9 week old veiled eye shut and swollen.

[Excaka]

I'll try this again, problem seemed to be fixed but came back. Here's some info.

• Your Chameleon - 9 week or so veiled chameleon. Male
• Handling - Every other day, just to check on his well being as of late
• Feeding - Mostly crickets I gut load with carrots, strawberry, Apple, and orange once. Feed about 6 in the morning and 6 at night. I also gave him a waxworm twice, but threw them out since I read they aren't the greatest. I bought some calciworms as well he ate a few, but doesent really care for hand feeding or cup feeding. So I throw the crickets in and he goes to town.
• Supplements - reptical without d3 at pretty much every feed, and repashy calcium plus once a week. I was told from the guy at the reptile shop to do it once every two weeks. But another guy said three times a week?
• Watering - had a lil dripper running from morning to night. I mist at least three times a day very heavy, again it gets kinda hot so I make sure to give him enough spray. I also spray him with warm water far away to clean the eye. It seemed to work yesterday and cleaned up a bit. Woke up this morning and it was more swollen.
• Fecal Description - Brownish with a white urate. Never tested for parasite.
• History - got him about two weeks ago. Not very much history

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Reptibreeze mesh cage, 16x16x30
• Lighting - Reptisun 5.0 compact uvb, and 25 watt incandescent soft white bulb(replaced it from my 60 watt daylight basking bulb, seemed to get way too hot in my room)
• Temperature - I try to keep it between 75-85. 85 in basking, low 70s below.
• Humidity - Around 40-60. Goes higher right after misting of course. It seems to be really dry where I live.
• Plants - 1 umbrella plant (got from lll reptile, they told me it was ready to go, didn't need to flush or clean the plant.
• Placement - top of screen is 5 feet from the floor. I know it should be higher, just don't have anything to place it on currently
• Location - San Diego

Current Problem - noticed his eye shut and a bit swollen a week ago. I kept him better hydrated and misted him directly and it seemed to clear up. Then over the weekend it got inflamed again, since I was off I was able to closely monitor him and mist more. Doing that seemed to help a bit. I also wrapped three sides in a shower curtain to keep humidity, that did nothing so I took it off because I was worried about airflow. I could seem to get a gentle mist in his eye every time I misted and could see him clean it out with his tounge. I even went out and bought a new reptisun 5.0 compact to see if it was just a bad bulb, still same problem. He seems to be eating normal and drinking normal, I see him drink from the dripper all the time. I was told from the reptile guy it could be too much vitamin A? So I will be only using repashy every two weeks. But still calcium at every feed? I'm going out to buy some saline for genome eyes or some zoo mes turtle eye drops too see if I ca flush it out, but I think if something was stuck in there he would have been able to get it out in 5 days. I'm at a loss, I may take to the vet Saturday if it gets worse, I just can't really spend a fortune right now since money is tight. Please help!

 

[Excaka]

Also I haven't noticed crust. So I'm hoping it's not a infection

 

[Kboz1991]

I would try misting again for a very long time. Mine goes off 4 times a day and the shortest duration is 3 mins to 6 min and once a week I do a 20 minute misting but I use auto misting so I would set a timer and mist him and around him for 5 mins I would say shower but he looks to small. If I was you I would get a fecal done I had a veild that has coccidia and he did the same thing and I don't know about that supplements I use all rep Cal green without everyday and multivitamin blue every 2 weeks and pink with d3 every 2 weeks alternating those 2 week. But I would really just get him checked up and do a fecal that's the best thing you can do

 

[Kboz1991]

O yea also in not a fan of the compact florescent uvb bulbs I would try to get a linier one a lot of people don't like them I had one and when I switched his eyes were open more

 

[Excaka]

O yea also in not a fan of the compact florescent uvb bulbs I would try to get a linier one a lot of people don't like them I had one and when I switched his eyes were open more

Alright thank you, I actually don't mist that long maybe that's the problem, I only do a few quick sprays to atleast get the cage really wet and him hydrated. I just feel like I'm going to drown him lol. And I read those compacts use to have a lot of problems but they recently fixed them? I guess next payday I'll be safe and get one, do you know where to get the casings for decently priced? I'll probably want to go with a 18 inch. And the reptisun 5.0 linear. I was thinking a automatic mister but can't really afford it right now. But I'll up the misting in the mean time. Do you think it's safe for the saline for sensitive eyes? I'm afraid I'd get it in his mouth and hurt him.

 

[Kboz1991]

I'm sure someone else will say for sure bit I think you can wash their eyes with it. Yea most times it takes a minute or 2 for them to start drinking when I hand misted I always used the hole bottle most times. They had problems but they throw uvb off in weird directions and it's too much in some spot and not enough in others look up comparison of the 2 on Google. The 18 inch and 5.0 would be good for yours. Yea auto misters are expensive I would just save for one in the long run and keep a eye out for people selling them on here.

 

[Excaka]

Seems to have gotten worse over night, even with the continued misting. I'm going to keep the compact UVB off today and maybe tomorrow to try and rule out if it's the compact UVB bulb. I have him under the 25w basking bulb and keeping temps around 80 humidity above 55-60. We live close to Tijuana and they have some good vets there ( mostly everyone in San Diego goes there for pet care, way cheaper with good doctors) so we will probably take him there this weekend. Can anyone else chime in if they have suggestions? Thank you!

 

[Kboz1991]

O yea I couldn't see his eye before I would take him to the vet asap if I were you

 

[Excaka]

UPDATE*

I took the compact bulb off for a few days and it seemed to get better. He would open it more and the swelling went down a bit. I continued misting and let the dripper run all day. (He even bathes under the dripper, I think it helps his eye a bit with the warm water)

I went out and bought the reptisun t8 5.0 linear bulb, and let it run non stop for a few days to let it burn in. I put it on Saturday and he seems to like it a lot better.

I was told from a member on Reddit it may have been a retina burn? Him being a baby he said it may have been too intense since compacts in deep domes concentrate light in one direction instead of a even spread. He still keeps his eye a bit shut at times, but more often he keeps it open. I'm guessing it's healing?

Any how if his eye still seems a bit irritated in a weeks time i was going to order some Terramycin. But one of the established members on Reddit said it may take some time to heal and keep a eye on it. I can't believe they still sell those compact bulbs, or especially put them in a kit your buying when they know they will put a baby in. I went to lllreptile, and they never even said anything about the lights. They told me it was way too much vitamin A, even tho I very lightly dust with repashy twice a month. The funny thing is all the cages use linear tubes at the store. Didn't see a single compact UVB!!

https://m.imgur.com/account/excaka/images/q3BtwGp

https://m.imgur.com/account/excaka/images/oFL7Mwj

https://m.imgur.com/account/excaka/images/NDoDCui

From the pics you can see it is a bit better then it was. He even seems to be more active, he's constantly moving around his cage and hunting.

So just a fair warning from anyone who has a compact, throw that crap out and spend extra in a tube!

 

[Kboz1991]

Yeah I'm not a fan of them at all

 

[jajeanpierre]

I really doubt your eye problem is caused by the bulb. I think this is beyond anything we can or should help you with. I think you need the services of a good reptile vet. There are so many different things it could be, all with a completely different cause and treatment.

Please take him to a vet.

 

[Excaka]

I really doubt your eye problem is caused by the bulb. I think this is beyond anything we can or should help you with. I think you need the services of a good reptile vet. There are so many different things it could be, all with a completely different cause and treatment.

Please take him to a vet.

That's my plan in the next coming weeks to just get him checked on. My fiancé was home today and she said it was staying completely open. I was trying to put the vet off so we didn't need to spend unnecessary money to have them tell us he is fine. Once the compact was off I noticed his eye opening more and more. From all the research I've done I've heard numerous horror stories about them. And especially how strong they are when they are brand new. I even bought a second compact bulb after the original thinking something was wrong with it. When I put the new one in it got way worse. I thought I'd be safe just to get the tube as many people told me they are better?

Any way yes I plan on taking him to the vet if it goes downhill again. But for now I'm just going to keep a eye on him. He's eating and drinking fine, he seems to be a bit shy to eat in front of me but give him 7 crickets twice a day and he seems to hunt them all down before lights out. Thank you for the input, I'm just hoping it was the light and not something serious.