Can a chameleon have allergies?

[amalthea23]

Ok, so, I took my cham to the vet a while back to treat his eye, which was sunken a bit. The vet found a small piece of stuck shed and removed it. He gave me a course of eye drops, which I did, but saw no improvement, so we tried a new kind of drop and the eye did improve. Now, in the mornings, BOTH of his eyes are somewhat gummy. Here's the thing though, they're not sunken at all, once wiped he's FINE all day. He's eating and drinking and pooping and sperm plugging away. He's just, much like myself, waking up with gummy eyes. His eyes are crystal clear under the gum. My question is, CAN a chameleon have allergies? The allergens in my area are pretty high, we get alerts daily. Every internet search I've done only comes up with answers to the question of whether people can be allergic to reptiles, but not if reptiles can, in fact, have allergies. Anyone care to guess? I'm thinking of calling the Bronx Zoo, they usually have answers to this sort of thing.

 

[DekuScrub]

i dont see why not. but at the same time chameleons tend not to show any symptom unless something is legitimately wrong.

evolutionarily, showing signs of illness shows predators an easy meal.

if there are particulates in the air (ie pollen/spores) that could cause irritation. and even ultimately and infection.

if you could post a picture it would help us assess the gravity of the situation.

now if you open up the "health clinic" page on the forums here there is a sticky post on "how to ask for help" i highly reccomend you fill that out. it will give a clear idea of what the cause(s) of these symptoms may or may not be.

he seems healthy otherwise?

 

[amalthea23]

He's totally fine otherwise. And I took him to the vet who said he seemed perfectly ok. I'll have to get a first thing in the morning shot to show you, once he's been wiped, he's fine until the next day.

 

[DekuScrub]

In my experience. most vets dont have a clue when it comes to chameleons. chameleon husbandry is simply to complicated and indepth for them to specialize. an experienced chameleon keeper is worth 10 normal vets imo. but there are the occasion vets that have a clue. ALSO you will need them, no matter how inept, to prescribe medication for dystocia, dehydration, parasites and infection. if you can find a decent vet tho youre golden

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Most likely no. There is practically no evidence of reptiles having any allergic responses the way people do like watery eyes. There are some soft skin reptiles like geckos that could have been having a reaction to substrate on their feet and several other possible contact dermatitis types of reports. The president of the Association of Reptile Veterinarians says "Allergies are not well documented in reptiles, but iritations from bedings are, as are irritants froms arromatic compounds." More likely there is continued exposure to an irritant or minor infection.

 

[wacky22jacki]

My chameleon was just diagnosed 2 days ago with a nasal cavity infection - te vet described it to be like a sinus infection in humans !!

 

[amalthea23]

The doc I go to is in the association. I guess I'll give him a longer course of the second antibiotic drop, it's a 3 in 1, and if that doesn't do it, give the doc another call. I think I'm also going to take all of the plants out of his enclosure, and his vines, and hose everything down, just in case maybe there's something that's gotten on them. Perhaps a mold or some such.

 

[amalthea23]

Ok, well, I got some photos. Here's both eyes for symmetry https://www.flickr.com/photos/amalthea23/13992790939/

Here's his eye, more head on, it doesn't look too gummy there, but it looks kind of small to me. https://www.flickr.com/photos/amalthea23/14156294726/

However... I recently increased his misting significantly, from a max of 1 minute intervals 5 times a day to 5 minute intervals, 6 or 7 times a day and his eyes look a LOT better this morning. I'm trying to give him some time off of being poked and prodded, the poor guy has been putting up with morning eye soaks and drops and me fussing over him for a few weeks now. But if he goes back to being gummy, I'll get some tight pics of the gummy before soaking and put this in the medical clinic thread with all the stats.

 

[amalthea23]

Most likely no. There is practically no evidence of reptiles having any allergic responses the way people do like watery eyes. There are some soft skin reptiles like geckos that could have been having a reaction to substrate on their feet and several other possible contact dermatitis types of reports. The president of the Association of Reptile Veterinarians says "Allergies are not well documented in reptiles, but iritations from bedings are, as are irritants froms arromatic compounds." More likely there is continued exposure to an irritant or minor infection.

Do you think that continued use of the eye drops is in order? Or should I go back to the vet and see about a systemic antibiotic? I hate fussing with him so much, I feel badly, as I know he doesn't want to be poked and prodded. Also, see above, the increased watering schedule seems to have helped a bit (which, I guess, points to irritants?) I did a complete cage teardown, washed everything off, including plants, hoping to get at what was bothering him.