2 Year Old Panther Major Eye Problem

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Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - Male Ambanja Panther, 2 years old, been in my care for 1.5 years
Handling - once or twice a month
Feeding - 5-10 crickets or 5-6 superworms alternated regularly, hornworms occasionally
Supplements - Dust feeders with Calcium almost every day, Calcium with D3 once every 2-3 weeks, Reptivite once a month or so
Watering - Reptirain Sprayer and hand sprayer daily, seems to be drinking normally even with eyes closed
Fecal Description - Minimal, not much eating in the last few weeks
History - previously totally healthy


Cage Info:

Cage Type - XL Reptibreeze
Lighting - Reptisun 5.0 UVB 18 inch fluoro fixture, 60 watt floodlight for heat, 12hrs on, 12 hours off
Temperature - 85 in day, lower 70's at night
Humidity - 50-60% with regular spraying and live plants
Plants -pothos
Placement - Corner of living room, on 3 foot table so top of cage is about 6.5 feet off ground.
Location - New Jersey


Current Problem -

About 2 weeks ago my chameleon started to show signs of irritation in his left eye. He was rubbing it against branches as if it was bothering him. He closed it and it remained closed. About a week later, he started to close his other eye as well, although I didn't see him fussing about that one. For the past week both of his eyes have been completely shut at all times until today. I left crickets in the enclosure and he's eaten a few of them for sure and he still drinks regularly.

However, today his eyelids were open, but all I was able to see in both of the eyes was just green goop. I don't think he's able to see past it.

What do you think could be the cause of this? Stuck shed or an infection?

I would take him to the vet, but I took my last chameleon to the exotic specialist by me when he was sick and whatever the vet gave him ended up killing him within a half hour of me being home and I was out $350 for the visit.

I still have the antibiotic and anti-inflammatory he gave me for my previous pet (who had an infection from a thermal burn caused by improper lighting). Is it a safe bet to give my current chameleon the same dosage of antibiotic to fight an infection? I'm really not in the financial situation to be spending that kind of money all over again if I'm going to be given the same meds.


Does it look more like an infection or like shed stuck in his eyes? This happened right around the time he started shedding last.

 

[JoeVet]

Looks like keratoconjuctivitis sicca (fancy word for dry eyes) we see in dogs all of the time. In chameleons most likely due to vitamin A deficiency. Vitamin A is required to maintain glands and ducts. Without it you get no tears and no drainage. Eventually you get ulceration and infection. It is possible it could be a primary infection but that is not as likely. The close-up of the right eye almost looks like an infectious plaque but guessing it is an ulcerated cornea.

Your first and best option is to see your local reptile vet. They can confirm if there is ulceration, culture it and provide an appropriate eye ointment. They can also give him a vitamin A injection. If it is vitamin A you should see improvement in a few days.

In the mean time I would frequently rinse the eyes with a saline rinse. You can use saline eye drops or the long acting eye drops for dry eyes. Don't use Visine or anything that "gets the red out". If you have a triple antibiotic eye ointment it wouldn't hurt to use that after you flush the eyes.