Jackson chameleon swollen eye

geckoluv19

New Member
Solid Snake sent me here, im having trouble with my chameleon. He has a swollen eye that looks like there might be fluid or somethin. And I have no way of getting to the vet.
 
Please fill this out. It is vital that we have as much information as possible, so be as thorough as you can.

Simply copy the text, past it in your reply, and add in your answers.;)

Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
  • Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
  • Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
  • Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
  • Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
  • Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
  • Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
  • Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.


Pictures are helpful
 
1

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon -Jackson Chameleon not sure of the age I have had him about a year and a half
Handling - Not very often only if he comes to the front an comes out on his own
Feeding - I feed him crickets every once in a while wax worms He eats about 5 crickets or alil more. I feed him every day
Supplements - dust the crickets with calcium mon/wed an dust with vitamins friday saturday I feed the crickets fluker's high calcium cricket diet an fluker's cricket quencher
Watering - I mist the cage every day an he sometimes lets me squirt it on his mouth an he drinks every time I mist
Fecal Description - its white an brown an I have noticed its alittle lighter sometimes I havent taken him to the vet ever
History - Hes always been a good eater an still is hes just got that swollen eye an I have noticed hes a bit weak I reached in to turn him around to look at his eye an he kind of jerked an layed back n my hand
Cage Info:
Cage Type - its all screen cage not sure of the size my brother had it an gave it to me its pretty big with a live plant inside an fake vines so he can hold onto them an climb an uvb light kind of in the back an heating light n front with a vine close up so he can get warm if he wants.
Lighting- I have a day white light 75 watt zoo med and an zoo med uvb 5.0
Temperature - the basking spot stays about 80 an floor and 73 at the bottom depending on how cold or warm it is in my room since my room used to be the porch.
Humidity - stays about 60% I use the zilla temp humidity thing and mist the cage
Plants - I have a live plant I dont know what kind it is since my brother gave me the setup from when he had a chameleon.
Placement - the cage is in my room on a foot stool
Location - I live in atlanta ga

Current Problem - He has a swollen bubble lookin eye an seems weak
 
The swelling could be from infection, a piece of debris stuck in the chameleons eye, or edema (which has various causes).
These are just the first possibilities that come to mind.


Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon -Jackson Chameleon not sure of the age I have had him about a year and a half

Are you sure it is male? Could it be female?
Check this link to make sure:
http://www.chameleonnews.com/10JulManchen.html

Handling - Not very often only if he comes to the front an comes out on his own

This is good. Handling should generally be kept to a minimum.
Its worth noting that some chameleons will want to come out of their cage because they have an issue with something in/about there enclosure. However, some will want to come out because they are "bored", and some for wanting of food, or finding a mate.


Feeding - I feed him crickets every once in a while wax worms He eats about 5 crickets or alil more. I feed him every day

Wax worms should be kept to a minimum, maybe a few once a week max. It is good to diversify their diet as much as possible in order to create a more naturalistic and nutritious diet. Adding grasshoppers, blue bottle flies, silk and horn worms, roaches and mantids are all good things to do.

It is important that the feeder insects are fed with nutritious materials before being fed to the chameleon, in order to maximize the chameleons intake of nutritious materials. This would be the bible on the subject, known as gutloading:https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/

Supplements - dust the crickets with calcium mon/wed an dust with vitamins friday saturday I feed the crickets fluker's high calcium cricket diet an fluker's cricket quencher

The crickets should be dusted with calcium most of the time in my opinion, just an extremely small amount of calcium. Its very important that you dont use any more calcium than is necessary to just barely cover the cricket. The calcium supplement is meant to balance the cal/phos ratio of the feeder insect to an appropriate level, so that the chameleon can properly absorb, and use the materials ingested, namely the calcium. Too much phosphorous will prevent proper calcium absorption.

You need to find out what vitamins you are using. Jacksons can be very touchy when it comes to supplementing, and it is somewhat difficult to get right. There is no exact regimen or schedule that works for everyone. Its something you have to calculate for your situation, taking in all the variables, and making the best educated decision you can. Ill provide a link at the bottom of thi post that will go over it further.

The flukers gutload material is not appropriately balanced for chameleon use. It does not have an appropriate phos/cal ratio namely.
The best use of it, is to prop open a door. :)
It is good for keeping crickets alive, but not for being fed off.
Cricket Crack would be a much better dry gutload to use. By better I mean by at least a million times. There are other options, and you can make your own, but for the quality and price, CC is what I would recommend:

http://tikitikireptiles.com/products.php?id=48
Seeing as how you have a jackson, the one at the very bottom labeled "Montane Mix" would be most appropriate.


Watering - I mist the cage every day an he sometimes lets me squirt it on his mouth an he drinks every time I mist

Jacksons like a high humidity, and many opportunities to drink. It is good that you see him drink, but be careful about spraying water directly into his mouth, as he can aspirate. Water falling from above, and running into the chameleons mouth should suffice. The chameleon should be provided with at least three "mistings" or rain storms a day.
Falling water similar to rain is preferred over misting the animal.
In between these watering sessions, the cage should be allowed to dry out completely. This will prevent mold and mildew as well as lessen the chances of the chameleon getting a respiratory infection.

Fecal Description - its white an brown an I have noticed its alittle lighter sometimes I havent taken him to the vet ever

The main things to watch for here, is that the passings are frequent and consistent, and that the white part is truly white. That is the urate, and the less white it is, and the more yellow/orange it is, is a sign that the animal is not properly hydrated.

History - Hes always been a good eater an still is hes just got that swollen eye an I have noticed hes a bit weak I reached in to turn him around to look at his eye an he kind of jerked an layed back n my hand

How long has the eye been swollen? Is it just one eye?
Is he sleeping during the day at all?


Cage Info:
Cage Type - its all screen cage not sure of the size my brother had it an gave it to me its pretty big with a live plant inside an fake vines so he can hold onto them an climb an uvb light kind of in the back an heating light n front with a vine close up so he can get warm if he wants.
Lighting- I have a day white light 75 watt zoo med and an zoo med uvb 5.0

When was the last time you replaced the UVB light? They need replacing about every 6months.

Temperature - the basking spot stays about 80 an floor and 73 at the bottom depending on how cold or warm it is in my room since my room used to be the porch.

You need to know these temps exactly. They sound appropriate, just be sure you know what they are. A nite time temp drop of 10F is desirable. So 60-65F at nite would be a good thing.

Humidity - stays about 60% I use the zilla temp humidity thing and mist the cage
Plants - I have a live plant I dont know what kind it is since my brother gave me the setup from when he had a chameleon.
Placement - the cage is in my room on a foot stool

The higher up the cage, the better, the more comfortable the animal will feel.

Location - I live in atlanta ga

Current Problem - He has a swollen bubble lookin eye an seems weak


Im going to say you really need to post pictures, of the animal, and its entire setup.

I would recommend a vet visit for the animal, to a qualified reptile vet, preferably with chameleon experience. This would definitely be the best course of action for the animal.


We can provide you with a ton of info, and help you refine your husbandry, in order to provide the animal with the healthiest lifestyle, but only a vet can properly diagnose and prescribe an appropriate medication for your chameleon if necessary.

Now, pictures would help us decide if it is a vet worthy issue for sure, there is a slight chance it may not be, but its never a bad idea, and its likely where this will head.

Please feel free to ask for any clarification you may need on anything Ive posted here, or any further questions you may have.

I would say it is absolutely necessary to go over the following links. They are full of the majority of the info you need to properly care for your animal, and refine your husbandry practices.

If you can post pictures at all, even if its a pain, that would be awesome. If you cant figure out how to post them here, feel free to email them to me at [email protected] and I will post them.

First, Hoj's Mantane Chameleon Blog:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/hoj/634-montane-chameleon-care-info.html

Then, Jdog1027's Jacksons Chameleon Video.


Then, Ill repost a link to sandrachameleon's blog on gutloading, as its very important, and helpful:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html

Then, sandrachameleon's blog again, thats how important it is:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html

Im glad you have made your way here :)

This is the best place to learn and share information about chameleons, and most everyone is pretty good people here. ;)

Like I said, feel free to ask whatever questions you may have.

Welcome to Chameleon Forums. :)
 
Im posting these pictures for the OP.

*You have to get this animal to the vet ASAP.

It has an infection, only the vet can help him.

What does the other eye look like?

jackxanthinfectenclosure_zps7d42acd4.jpg


infectjackxanth_zps40909556.jpg
 
He is a male I feed him wax worms only as a treat I only fed him crickets before is the caned grass hoppers okay to feed him or any of the bugs in the can. I was hoping he wanted to come out cause he wanted my attention I do try my hardest to take care of all of my reptiles an care for them all I read books an I am still learning about the chameleons. an this info is for sure helping me. I do feed the crickets potato's an green leafy stuff but not very much. So the crickets I should dust more often than vitamins? the vitamins I use is fluker's reptile vitamins with beta carotene. I have a fogger that I used for my tree frogs but I don't have those anymore would that be a good thing to keep for humidity? When I spray the cage it dry's really quickly. my brother had a dripper he made out of a plastic bottle but that didn't work as well I have seen the flukers dripper but I don't know if that would work. the temps always change since my room is weird when its really cold out its REALLY cold n my room lol. I hope everyone doesn't think I am not taking care of my chameleon cause I do care for him an do research on them all the time an learn more as I read.
 
I get the feeling you feel bad, and when an animal you are caring for has issues, it does feel bad, as the animal is your responsibility.

However, you should not feel that anyone is looking down on you, or thinks you are a bad person.

You have asked for help, that is respectable, dont worry about anything except getting the animal better now.

Also, I said he has an infection, I cant be sure of that. That was just my first thought when I saw him. You need a vet to check and be sure, he definitely has signs of a possible infection.

He is a male I feed him wax worms only as a treat I only fed him crickets before is the caned grass hoppers okay to feed him or any of the bugs in the can.

You can not feed them canned insects, they need live prey, and the nutritional content of the canned insects is inappropriate, so it will eventually cause an issue, even if you could somehow get him to eat them. A few wax worms as a treat can be ok.

I was hoping he wanted to come out cause he wanted my attention

You are not the only one to think this, its a logical assumption.
However, I can tell you that the majority of the reason is his enclosure, you will need to change it drastically.

I do try my hardest to take care of all of my reptiles an care for them all I read books an I am still learning about the chameleons. an this info is for sure helping me.

There is alot of info to get familiar with to be able to properly take care of a chameleon. Most people do not realize what they are getting themselves into when they get one, myself included. The are much higher maintenance, and much less forgiving of mistakes than other reptiles. Again, youre not the only one thats been in this position.

I do feed the crickets potato's an green leafy stuff but not very much. So the crickets I should dust more often than vitamins? the vitamins I use is fluker's reptile vitamins with beta carotene.

Ill have to look up that vitamin supplement to comment on it, or maybe someone else will have knowledge they can share on it.
For now, stop giving it to him. Just calcium, and only enough to barely coat the crickets. Place the crickets in a jar, add a small pinch of calcium, swirl them around. If there is any powder left in the jar, thats not on the crickets, you are using too much. If the crickets are not evenly coated, you are using too little. You also need to make sure your calcium is D3 free, and phosphorous free. It should only be plain calcium.

I have a fogger that I used for my tree frogs but I don't have those anymore would that be a good thing to keep for humidity? When I spray the cage it dry's really quickly. my brother had a dripper he made out of a plastic bottle but that didn't work as well I have seen the flukers dripper but I don't know if that would work.

The flukers dripper is fine. If you can make one yourself, thats fine too.
A dripper going ALL DAY(as in anytime the lights are on) is a good idea, as long as it has somewhere to drain to. If it doesnt have anywhere to drain to, make it somewhere to drain to. ;)

the temps always change since my room is weird when its really cold out its REALLY cold n my room lol.

Night time temp should be no lower than 60F during winter, and 65F during summer. The animal will need a basking temp of no higher than 85F. Shoot for in between 80-85F. Temp is very important. This is something you will need to figure out how to control.

I hope everyone doesn't think I am not taking care of my chameleon cause I do care for him an do research on them all the time an learn more as I read.


You have alot of info comming at you, and its all vital, and important to learn. That can be very overwhelming, and Im sure you have other things going on in your life besides this animal. Dont...panic. You need to learn what you can, when you can, and change what you can when you can, but honestly, these changes do need to happen fast, so give this animal as much priority as possible.

Now, before anything else, you need to get this animal to see a vet.

Otherwise, his chances could very well be slim to none. If he is infected, the infection could be very bad. His puffy eye could just be a piece of debris stuck in it, which has irritated it to the point of infection. His eye also may not be that bad, if its a sudden, recent occurance. Just a swelling response to clean the eye. You wont know though until a vet looks him over. His mouth has me more worried actually.

How long has his mouth had that deformity in the corner going on?

Have you seen anything else wrong with his mouth? Or that may be an issue?

How long has the eye been like that?

Whats the animals name?


Ive skipped over alot of things here, but the main thing is to try and get him an appointment.
 
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