Lots of eye problems

I have been seeing A lot of eye issues with chameleons on here, all different species. anyone think they may be linked? It's a bit fishy to me. Does anyone see any similarities in the husbandry info from the people who's chameleons eyes are closing?

I actually noticed this too only when my chameleon had eye issues a few weeks ago. My vet reminded me that in the wild chameleons rarely have eye problems and he thinks it's due to the fact that they actually get rained on. I started to mist my cham longer and made sure the water got in his eyes. It seemed to worked because he's back to normal.

asongforyou said:

I actually noticed this too only when my chameleon had eye issues a few weeks ago. My vet reminded me that in the wild chameleons rarely have eye problems and he thinks it's due to the fact that they actually get rained on. I started to mist my cham longer and made sure the water got in his eyes. It seemed to worked because he's back to normal.

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That is actually a pretty good theory and might very well be one of the reasons. Aside from vitamin deficiency in causing eye illness/es, I believe that dust and man-made pollutants are also the culprits. Dust and pollutants tend to build up around where we are rather than in the wild. Reptiles are simply more exposed to airborne irritants in captivities. So this might also help explain why some captive chameleons are more prone to eye problems. Speaking of which, I have always been in the habit of rinsing my Cham's eyes on a daily basis for the following reasons:

1. To minimize possible foreign substance buit-up in their eyes.
2. To reinforce hydration.

Another reason why captive chameleons (or any reptiles in this case) may have a greater tendency to have eye problems is again, due to Man vs Nature. Captive reptiles are prone to symptoms of Photo Kerato Conjunctivitis as a result of abnormal exposure to ultraviolet radiation. This is why I always say natural sunlight is best. Many are unaware that there are risks associated with non-solar wavelengths and that they can damage living cells where as solar wavelengths do not. Be cautious when using fluorescent lamps.

Lastly, the choice of plant in your chameleon's setup plays a big role in whether or not your animal will encounter eye problems. Chameleons have the tendency to rub their eyes against branches and leaves (whether for shedding purposes or relieving irritation). I DO NOT recommend using FICUS or plants that have sap. Furthermore, ficus often get infested with scales, a bug that feeds on the ficus and leave liquid-like excretions.

I have heard long time breeders say that if you have a cham, it's only a matter of time before it has a eye problem!!

I had a flapneck years ago that had a bad eye infection and I think it was caused by room air quality and overall cleanlieness.

I decided to invest in a good room air purifier and make sure the cages are kept clean.
I also make sure my guys get WET when I mist. They try to hide, but I get them wet anyway

I have noticed they will rub their eye on a branch or a leaf sometimes
(it creeps me out to watch them)

I dont know about the ficus tree thing, that comment was the first I have heard about it!
I do keep a tube of Terramycin handy though

P.S. if you take your chams outside for sun, be very carefull what you let them climb on!! I just stick the whole cage outside and
put it on a foldout table.

I too have a air purifier in my room. I think it helps since my dog sleeps in my room as well and we have a giant purifier in the living room where my parrot is. My cham doesn't like the misting sessions either. I've tried warm water/lukewarm and he's always trying to get away lol. I figure even if he hates it, it's better than getting another eye problem

asongforyou said:

I too have a air purifier in my room. I think it helps since my dog sleeps in my room as well and we have a giant purifier in the living room where my parrot is. My cham doesn't like the misting sessions either. I've tried warm water/lukewarm and he's always trying to get away lol. I figure even if he hates it, it's better than getting another eye problem

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I'm sure they hate being rained on in the wild also, but they cant escape it none the less. My chameleon gets blasted by my monsoon every day. I hope this is enough to clean his eyes out. BTW he hates it.

Has anyone used poylsporin eye drops to treat an eye infection? I ask because I found a thread that states they treated an eye infection with it.

Panther One Eye Closed

I like Terramycin Eye Ointment. It works in terms of ridding the animal of its infection and the bacteria that caused it. But like I've mentioned before, treating the eye infection is only half the battle. Antibiotic in its nature will also weaken your chameleon's eye/s. Once the conjunctivitis is eliminated, the animal will be able to reopen its eye/s. However, its vision will not be perfect and will still need some time to recover.

Mobproctor said:

I like Terramycin Eye Ointment. It works in terms of ridding the animal of its infection and the bacteria that caused it. But like I've mentioned before, treating the eye infection is only half the battle. Antibiotic in its nature will also weaken your chameleon's eye/s. Once the conjunctivitis is eliminated, the animal will be able to reopen its eye/s. However, its vision will not be perfect and will still need some time to recover.

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Where do you get Terramycin? Is it something you need to get a Vet to prescribe?

No. LLL Reptile has it for about $16

I've been asked to chime in--

I personally agree with virtually all of the facts and points written about here. And all of the eye cases that I've looked at since being active in the forums were all from different causes. So to the OP, if you were hinting at an unknown disease entity or a bad batch of vitamins, etc., I do not believe that is an issue.

My chams too come down with an occasional eye irritation of one sort or another, and it's not diet related and I use artificial plants. I just finished construction of my GOC (need to post in the enclosure forum) and they'll be moved into it within a few weeks and get a lot more rain and automatic water, and I'm curious whether I will see less issues. And I probably will; chams just have that funky little crater in the middle of their turret eyes without any lashes or heavy tear flow to keep things out, and no pinky to pick something out in the mirror while making the long face that we all do when getting something out of our own eyes (ever notice that?). So they are constantly getting little minuscule crudlets in there. Water without chlorine is certainly the best natural help.

As for Terramycin, it is an antibiotic, oxytetracycline. It is prescription but is sold all over, dunno why. Personally I use gentamicin ointment since that's specific for gram negative bacteria which cause most reptilian bacterial infections. But many people seem to do just fine with Terramycin. IMO its probably less due to its antibacterial spectrum and more from the lubrication of the eye with petroleum jelly which is the vehicle in all eye ointments.

dr. o—

Thank's again Kevinopp.

kevinopp said:

I've been asked to chime in--

I personally agree with virtually all of the facts and points written about here. And all of the eye cases that I've looked at since being active in the forums were all from different causes. So to the OP, if you were hinting at an unknown disease entity or a bad batch of vitamins, etc., I do not believe that is an issue.

My chams too come down with an occasional eye irritation of one sort or another, and it's not diet related and I use artificial plants. I just finished construction of my GOC (need to post in the enclosure forum) and they'll be moved into it within a few weeks and get a lot more rain and automatic water, and I'm curious whether I will see less issues. And I probably will; chams just have that funky little crater in the middle of their turret eyes without any lashes or heavy tear flow to keep things out, and no pinky to pick something out in the mirror while making the long face that we all do when getting something out of our own eyes (ever notice that?). So they are constantly getting little minuscule crudlets in there. Water without chlorine is certainly the best natural help.

As for Terramycin, it is an antibiotic, oxytetracycline. It is prescription but is sold all over, dunno why. Personally I use gentamicin ointment since that's specific for gram negative bacteria which cause most reptilian bacterial infections. But many people seem to do just fine with Terramycin. IMO its probably less due to its antibacterial spectrum and more from the lubrication of the eye with petroleum jelly which is the vehicle in all eye ointments.

dr. o—

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I just happened to notice that one day that the forum was filled with "help eye issue" threads. I was curious if it might be a specific light or something, you know just in case something was manufactured improperly and the factory didn't catch it. Thanks for the input

Amy was one of those with a recent eye problem. I think hers was due to secondary infection following the Pneumonia she had back in January. Both myself and the vet had thought she had made a good recovery, but sadly, the infection had appeared to spread throughout most of her organs.

She had always had the same lights as Lily had - Repti Glo that were changed regularly every 6 months. Although when she became poorly she was under the all in one bulb that was Tommy's as I put her into his viv after his death. Neither he nor Amy seemed to have any problems with this light either.

A couple things regarding issues in my GOC. When I was housing my Parson's inside I didn't have any eye issues. Now they all have one eye that is irritated.
When I built my GOC I really wanted a watering system that I had quite a bit of control over. I install aquaking type fine misting nozzles. Within a short period of time I noticed two things. First it seems that with the fine mist my Parson's try to keep thier eyes open and end up getting mist in their eyes and spend a lot of time trying to clear the water out of thier eyes. The second thing is that the fine mist nozzles just don't put out enough water for them to actually drink. They get mist on them but it not enough to really roll off thier heads to their mouth. I replaced six of the fine mist nozzles with fogger heads I got at HD. These put out a lot more water so they keep their eyes closed during misting and seem to be drinking quite a bit more. A fine mist nozzle in a small cage works good because the Chameleons are so close to the water source, in the GOC they just don't get enough water to the Chameleons.

I have flushed thier eyes with saline but that didn't seem to help. Right now I am using terramycin and I seems to be helping.

Another thing that might be effecting their eyes is when they rub them on their branches maybe they are getting mold spores that might be on the branches. Anyways I'm on top of it and hope to get it straightened out soon.

Kevin, I was prescribed some drops when I had an eye problem right after I received them the drops are called Neo-Poly-Dex Ophth drops. Are you familiar with these?

kevinopp said:

I've been asked chime in--

I personally agree with virtually all of the facts and points written about here. And all of the eye cases that I've looked at since being active in the forums were all from different causes. So to the OP, if you were hinting at an unknown disease entity or a bad batch of vitamins, etc., I do not believe that is an issue.

My chams too come down with an occasional eye irritation of one sort or another, and it's not diet related and I use artificial plants. I just finished construction of my GOC (need to post in the enclosure forum) and they'll be moved into it within a few weeks and get a lot more rain and automatic water, and I'm curious whether I will see less issues. And I probably will; chams just have that funky little crater in the middle of their turret eyes without any lashes or heavy tear flow to keep things out, and no pinky to pick something out in the mirror while making the long face that we all do when getting something out of our own eyes (ever notice that?). So they are constantly getting little minuscule crudlets in there. Water without chlorine is certainly the best natural help.

As for Terramycin, it is an antibiotic, oxytetracycline. It is prescription but is sold all over, dunno why. Personally I use gentamicin ointment since that's specific for gram negative bacteria which cause most reptilian bacterial infections. But many people seem to do just fine with Terramycin. IMO its probably less due to its antibacterial spectrum and more from the lubrication of the eye with petroleum jelly which is the vehicle in all eye ointments.

dr. o—

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I have an eye issue with my Nosy Faly, he has what looks like a bump swollen under his right eye and every time he blinks I see a bubble of blood pop up like a water balloon being squeezed on one side... IDK what this means?.. previous owner never noticed it he said.. So I don't know if it has been an issue or if it just started.. someone please help..

beeek0 said:

I have an eye issue with my Nosy Faly, he has what looks like a bump swollen under his right eye and every time he blinks I see a bubble of blood pop up like a water balloon being squeezed on one side... IDK what this means?.. previous owner never noticed it he said.. So I don't know if it has been an issue or if it just started.. someone please help..

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That is definitely a thing fro a vet to see if there is blood. Could be an irritation stuck that is scratching his eye or the inside of the eyelid causing it to bleed. Flush it out with plain saline solution and go to a vet as soon as possible.

thanks for the reply. No blood comes out, I just saw some red where his eye ball is one time when he blinked.. and today I sprayed him and noticed it was both eyes that do it... So I will have to go to the vet ASAP!

They pop them around in weird ways sometimes when they are cleaning them out. Saline wash might help if there is something in there. Does anyone have any good videos of a chameleon cleaning his eye?

yeahh, I've never seen anything like this before though.. I will record a video of him and upload it so you can see what it looks like.