Any suggestions

[Kaiden]

Hi guys I’m new here and only just worked out this whole thing.
I am a new owner we only picked her up yesterday and all seemed fine but I have checked on her and she has her left eye shut and won’t open it. What could have happened?
I’m saying her but not sure if a boy or girl
Can any one help
I’ve been reading all sorts and now questioning what’s right and what’s wrong
It’s my sons pet and tbh we don’t have much of a clue except what the pet owner told us to do

 

[Syreptyon]

Holding an eye closed is very concerning. Since you just got the cham, it is almost impossible that it was your fault. You probably purchased an animal that was already sick. Where did you purchase it? Please post photos

 

[Kaiden]

Ion hope this is clear enough to see

 

[Kaiden]

In the second photo the eye is open again only just realised but keeps closing it again it’s not staying open like the right eye is

 

[Gingero]

Congrats on the new chameleon and welcome to the forums

I agree with what Syreptyon is saying. This issue is probably the result of incorrect husbandry from the previous caretakers. The best thing you can do is keep a close eye (pun intended ) on them to see if it's just something stuck in their eye or something more serious that will require exotic vet treatment. You also have to make sure that your husbandry is on point to give them the best chance possible. From the pictures I can already see that you have insufficient UVB. You'll want a linear T5 HO UVB (either a Reptisun 5.0 or Arcadia 6%).

Please fill out the how to ask for help form with as much detail as possible and we can help you make changes to give your new cham to best life possible. https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/

 

[Kaiden]

Thankyou so much. These lights come with the set up I brought it all together which one is wrong the blue light or the white light so sorry I am so new to all this and I’m so confused so many people say different things I just want to make sure I get it right and he lives a long happy healthy life

 

[Gingero]

I hear ya. It can be super intimidating and super overwhelming. Luckily you came to the right place. This forum is full of people with lots of experience and lots of passion for these amazing little creatures.

Chameleons need two kinds of lights. One for heat and one for UVB. The blue one you have is most likely your heat bulb which should be fine as long as it is producing the right temperatures. Do you know what the temperatures are? Do you have a way to measure them? Here is a video that goes over heat and temperatures for chameleons:




The UVB bulb is what allows chameleons to synthesize vitamin D3 (the vitamin we get from the sun) to help keep their organs and muscles function as well as strong bones. The UVB bulb you have now does not give off enough UVB. I tested a bunch of bulbs in this video that you might find interesting to watch to see how bad the bulb you have now is.




There's a lot more that goes into chameleon keeping such as their humidity, water intake, supplements, bugs, gutload, cage size, etc. So the sooner you can fill out the form I linked to above, the sooner we can give more advice and suggestions to make sure your cham lives a long, happy life

 

[Kaiden]

I have the white light turnt off atm as it’s been on since 7am and I read they only need it for around 10-14 hours a day that might be why it looks Insufficient and i turnt it off thinking it might be to bright that’s why one eye was closed I’m literally guessing as so many people say so many different things I’m panicking. the temp is at 24’c at the moment I hope that’s okay, I also read it should be between 72f to 80f which is around 23c / 26c
I honestly have no clue and didn’t realise how hard it was going to be so I allowed my parents to buy it for my sons Xmas pressie and we collected it yesterday so it’s all very new and very scary. I just hope I’m doing it right

 

[Gingero]

*deep breath* It'll be okay. One thing at a time

I will give you a heads up now, chameleons are A LOT of work to set-up. But once they are set up right, they are fairly easy to maintain. Hardest part is getting them setup right since there is so much incorrect info floating around. Just know I am not going to steer you wrong. Everything I'm going to suggest to you, I use on my own chameleons and they are very healthy lizards.

Chameleons do best with their lights on for 12 hours and off for 12 hours. Most people use an automatic outlet timer that you can pick up from places like Walmart, Target, Amazon for like $3. No need to get the fancy reptile brand (they are overpriced).

It looks insufficient because it is the wrong shape entirely, not because of how bright it is. You want the long skinny bulb not the circle one.

Sounds like you have the right temperatures.

 

[Kaiden]

Awww, Thankyou so much
My son is like mummy don’t stress we will get it right so I really need to make sure I do get it right
The lights I have come with the set up il attach a photo so you can see
As for plants and stuff is it better to put real plants in?
Feeding I’m just giving small crickets and thinking to get some meal worms as an extra treat, I’m hearing I should feed the crickets and meal worms veg and calcium powder before feeding them to rango is this right?
Sorry for the overload of questions I’m honestly clueless I’m more of a goldfish person lol
The simple things
What should I do about the left eye keep being closed aswell?

 

[Gingero]

Yeah so the light on the right that is kind of a weird shape is the one that is wrong and needs to be replaced ASAP. You want the long skinny one that looks like this:

 

[Kaiden]

Okay no problem I will go and get one after I finish work tomorrow
Thankyou so much I really appreciate all your help

 

[Gingero]

Yes to the live plants. Pothos is a popular one to use. Make sure you're preparing the plant appropriately. See video below.




Crickets are fine. Meal worms are not recommended for chameleons. Instead look for dubia roaches, silk worms, black solider fly larvae, super worms, wax worms, hornworms, etc. You can order all of these online.

Yes you want to feed the bugs fruits and veggies. But it matters what kind of fruits and veggies you use. See video below.




You don't feed the calcium to the bugs. You sprinkle it on top of the bugs and dust them before feeding them off. You'll want to make sure you have the right supplements. Which ones do you have? You'll want calcium WITHOUT D3 for 6 days of the week and on the 7th day alternate between a multivitamin (I like Reptivite) and calcium WITH D3 every other week. See video below.




How often are they keeping the left eye closed and for how long when they close it?

 

[Kaiden]

They are what we was told to get yesterday but I don’t know which one I should be using
The eye has been closed all afternoon I opened the cage earlier and he walked out on to my hand and opened the eye for a couple seconds I put him straight back in and it’s closed again