Calling All Experts!

[sandrachameleon]

Not "firing up" may be completely unrelated to his eye issues.
I have a nice NosyBe that didnt show any response whatsoever to seeing male or females, or mirrors. that is until very recently (he's about two now) when all of a sudden, he "woke up". Just Late to mature perhaps. I dunno. But it could be yours isnt firing up simply cuz he's not ready to fire up, and not because of his eyesight.

 

[FOREVER ENDEAVOR]

Ray
I want to throw in a few things here about your situation. Here is a perfect example of 1. your cham was obviously ill. 2. you went to the vet and got a perscription for an antibiotic for an eye infection. 3. Your cham has never seemed to return to a normal state of health. 4. nobody really knows what is wrong with him and you are concerned.
This is where Reptaid come into the picture. I don't know if you have read any of the thread about it under Classifieds Miscellaneous, but I suggest that you do. Reptaid is an all natural organic health boost that acts as both an antibiotic and an antiparasitic. We have used it for many many chams in our lab for about a year and have seen miraculous recoveries. As for eye infections, they clear up perfectly in like a day or two. I know, hard to believe but once you try it you will realize that it works. It works just as well on respiratory infections. Another forum member had a cham with a very serious eye infection in Hawaii. The poor cham's eyes had been closed for many days. He could not afford a vet but when he got the Reptaid he administerd it right away. The very next day the cham was eyes open and acting normal. He posted on 12/1 on that thread about it.
I encourage you to read that thread and do try the Reptaid.

Hey gesang, thanks for your reply.. I actually acquired some reptaid from you guys for this exact case..He just finished his first 10 days..last weekend,, I've seen definite improvement in all around health( more active, eating a little more) but the eye problem is not exactly "cured" ... however,.. I was giving the "recommended dose" as directed on the box(.05ml) which I read in the classified add thread that there was a misprint. He was only receiving half of what he should have been getting...I also read that it WILL last longer then the 30 claim on the box, ...so i was thinking i would give him a few days and give it another run with the correct dose(.1 ml per 100gs) he is approximately 140gs..what do you think?

 

[FOREVER ENDEAVOR]

Not "firing up" may be completely unrelated to his eye issues.
I have a nice NosyBe that didnt show any response whatsoever to seeing male or females, or mirrors. that is until very recently (he's about two now) when all of a sudden, he "woke up". Just Late to mature perhaps. I dunno. But it could be yours isnt firing up simply cuz he's not ready to fire up, and not because of his eyesight.

thanks for your reply and concern, there are other factors besides the not firing up thing that lead me to believe he has a sight issue..I should post a video (if i can figure out how) of him displaying these weird behaviors.. then you guys might see what im talking about... i work on that..

thanks everyone for all your help!

 

[ttshibby]

I wouldn't worry about him not firing up. Just give him some time.

I dont think his eye is healed yet. If hes not rubbing it and keeping it closed, Dont worry too much. As far as him focusing more, it is probally becuase hes still not seeing perfect in the one eye.

I have a cham who actually came to me with a troubled eye. Her eye was perfect and never infected though. She just completly missed the crickets when hunting and really focused in as you decribe when eating. She is Doing great and has adapted to hand and cup feeding by getting right up the crickets then sticking her tongue out. She is really tame now too.

So in the worst case that his eye is injured permanently, dont worry, he'll adapt, but i dont think that'll be your problem.

Is he still showing that his eye is not comfortable? Scratching? Or just the weird behavior?

 

[Jordan]

Not sure when those pictures where taken? I still can see some swelling on that right eye. Not much but in that last picture it just looks a little to puffy.

Is he still being medicated?
What where the vets recommendations of dosage, amount....etc?

Could be possible that it is coming back or never fully went away. I had a jackson that just kept on fighting eye infections on and off.

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

Ray
Wonderful. But you are right, the dose is .1ml per 100g animal weight. Amber Tech is working on correcting that issue on their literature etc. And refrigerated it will last a long time not 30 days. 30 days would be if you just left it out at room temp.
At 140g you should give him .14ml.
Although it is very hard to know why his eyesight isn't 20/20 as it should be, at least the reptaid will help get his whole physiological system tuned up to normal and allow his own immune system to correct a problem if there is one.
Did you mention how old he is? Our oldest male Veiled Guido is getting up in age now. And his eyesight doesn't seem to be what it used to be. Otherwise he is very healthy and strong. I ask him sometimes if he needs glasses. He misses his tongue shots a lot. But we just figure he is getting old and misplaced his bifocals


One other thing as long as I am rambling... we took in a female panther as a rescue on august 2. She was the worst case we had ever seen. She was blind. In addition she had parasites, mbd, malnourished, and dehydrated. Probably eye infections also. We began to treat her with Reptaid right away, gave her all the presonal care and treatment we could. Showers in our lab shower to hydrate her, hand feeding and lots of love. Well, after 2 days her colors started improving and she was eating better. She still could not see so we would hold a cricket with tongs right in front of her nose and when she would open her mouth and start to show her tongue, we would just push the cricket onto her tongue. She sensed it was there, maybe smelled it. Maybe she could just see some movement. After many weeks of care like this and a lot of Reptaid and love, she is almost normal. Almost all of her eyesight has returned! She started showing gravid colors and looked eggy so we put her with her male, they mated and a few days ago she laid 13 beautiful eggs. She could not really dig her hole, so Sandy dug it for her and she just squatted down in her hole and laid her eggs. We are very proud parents! We are soooo glad that we rescued her and decided to try to restore her to health. It really worked.

 

[FOREVER ENDEAVOR]

ttshibby- not really worried specifically about him not firing, just relating that to his eye problem, I'm fully aware of that fact that some animals for what ever reasons wont puff and fire..it just seems like he doesnt even SEE the animals i hold in front of him..like they aren't there. we'll if worst comes to worst i hope he can adapt.thanks for your advice and concern.

Jordan-pics were taken yesterday, and i agree his eye does still look a lil puffy, vets recommendations were apply tiny bit of neo-poly-dex to infected eye 2 times a day for 7 days.. If i see the puffiness persist i think i will treat for another 7 or until it is 100%..thanks for your advice and concern.

Elliot-beautiful story! that's amazing she didn't mind the hole digging assistance from Sandy..im gunna give it a run with the correct dosage this time and see if he "comes around". thanks for all your help and concern

Ray

 

[Fidel]

wow, there sure are a lot of experts.

 

[FOREVER ENDEAVOR]

wow, there sure are a lot of experts.

ha......(southpark jimmy voice) come on.....

no need to be a jack@$$ about it...



id like to thank everyone again for trying to help.

 

[MWheelock]

Some other ideas....

Hey,

It's always hard to figure out the problem when husbandry is good, the owner is knowlegable, and the cham has gone through basic vetcare. Here are some suggestions that may lead to nowhere.

(Note beforehand: My blue bar ambanja did not fire up for the first time until 9.5 months. It was worth the wait...)

1)Water- I would always check water source that is misting. If it is tap water, chlorine could be a factor in chronic irritation. If it sits for 24 hours it will often evaporate off. A good way to check if it is something from a well water source is to try spring water for a week.

2)Neopolydex does have a steroid component to it. This is good for chronic irritation, but may not so good if there is a cut on the cornea. Tobromycin without steroids might be worth a try. Also, if you don't see a pretty quick response to topical steroids initially, it probably is not the answer.

3) Some chams are spazes in their enclosure and are constantly poking part of their head moving through brush. I like ficus, but this might be a poor choice for your cham. You might try a week with only the schefferlaria and various vines.

4) I would put more and varying vines at the top of the enclosure so that he can have more of a gradient being close to his UVB. Though MV bulbs are more of a problem with burn out and higher levels at the initial use of the bulb, I imagine some fluoro lighting might have a similar, but lesser impact. If you changed the lighting within 1 month of the problem, I might get a new fluoro light. If not I might limit UVB to two sessions of 45 minutes a day. This will allow needed UVB, but turn it off to make sure he is not overdoing it.

5) Vitamin A could be an issue. For this vitamin I'm more of a naturalist (I do not wish to get into any debate as to supplementation). I think that feeding carrots or other veggies high in vit a to your feeders might be helpful (I'm one of those that believe that though many chams cannot convert beta carotene, many insects can.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents.....quite possibly I made up all that stuff


Matthew

 

[FOREVER ENDEAVOR]

Hey,

It's always hard to figure out the problem when husbandry is good, the owner is knowlegable, and the cham has gone through basic vetcare. Here are some suggestions that may lead to nowhere.

(Note beforehand: My blue bar ambanja did not fire up for the first time until 9.5 months. It was worth the wait...)

1)Water- I would always check water source that is misting. If it is tap water, chlorine could be a factor in chronic irritation. If it sits for 24 hours it will often evaporate off. A good way to check if it is something from a well water source is to try spring water for a week.

2)Neopolydex does have a steroid component to it. This is good for chronic irritation, but may not so good if there is a cut on the cornea. Tobromycin without steroids might be worth a try. Also, if you don't see a pretty quick response to topical steroids initially, it probably is not the answer.

3) Some chams are spazes in their enclosure and are constantly poking part of their head moving through brush. I like ficus, but this might be a poor choice for your cham. You might try a week with only the schefferlaria and various vines.

4) I would put more and varying vines at the top of the enclosure so that he can have more of a gradient being close to his UVB. Though MV bulbs are more of a problem with burn out and higher levels at the initial use of the bulb, I imagine some fluoro lighting might have a similar, but lesser impact. If you changed the lighting within 1 month of the problem, I might get a new fluoro light. If not I might limit UVB to two sessions of 45 minutes a day. This will allow needed UVB, but turn it off to make sure he is not overdoing it.

5) Vitamin A could be an issue. For this vitamin I'm more of a naturalist (I do not wish to get into any debate as to supplementation). I think that feeding carrots or other veggies high in vit a to your feeders might be helpful (I'm one of those that believe that though many chams cannot convert beta carotene, many insects can.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents.....quite possibly I made up all that stuff


Matthew

Thanks for your professional opinion Matt..good points and observations, ill take everything you've mentioned into consideration..as far as the water , i use a ro water source so i can pretty much cancel out the chlorine possibility. I think i am going to do away with the ficus all together..just about all of my chams have the spastic personalities you speak of and i can see the ficus eventually (if not already) causing a problem.. If it is a scratch and his eye doesn't look better in a few days I'll ask my vet about Tobramycin. The way his cage is set up right now he can get within 6" of his uvb.. and he does spend quite a bit of time up there..If i put more vines up top id be afraid of him never coming down..lol. I expose all of my chams to natural light as much as possible and he is the only one who likes to stay up high 24/7.. so i don't think hes not getting enough uvb exposure. I think if anything he might be over doing it.. Are implying the excessive exposure to his uvb light might be cause a problem? Or are you leaning more towards a lack of?..Ive done my research on the vit a topic and I do supplement my chams with pure vit a (retinyl palmitate) once,maybe twice a year if i suspected a problem. He is acting a little more normal today so hopefully he is on his way to being 100%
thanks again
Ray

 

[ttshibby]

good to hear he's coming along!!!

 

[FOREVER ENDEAVOR]

good to hear he's coming along!!!

thanks!..

 

[MWheelock]

Yes, I was saying that too much of a concentration of UVB could be a problem. I believe there are a few cham owners out there whose chams have experienced blindness with MV bulbs as well as 10.0 fluoro bulbs.

Sounds like a moot point. Glad your litte one is feeling better.

Matthew