Baby Panther (eye bubble) ? Help

[Ryan Jarosek]

After misting my 3.5 month old panther today something strange happened with his eye. He kept both eyes closed for a little while as he usually does when being misted. He opened one and when I watched him to make sure the other eye opened fine it appeared that a bubble was blown when his eye was closed. (His eye lid blew a bubble) He opened it shortly after but I saw the bubble at least three time. It blew up and then went back to normal looking. He appears to be completely fine now. I just watched him eat a couple of crickets.

His eye is open and he seems to be fine right now. Has anyone else seen this before or have any advise.

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

One more thing I can add. It almost looked like he was trying to blow the water off of his eye. Do they do that?

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

No, I don't think they blow the water off their eye. This is some of the bizarre eye maintenance they perform. They often close the eyes and roll them around when misted, but then sometimes they do this big bubble thing. Other times they may "mash" their eye against a branch. It was explained to me that they have various layers or chambers in there, including a "bilge", and that they manipulate the water in and out of those areas. It makes sense, because when a cham is well hydrated these chambers are full and the eyes bulge out of the head rather nicely. If a cham becomes dehydrated, the chambers lose moisture, and, the eyes recede.

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

Thank you soooo much!> I was a worried parent . This is my first Cham. Thanks again.

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

Thank you soooo much!> I was a worried parent . This is my first Cham. Thanks again.

Actually, I should add that if you see the baby do it frequently, you may have a problem. Especially if the eye does not look normal otherwise, say if it looks baggy or lumpy.

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

Thanks, It does look normal just looked at him and he is fine. My wife told me she has seen him do it once before and this is the first time I have seen him do it. So far it has only happened after he has been misted. I will keep an eye on him though.

Thanks again.

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

The first time I saw it I thought my cham's eye was going to explode. I was terrified for him. I've also looked in on my pygmy chams and seen one sitting there with 1 eye normal and the other eye poking way out of his head. They must sit there all day thinking of new ways to scare us. "Hey, here comes our keeper, watch this! Get a load of the look on his face when I explode my eyeball out of the side of my head!" Like some Farside comic.

 

[Kat77]

The first time I saw it I thought my cham's eye was going to explode. I was terrified for him. I've also looked in on my pygmy chams and seen one sitting there with 1 eye normal and the other eye poking way out of his head. They must sit there all day thinking of new ways to scare us. "Hey, here comes our keeper, watch this! Get a load of the look on his face when I explode my eyeball out of the side of my head!" Like some Farside comic.

I agree, my female veiled used to do that! It seemed like she was trying to scare me to death! I thought the exact same thing: "Oh god, her eye is about to pop!"

Ryan, I'm sure your baby is fine. I would just make sure you keep an eye on him (no pun intended) to be sure that he isn't doing that EVERY time you mist him. As Gesang said, if the eye starts to look saggy, lumpy or filmed over, you have a problem and a vet visit is necessary. Otherwise, you should be good!

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

Thanks Kat