Veiled Chameleon not seeing well

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled, male, 5 months old, we have had for 4 months
Handling - daily for soaking
Feeding - Small crickets (about 6 per day) and occasional superworms. Crickets feed Fluker's high calcium diet.
Supplements - crickets dusted with Rep-Cal Calcium with vitamin D and Herptivite with beta carotene
Watering - Spray mist four times daily.
Fecal Description - White urate. Never tested for parasites.
History - no health problem before this. Purchased at small animal swap.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - 10 gallon aquarium until one month ago. Now screen cage, Reptibreeze (18x18x36). three sides covered. See picture.
Lighting - Was Zilla T8 18" Tropical 25. Just replaced with ReptiSun 5.0 and removed plastic cover from fixture.
Temperature - 75-85°F. 65°F overnight.
Humidity - 70+%. Added warm mist humidifier which is on at all times.
Plants - Recently added a small pothos
Placement - It is near an air vent but that has been blocked off as to not blow on the cage, ceiling fan not on. The cage is in a bedroom and does not have a lot of traffic. Top of the cage is about five feet off the ground.
Location - Northern Illinois

Current Problem - Over the last few weeks, the Chameleon has had issues with his eyes not seeing, although they look open. If we spray him with water, or soak him in a bath, he will see again. This keeps happening off and on. Our first thought was dehydration, so we added a warm mist humidifier, blocked off the sides of the reptibreeze and humidity has been much better. Since he would climb directly under the lights, we raised the basking light three inches and stopped using the infrared night light. Today we changed the UVB light from a Zilla tropical 25 (which had a plastic cover on the fixture) to a ReptiSun 5.0 without the cover.

Sometimes we can see a film over his eyes, but not always. We think we have him hydrated better now. Just can't seem to keep his eyes seeing all the time. Other than that, he seems healthy and active.

Any help appreciated.

Welcome to the forums. How can you tell he can't see? Please explain what he's doing. In the past the Zilla lights were causing damage to the eyes. I'm not sure if that was corrected. Also if the light had a cover he probably was not getting any UVB. Does he or did he get any outside time?

Also he should be eating more well gut loaded feeders. Use calcium without d3 at most feedings, d3 only two time a months and the multi vit. twice a month. Here my blog for how I keep young veileds.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...ng-veiled-panther-chameleons.html#comment1721

In addition to what Jann said, your cage needs some improving! He needs way more vines and branches that should be suspended both horizontally and vertically with atleast one horizontal branch under his basking light about 8 inches down. Down far enough so no part of his body, including his casque can touch the screen and get burned. Can I ask why you are soaking him and giving him a bath? That is not standard care for a chameleon. They either get misted or drink from a dripper. They do not absorb water through their skin, so I am not sure why you are doing this. From what I can see, he has no way to bask under his heat lamp other than to try and hang upside down from the top of the screen which is less than ideal.

When he cannot see, it's obvious by his lack of reaction to a hand or a cricket walking nearby. He can easily be picked up and reaches blindly to grab anything. When he can see, it reacts to a hand by hissing like in the picture.

He gets time outside the cage, but not outside in the sun (too cold now). I'll look over your blog. Thanks.


We soak him because we thought he was dehydrated and it was recommended by the vet's office. Even if it's not hydrating him internally, it does help wet his eyes and helps him see.

The lamp used to be directly above the vines on the left of the cage, but he is the right size to climb the screen mesh. He goes to the top and was sitting too close to the lamp. I was concerned he was too hot and that this could be drying his eyes out, so I raised the lamp and moved it to the right.

Soaking him in water is not a way to hydrate him, so not great advice from the vet in my opinion and I think anyone on here with experience will tell you the same. Also, you are probably stressing him out by doing that. If you want to help his eyes, give him a misting. You don't have to pick him up that way. Also, The lamp would not dry his eyes out. He needs a place to bask under the light comfortably and should not have to hang on the side of the cage.