybe 4 times a day and add a dripper too.

I'm a bit worried that you're not sure of the temperatures or humidity. Both of these are very important factors for a healthy chameleon. His basking should be about 80f and humidity around 60-80 depending in mistings.

You want to be careful with the vitamin a as too much can be bad also!

If if you get everything in check and he's still closing his eyes you might want to take him to the vet to get checked for parasites or anything else that might be troubling him.

Hope you get on ok

Could be your lighting. I think your suppose to use 5.0, not 10.0, it's too strong for them, especially at 4 months.

Thank you for your suggestions, I am getting a basking bulb when I switch out the uvb. I am using very little vitamin a.

For your little one, get rid of the 10% UVB coil and get a 5 or 6% tube style bulb (ReptiSun is pretty standard in the US for exotic aborial species).
The 10% is too much UV for your young guy.

Get a good hygrometer and keep the RH above 45% in the room and 60 to 80% inside the cage.

Little ones need more hydration then adults (more food too!!).

IMPORTANT: make sure he is drinking every day. He looks a little dehydrated to me.

Good luck

I agree that you need a different light. Most here use the tube style Reptisun 5.0 and even a new 5.0 can cause the babies to sometime have eye problems because a new bulb is so strong. I use bulbs that have been used for awhile on babies and not putting out quite as much UVB any longer. I would turn off the coil and if you can get him outside in the shade if it's hot in your area that might help also. I also raise the bulb up off the cage a few inches.

Also he needs calcium without D3 at every feeding and he should be eating 12 to 15 small well gut loaded feeders a day. I'm attaching my blog for new keepers so you can get your husbandry correct.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html

jannb said:

I agree that you need a different light. Most here use the tube style Reptisun 5.0 and even a new 5.0 can cause the babies to sometime have eye problems because a new bulb is so strong. I use bulbs that have been used for awhile on babies and not putting out quite as much UVB any longer. I would turn off the coil and if you can get him outside in the shade if it's hot in your area that might help also. I also raise the bulb up off the cage a few inches.

Also he needs calcium without D3 at every feeding and he should be eating 12 to 15 small well gut loaded feeders a day. I'm attaching my blog for new keepers so you can get your husbandry correct.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html

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I use a piece of black screen to filter my UVB for the babies and that seems to work pretty well. I also put some 2'' risers under the fixture.
I use the Arcadia UVB's and they are brighter and stronger then the ReptiSun (I measured with a UV meter).

Just need to be a little more carefull with the babies

I love your blog BTW, that's a great resource for new ppl.

I'm aware of the fact that I need a new light. I purchased the reptisun 5.0 and then went and bought the zoo med hood for it. Unfortunately, the hood had already been opened and was the last one in the store. I took it home and it didnt work I'm going to try to take it back and get a new one. I looked at several stores for calcium without d3 and I have yet to find any...

I gave the chameleon a shower today & took him outside for about ten minutes. I brought him back inside and his eyes were open and he seemed fine, then about an hour later he stuck his tongue all the way out and died

arielle said:

I gave the chameleon a shower today & took him outside for about ten minutes. I brought him back inside and his eyes were open and he seemed fine, then about an hour later he stuck his tongue all the way out and died

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sorry to hear that