blind baby cham

meaghan

meaghan

New Member
So i picked up a new baby veiled cham from a reptile show last weekend, she appeared very healthy but then closed one of her eyes. I posted for help on this forum and was informed about the compact fluorecent bulbs! She was only exposed for a couple of days and it really seems to have taken a tole on her. She has had both eyes shut for 5 days now. I took her to the vet last week when I first noticed the problem and I took her again to the vet today because of the lack of improvement. I have been using the zoo med iguana light 5.0 (they were out of the repti-sun) and have been giving her super long mistings frequently. Problem number one: She is not opening her eyes = not eating and not drinking ( atleast that I see) I have tried manually feeding but I am being really careful because she is so young and I do not want to injure her or possibly choke her. Anyways vet today told me she will be blind and gave her a calcium injection and instructed me to keep doing the mistings and attempting to feed. I don't know what else to do anymore and I feel so terrible for this little girl. She is getting weaker everyday and I know she really needs to eat and drink a decent amount!
Help Please!
 
Try a LONG(30-45 min), warm shower. Put her on a plant and put her in the shower with the shower aimed at the wall so the spray lands on her. Good luck, hopefully you can get her to open her eyes again with time.
 
Make a thick drink out of ensure, pedalite, crushed ( blended if you are upto it) crickets. drip it onto her mouth, if she doesn't start eating after you have tried for a couple minutes we go to step 2, gently pull down on the skin under her chin and when she has her mouth open start dripping the juice into her mouth. It took me about a month but I was able to teach a blind cham to eat. We can talk about that later, for now just try to get some food into her. Keep us posted.
 
im sorry to hear about this.. i hope for the best... but ya if you cant get her to drink, you might have to force it, this will definitley cause stress :( ... i had to do that once when i first got my chameleon lack of stress from california to arizona, 8 hour drive in the severe heat, but now he's doing good, i will definitley keep in touch with laurie since she has experience with a blind chameleon... and ya please only use Repti-Sun 5.0 ... it makes the difference.... sorry to hear about this .. hopefully things will get better
 
Its not really obvious that it was the lamp, this is a common symptom that applies to a lot of different problems.

Showers may be great, but the stress from doing all this is only worth it if the animal is extremely dehydrated.

How is the cage, lights? Pictures of it all including the chameleon would be helpful.
 
Turn off the UVB lamp and just give her a heat lamp. Don't use a high wattage light because it could burn her... if you need more light put another normal household lamp above the cage but not a high wattage lamp (don't want to over heat the cage)

How old is this cham? If it is really small don't put it in a shower.... just mist real well with a hand mister or if you have something like a Mist King. If it looks like the cham has an infection you could use terramycin but talk to your vet.

If this cham is really young and small it might just be a weak animal and just won't pull through. :( closed eyes isn't a good thing.
 
i can't sleep tonight, so I have been just laying in my bed watching Uma. I don't think she will make it through the night, She is actually way more active at night than during the day...but she keeps climbing the walls of her enclosure and has fallen down and kept on going. She is currently in a 22 gallon flexarium. I moved it from vertical to horizontal so that if she falls again she hopefully won't break anything. Her eyes have become more sunken in I just misted her for 20 minutes with very warm water. If she makes it through the night I will be taking her to a specialist bright and early tomorrow.
:'(
 
Howdy Meaghan,

Just to summarize what's been said for a moment...

The ZooMed Iguana light 5.0 linear tube is fine. The mfgr will tell you that there is no difference between that one and the Reptisun 5.0 linear tube. It was just a bit of marketing to make it easier for the new Iguana keeper identify what to to buy.

In this situation, closed eyes are more likely to be the symptom of "illness" rather than an eye problem unless the eyes themselves have been looked at and found to be infected. If she pulls through, she won't be blind.

From the illness standpoint, if she is under 3 months, about all you can do is provide the ideal environmental factors like water (long, warm misting), heat, UVB, food, privacy, etc. and wait.

I didn't catch her age? While you are at it, might as well fill-in the: https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/ form and post photos of her and her enclosure.

Hope she makes it. If not, it probably wasn't anything that you did that got her into this condition so don't blame yourself.
 
Ask for help form

She filled it out in another thread:

Cage Info:
Cage Type - 38 gallon flexarium (all screen)
Lighting - 8:00am-8:0pm, Reptisun 5.0, exo-terra 75W daylight spot
Humidity - 40-60
Plants - silk plants
Placement - In my room, low traffic, low volume area. Ontop of a TV stand, highest point of enclosure sits relatively high in room
Location - Alberta, Canada

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled Chamelon, female, 2 months, been in my care for 4 days
Handling - I have handled her once since taking her home, I am letting her get used to her new place without stressing her too much.
Feeding - So far I have been feeding her eight 2 week old crickets a day, i gut load them with fresh lettuce, carrots and potatoe, i also dust them with calcium( without D3) and a multi vitamin
Watering - I mist 3-4 times a day right now, I always see her drinking right when I mist, she loves it
Fecal Description - Brown, not runny
Current Problem -She has been keeping her right eye closed alot the past couple days
 
Blind chameleon

I have a baby girl just like this. She is blind also and when I got her she was on the verge of death. She is doing much better now, here is what I have been doing with her:

-Fluid injections daily to treat/prevent dehydration. Ask your vet about this, my chameleon is about a year so she is about 7", it may be difficult to do this with your cham.

-Force feedings. Don't worry about choking your cham, as long as the food is small enough for it when you put the food in its mouth it should eat it, though sometimes it may take a while. Try small waxworms, although they're not as nutritious as other foods, they are very tasty to the cham and they should want to eat it. Also, try fruits and veggies, though you'll have to experiment with what it likes. Molly likes pears and apples. Stay away from citricy fruits. Try some hibiscus flowers also, they are very nutritious and molly loves them.

-Use a smaller cage, since they are blind they are more likely to fall and you do not want them to hurt themselves. I don't know what your dimensions are but a 2' by 1.5' would do.

- Are you giving calcium and vitamin/mineral supplements? My cham wasn't getting anything where she was and I believe that to be the cause of her state. Many experts believe that a deficiency of vitamin A can cause blindness from eye infections in chams, but it can also go the other way around. Did she get too much vitamin A? That can also cause the same symptoms but is harder to treat. I give Molly reptical and reptilife once a week mixed and sprinkled on her insects.

- You can try giving water from a syringe, probably a 1cc syringe would be easiest. Also mist it like they said and the cage. Also, take it out into the natural sunlight as often as possible, the natural sun is very good for chams.

That is all I can give you, I hope it helps =)
 
thankyou everyone for all of your support, I took her to the vet this morning and she was put into critical care and unfortunately passed away around noon. The vet said that I did everything i could have done and that she was likely very week before I got her. I guess that is my fault I got kind of caught up in getting a new chameleon. I think I will take a break from chams for a while. :'(
 
Sorry to hear this! I also think it was nothing you did. Very very young babies sometimes just don't make it for unknown reasons and taking them to shows is quite stressful for them. Hang in there...you did all you could for her!
 
Meaghan,

Most of us wouldn't have given or sold a Cham this young to a new home. When they're this young, they need more time to develop and be examined for possible health problems. Given the facts of what you did provide, you are a truly good Cham owner.

Wipe your tears. Give yourself a hug. You did your best. Most of us have been through this in a relative manner and it sucks.

On the bright side, this whole episode may just be a beginning of a long life for a new cham when you're ready. We think you make a good Cham owner.

Our deepest sympathy,
Phil & Deb
 
Don't give up so easy. These are hard animals to keep. You are more ready now than any new comer to the hobby. You learned a ton and now have experience behind you. I have a couple of young vields. I don't plan to find new homes for them for at least another two months maybe three depending on who is buying them. Again now you have a much better idea of what to do and what to look for.
 
thanks again everyone for the support, i am not giving up I am just taking a break for a couple of months. I am completely addicted to chams even though i have had a pretty bad experience thus far. You guys are all awesome and everyone has been so helpful. Over the next couple months I will save up some money incase I ever have to take a chameleon to the vet again because that was super expensive!
Thanks again, you guys are rad!
 
It could have been me or anyone else really. I got a cham from a reputable breeder only a few months a go and even baring in mind that I could have got one with problems or I could have made what seemed like only a tiny mistake and ended up with a dead chameleon. You did the right things (at no small fiancial expense to yourself) and have learnt a lot from it which will help the very nicely looked after chameleon you will have in the future.
 
I'm so sorry your little one didn't make it. Next time, when you are ready, try a little bit older one......maybe 4 or 5 months.
 
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