Help! baby chameleon has his eye shut

[Kristin919]

my 2 month old veiled chameleon has his left eye shut, he just started doing this today. He is eating fine, around 8 crickets a day so he has an appetite. his urites are on the white side and his poop looks good, not dry and not too runny. his eyes look slightly sunken in but not too extreme, im just not sure what is wrong. I know that when they have an eye shut its not a good sign. could he have gotten something in it? how can i help him?

cage: 18x18x36 screen cage
5.0 UVB bulb and UVA
his temperatures are around 80-85
he has a mister going every hour for 1 minute and i spray 2-3 times a day

 

[Andee]

Is you uvb bulb brand new? Do you dust your feeders?

 

[Kristin919]

i just got everything 2 weeks ago, bulbs are brand new, they're reptisun, i bought the chameleon kit and they came with it. I dust the crickets everyday with repticalcium and once every week and a half with reptivitamins

 

[Kristin919]

Is you uvb bulb brand new? Do you dust your feeders?

i just got everything 2 weeks ago, bulbs are brand new, they're reptisun, i bought the chameleon kit and they came with it. I dust the crickets everyday with repticalcium and once every week and a half with reptivitamins

 

[Andee]

He may be reacting to the new uvb, he is pretty young if he's actually 2 months and may need an older bulb.

 

[Kristin919]

this was the day i got him

this was him the other day, we was acting very sluggish and hes very grey

this is his set up

 

[Kristin919]

He may be reacting to the new uvb, he is pretty young if he's actually 2 months and may need an older bulb.

also i feed him 1 horn worm a week

 

[Andee]

He is way older than 2 months and he is actually a she. You might want to try a linear uvb bulb. What is the brand of vitamins you give her?

 

[Kristin919]

He is way older than 2 months and he is actually a she. You might want to try a linear uvb bulb. What is the brand of vitamins you give her?

no he's a boy, he has spurs on his back feet, sorry the photos are bad you cant really see the spurs. the pet store said around 2 months and i got him 2 weeks ago, he might be closer to 3-4, whats the difference in the linear uvb bulb? is it less strong? and i give him zoomed repticalcium and reptivite. thank you for the replies i appreciate it

 

[Andee]

The linear uvb are less concentrated in one area and therefore it's less likely to bother eyes and also it spreads out the uvb making it easier for them to get more. He looks about 4 months.

 

[Kristin919]

The linear uvb are less concentrated in one area and therefore it's less likely to bother eyes and also it spreads out the uvb making it easier for them to get more. He looks about 4 months.

ok thanks! how long should the UVB bulb be on during the day? i've been having it on for 12 hours. An ive been turning his blue light off when it gets too hot because it can get past 85 and i read that thats too hot for babies and the blue light is really hot, should i not be doing that? should i keep both lights on all day for the 12 hours, 7am-7pm (its on a timer)

 

[Andee]

12 hours is fine, no lights at night at all. You might want to raise the blue bulb a little or get a less powerful one.

 

[Kristin919]

12 hours is fine, no lights at night at all. You might want to raise the blue bulb a little or get a less powerful one.

ok i'll try that, i was going to order a light bracket. so what do you think is wrong? the lights are too strong? or could he possibly be dehydrated or have an infection. also he shed about 2-3 weeks ago

 

[Kristin919]

12 hours is fine, no lights at night at all. You might want to raise the blue bulb a little or get a less powerful one.

i turn all lights off at night and it gets down to about 72, i also wrap the cage in aluminum foil, the humidity is usually always at 50-60% is that ok? or could that be a reason his eye is shut?

 

[Andee]

50% is totally fine and a regular humidity, as long as there are spikes around 80% during mistings. You may want to try giving him a shower or a super long mist like 5 or 6 minutes, see if that helps, he may have a bad irritation in his eye and need to wash his eyes. Can you take a close up picture of his bad eye?

There could be several things wrong, the light could possibly be bothering it. He could have an infection in it, which if he does he'd need to be seen by a vet. Or he could just have some stuck she'd or other irritant that he need to rinse out of his eye.

 

[Kristin919]

its never spiked above 60%, should i cover a side or two in aluminum to raise the humidity? also is he even old enough for a shower, i red that 5 months was like the minimum age

 

[Kristin919]

50% is totally fine and a regular humidity, as long as there are spikes around 80% during mistings. You may want to try giving him a shower or a super long mist like 5 or 6 minutes, see if that helps, he may have a bad irritation in his eye and need to wash his eyes. Can you take a close up picture of his bad eye?

There could be several things wrong, the light could possibly be bothering it. He could have an infection in it, which if he does he'd need to be seen by a vet. Or he could just have some stuck she'd or other irritant that he need to rinse out of his eye.

he also has a jungle dirt substrate at the bottom to increase humidity, is that a no-no?

 

[Kristin919]

50% is totally fine and a regular humidity, as long as there are spikes around 80% during mistings. You may want to try giving him a shower or a super long mist like 5 or 6 minutes, see if that helps, he may have a bad irritation in his eye and need to wash his eyes. Can you take a close up picture of his bad eye?

There could be several things wrong, the light could possibly be bothering it. He could have an infection in it, which if he does he'd need to be seen by a vet. Or he could just have some stuck she'd or other irritant that he need to rinse out of his eye.

also the pet store had him in a 10 gallon fishtank so his humidity was probably a lot higher, could it be the environment change?

 

[Andee]

There should be nothing wrong with a shower, I would only worry about ages a month and under. Put him in a plant and put the spray on as gentle as you can. Then bounce the water off the wall next to him. Keep the water on just above Luke warm.

 

[Andee]

No substrate, he could easily impact after he eats it. For extra humidity you should be misting four times a day for around 4 or 5 minutes, it should easily keep him happy. Shower should be for at least 20 minutes.