Chemeleon Eye Swell.. Allergy? Light?

i bought a veiled chameleon that's about 5 or 6 months old on april 4th of this year. on the way home his right eye swelled up and he started rubbing really hard against my hand due to irritation. it went down after about 30 seconds.

a little under a week later, i took him outside to get some sun and after about ten minutes his other eye swelled up like it had before and went down in the same amount of time. i thought it may have been the light so i kept my hand over him and let him shade under my chin until we got home. and decided to keep him indoors.

i came home the next day to find that both of his eyes were swelled up and he was rubbing against a branch a have in the tank pretty hard so i took him out immediately and turned the uv light off. the swelling then went down again. i looked up online what could have happened and found the same symptom caused by other people who had a reptisun 10.0 uv light (a specific bulb that was supposed to be recalled by reptisun due to its emission of dangerous amounts of uv light). i replaced the light with a 5.0 the same day and he's been fine up until today.

i took him out of his cage and his eye swelled up three times while i had him out and it hurt me too much to see him like that so i took him back to the place i got him from and they said they'd keep an eye on him for me. i'd love to have him back but not until i know if it's something i could have avoided first.

also, i have cats and looked everywhere but have found nothing on chameleon allergies. i was wondering if maybe cat dander on my hands or in the air of my room could have irritated him due to a rare cat/dander allergy?

please.. any info or relative situations would be greatly appreciated as far as whether it could be my fault or if it's just something he has. thanks

You said tank. Are you using a glass cage?

yeah... its pretty considering his size and it has a screen top. i also move things around so the air doesnt stick around for too long. i keep hearing different things about cage versus tank but the person at the shop said that a cage is fine. i went with one because it can get kinda drafty in my room and i was worrying about mesh not meing able to keep in as much humidity or heat.

Please fill this out.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

If you're moving things around in his cage you're stressing him out.

Cage Type - 60 gallon 1' x 3' x 2' glass/screen combo
Lighting - reptisun 5.0 uv? from 8 am til about 8 30 pm?
Temperature - not sure about the floor but i have a heating pad under a little less than half of one side of the cage? Lowest overnight temp is about 80 and during the day lately its been around 90? i have two humidity/temp readers to check each other
Humidity - i try to keep it around 60 percent? i spray the tank with warm or room temp water?
Plants - i have a huge twisty branch that takes up alot of the cage and two smaller ones with a forest background. i'd like to have more actual leaves but all i could do really were twisted branches of varying size since its glass
Placement - it's in the corner of my room away from most traffic and not near away from the windows because of the temp. problem (i keep the blinds up though) the tank itself is two feet from top to bottom but its on a high stand for more elevation
Location - Long Beach, CA


Your Chameleon - male veiled chameleon about 6 months. in my care for 2 and a half weeks
Handling - i take him out for about 2 hours while the sun is setting for natural sunlight every other day since he still isnt that used to me yet
Feeding - small crickets about 5 at a time. stop putting them in at 6 or 7 and he usually eats them all before bed.
Supplements - i just feed "total bites" to the crickets while i keep them
Watering - i keep a water dish at the bottom of the cage and a dripper above it so he can see the water drop into the bowl (i hear they cant really see still water) i mist whenever i see the humidity level drop too far with warm water until theres a light mist which fades out in about 5 minutes. i havent seen him actually drink the water but i was told to look for sunken eyes with dehydration and they were always fine.
Fecal Description - theres like a white piece and then actual fecal looking part is dark drown.
History - none really, i havent had him for too long.
Current Problem - unknown cause for random eye swelling

i hope this helps

OH also, he's never in the tank when i move the stuff around and i always put everything back in the same spot

I am not 100% sure if it will work but i have had senior members tell me if you put your cham in the shower it could help wash out w//e is in his eyes. Be sure you do not have the spout directly spray your cham, angle the water against the wall so the back splash hits the plant your cham sits on, and the water should not be hot, barely warm.

GooglezNvincent said:

I am not 100% sure if it will work but i have had senior members tell me if you put your cham in the shower it could help wash out w//e is in his eyes. Be sure you do not have the spout directly spray your cham, angle the water against the wall so the back splash hits the plant your cham sits on, and the water should not be hot, barely warm.

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i read about that but i thought it might stress him out. he doesnt like the cage being misted so i figured an actual shower would scare him too much. i'm not sure if theres something in his eye necessarily either cuz it happens so randomly and when it swells its like a full on bubble coming out one side of his eye and then it'll go down and maybe pop up on the other side. the lady at the shop said it might be because he's getting water behind his eye but that doesnt make much sense to me because then the first time it swelled wouldnt make much sense. plus i never spray him directly, i spray one side of the tank and let the mist move around the tank lightly

I would read through Brad's site. Read it ALL. You need to find your cham a screen cage.

Since you are local and this is coming up, it might be a good tool and resource for you. SBCK meeting.

summoner12 said:

I would read through Brad's site. Read it ALL. You need to find your cham a screen cage.

Since you are local and this is coming up, it might be a good tool and resource for you. SBCK meeting.

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thanks i'll check out the meeting thing. i didn't know they had stuff like that here : ) with all that beng said though... if i can't end up getting my cham back will i most likely have to buy 2 new cages entirely if i decide to get another one? one for when the cham is younger and another for when it's an adult? i heard that when they're younger it's better to have glass tanks

Good luck and welcome!

yokazooma said:

Cage Type - 60 gallon 1' x 3' x 2' glass/screen combo

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You need a screen cage, not glass.

yokazooma said:

Lighting - reptisun 5.0 uv? from 8 am til about 8 30 pm?

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Is this a compact or linear tube?

yokazooma said:

Temperature - not sure about the floor but i have a heating pad under a little less than half of one side of the cage? Lowest overnight temp is about 80 and during the day lately its been around 90? i have two humidity/temp readers to check each other
Humidity - i try to keep it around 60 percent? i spray the tank with warm or room temp water?

Click to expand...

The temp in his cage should be around the mid 70's to upper 70's. You want the basking spot to be 87-93ish. Humidity will go up and down. On average you want it to be around 50 for a veiled.

yokazooma said:

Plants - i have a huge twisty branch that takes up alot of the cage and two smaller ones with a forest background. i'd like to have more actual leaves but all i could do really were twisted branches of varying size since its glass

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If you get a screen cage it will be easier to set up the cage. I strongly encourage you to move your cham to a screen cage.

yokazooma said:

Placement - it's in the corner of my room away from most traffic and not near away from the windows because of the temp. problem (i keep the blinds up though) the tank itself is two feet from top to bottom but its on a high stand for more elevation
Location - Long Beach, CA

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This is an ok location. Chams do much better when they can be above your head.

yokazooma said:

Your Chameleon - male veiled chameleon about 6 months. in my care for 2 and a half weeks
Handling - i take him out for about 2 hours while the sun is setting for natural sunlight every other day since he still isnt that used to me yet

Click to expand...

You don't want to handle your cham very often. it stresses out the chameleon to be picked up often. Chameleons are more of a look, don't touch animal.

yokazooma said:

Feeding - small crickets about 5 at a time. stop putting them in at 6 or 7 and he usually eats them all before bed.

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He is still grwing. You can feed him as much as he'll eat.

yokazooma said:

Supplements - i just feed "total bites" to the crickets while i keep them

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Check out this Link

yokazooma said:

Watering - i keep a water dish at the bottom of the cage and a dripper above it so he can see the water drop into the bowl (i hear they cant really see still water) i mist whenever i see the humidity level drop too far with warm water until theres a light mist which fades out in about 5 minutes. i havent seen him actually drink the water but i was told to look for sunken eyes with dehydration and they were always fine.

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The misting needs to last a few minutes. Chameleons won't recignize standing water as a place to drink. They drink when they see water moving across leaves. The dripper is a good idea. Make sure the collection dish is covered so your cham doesn't poop in it, bugs can't get into it and so he doesn't fall in by mistake. When misting in the morning it is a good idea to put HOT water into the hand mister to create a warm mist. Your cham may not 'like' the mist but soak him down anyway.... he'll thank you later.

yokazooma said:

Fecal Description - theres like a white piece and then actual fecal looking part is dark drown.

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This is good. a yellow and brown part would mean he is dehydrated.

yokazooma said:

History - none really, i havent had him for too long.
Current Problem - unknown cause for random eye swelling

i hope this helps

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He might have an infection in his eye. it might also be supplementation issues. You can get terrimycin and the right supplements from LLL Reptile.com

yokazooma said:

thanks i'll check out the meeting thing. i didn't know they had stuff like that here : ) with all that beng said though... if i can't end up getting my cham back will i most likely have to buy 2 new cages entirely if i decide to get another one? one for when the cham is younger and another for when it's an adult? i heard that when they're younger it's better to have glass tanks

Click to expand...

how big is your cham? from his nose to his vent (butt)?

any idea how much he weighs?

6 months for a healthy cham is an OK time to move to the larger cage if he is able to hunt his food. Even if not you could cup feed.

As for the tank..... when they are LITTLE.... tanks or rubbermaids are a good idea to keep an eye on them. This is a good practice till they are 2-3 months old depending on their size.

Hey there Yoka,

I would follow alot of summoner12's advice it is very sound.

I would also recommend trying to make it to the SBCK meeting, as a new owner I have found it to be an indispensable resource for my keeping knowledge.

We are super lucky enough to have a high concentration of breeders and keepers in southern California.
I myself live in Long Beach, I know another keeper who lives very close as well. If you want to see my setup, or discuss things with a local, don't be afraid to shoot me a PM.

summoner12 said:

how big is your cham? from his nose to his vent (butt)?

any idea how much he weighs?

6 months for a healthy cham is an OK time to move to the larger cage if he is able to hunt his food. Even if not you could cup feed.

As for the tank..... when they are LITTLE.... tanks or rubbermaids are a good idea to keep an eye on them. This is a good practice till they are 2-3 months old depending on their size.

Click to expand...

he's about 4 inches not counting the tail. thats him in my icon pic he was a hunter too... i tried cup feeding and put it in a location where he could get to it under his favourite spot but i guess he doesnt like them when they can't move around as much. i saw a set up that was about maybe 2' by 2' by 3 and a half or 4' that was screen and elevated but i'm worried about heat and moisture loss. plus if i move into that set up i'm worried the new chameleon might get lost cuz i'd like to get one around the same size or smaller (the store owner agreed to keep an eye on him but only for a few days and i dont want to bring him home unless i figure out exactly whats wrong). i was also told that when they're younger it's best to take them out (not hurting the cham but just getting it out of its cage) so it gets used to you and is less likely to bite you when its adult which i imagine could really hurt.

oh the uv light is a linear tube i guess if by that you mean its design is like a stick.

and thank you chambabysitter, if we could be friends on here i'd like that very much. maybe you could help me out with good places to get certain equipment or "furniture" ssince you're local

""""oh the uv light is a linear tube i guess if by that you mean its design is like a stick.""""


Thats 100% correct

I sure can. If you are trying to find anything, just ask me. I've recently had to play the shopping game for my chameleon, so I have a good idea on where to get the proper stuff.

Everyone else here can offer some amazing advice. Good luck. If you need some extra feeders, hit me up, I have a few extra silkies, butters, and supers lying around. I can show you where to get some locally as well.

CHAMLOVER101 said:

""""oh the uv light is a linear tube i guess if by that you mean its design is like a stick.""""


Thats 100% correct

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yup, that one lol. i lost my first Chameleon MoMo because of that... nobody told me that the uv burns out even though the light still shines so i didnt know to replace it and it got MBD : ( but yeah i bleww 100 for a whole new fixture and bulb so the light shouldnt be the problem anymore??