Cham one eye misshapen

[QueenBadger]

Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Yemen Chameleon, female, at least 3 months old (she’s been in my care since December) not 100% sure how old she was when we got her, if I was to guess maybe 2 months old.
* Handling - Handled about 4 times since I got her, she’s not so keen on being handle so I leave her to it
* Feeding - Usually locusts, brown crickets once, silent crickets once. I feed much as she can eat, I’d say 10-20 go in her cage every two days as she doesn’t eat that many even if I give her more there would be too many in her cage and don’t want to overwhelm. I have the locusts in a bug box and feed them fruit/veg and also the weird little jelly pots that they come with.
* Supplements - ZooMed Repticalcium once a week on a load of locusts, this is the same with Exoterra multivitamin.
* Watering - Mist nozzle spray bottle drench the leaves somewhere between 5-10 times a day. I don’t know all the time if she drinks but I have seen her quite a few times.
* Fecal Description - Depending on how much she eats I notice 1-2 droppings a day (that’s only what I can find, when I clean at the end of the week I clean the plants and floor a see quite a few but don’t know when and how often these where done) usually white/pale yellowish and dark brown coloured.

Cage Info:

* Cage Type - Screen cage, 3ftx2ftx2ft
* Lighting - Arcadia UVB bulb 12%, 100w bulb for basking. 10am-10pm
* Temperature - Lowest overnight temp- 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Measured with a temperature dial roughly in the middle of the cage. Shows usually around 75-80 degrees
* Humidity - Unsure on humidity levels or how to describe it?
* Plants - Using live plants, mainly umbrella plants
* Placement - Cage is on a elevated platform in the living area so keeps a good temperature due to central heating but doesn’t get too hot for her. No fans, air vents or not near high traffic. The top of the cage is near around 5ft off the ground
* Location - Manchester, UK

Current Problem - A few days ago I noticed Karma had black marks around her eye, looked like dirt. I misted the cage as usual and tried to mist her aswell to see if I could maybe wash it off, trying not to spray directly into her eye only around and to see if she could maybe get it off herself. The next day when I woke her up the same eye looked abit oddly shaped (the only thing I can describe it as is squashed?) the other eye was looking normal, healthy, out and moving about as normal. Some of the black marks wasnt around the eye like they were yesterday but in their place looked like pink marks like they was sore. I also noticed the shape of her eyelid around her actual eye looked more oval than circle and well the overall eye just looked ‘sad’. She seems to be acting normal.

So, I get a locust prescription for her and she was running low which means she was eating more which is obviously good as she’s growing and her intake is increasing to keep up with growing. I went to the nearest place that sells food for reptiles which I used to go to a few times but settled for a bug subscription which are really good no issues. The only bugs left were brown crickets (she’s only ever had the silent variant once and eats locusts a lot) these were new for her. Put some in her cage to try and I noticed she ate one fine, then chewed one and spat it out. She’s never done that before. This happened the day before her eye started looking weird so I’m not sure if that has anything to do with it.

I got locusts on the prescription a day after I brought the brown crickets so I took them out of the cage and swapped them just incase it was anything to do with them.

The state of her eye hasn’t changed since I’ve changed the bugs.

I’m just wondering if anyone has any idea of what’s going on? And if this is familiar to anyone and if there’s a simple mend for her? I’m worried

Here are photos of the development. The first is the marks around her eye. Second, where it looks misshapen and abit pink around the eyeball creases. The last photo is of her asleep, the eye is closed but it looks like theres an empty hole.

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi. Not really able to offer much input about her eye other than the dark marks look like bruises. Has she had any injury to the area that you are aware of? Has she been rubbing it against anything, as if trying to scratch it?
I can help improve your husbandry and there may be something in that which would help her eye.
Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Yemen Chameleon, female, at least 3 months old (she’s been in my care since December) not 100% sure how old she was when we got her, if I was to guess maybe 2 months old.
* Handling - Handled about 4 times since I got her, she’s not so keen on being handle so I leave her to it
* Feeding - Usually locusts, brown crickets once, silent crickets once. I feed much as she can eat, I’d say 10-20 go in her cage every two days as she doesn’t eat that many even if I give her more there would be too many in her cage and don’t want to overwhelm. I’m not sure about locusts, but any crickets left in her enclosure can bite her in their search for food. It may even be that one bit near her eye which is causing the current problem. It would be much better to take a few minutes every morning and make sure she eats all you offer her. Try feeding in a tall deli style cup held out to her. So she is maybe around 4-5 months old in which you don’t want to feed her as much as she can eat. I’d say maybe 8+ feeders daily for now. Besides obesity, over feeding can lead to problems with laying eggs such as egg binding and large clutches. As she gets a bit older, you’ll want to reduce her feeding even more. I have the locusts in a bug box and feed them fruit/veg and also the weird little jelly pots that they come with. The jelly pots are most likely only good for hydrating and keeping your feeders alive. You should be giving more fresh veggies and greens. Dandelion greens, mustard greens, collards, watercress, arugula, bell pepper, various squashes, etc are all great to keep your feeders healthy. The healthier they are, the more nutritious they are.
* Supplements - ZooMed Repticalcium once a week on a load of locusts, this is the same with Exoterra multivitamin. This needs some reworking. You want to lightly dust the feeders right before giving them to her to ensure it isn’t coming off the feeders. You need to be using a phosphorus free calcium without D3 at every feeding except one per week. That one feeding you’ll alternate between using a calcium with D3 and a multivitamin, so that each is given once every other week. If you’re able, I’d suggest getting Reptivite with D3, which would take the place of the multivitamin and D3 and would be given once every other week. The Reptivite has preformed vitamin A which is good for eye health.
* Watering - Mist nozzle spray bottle drench the leaves somewhere between 5-10 times a day. I don’t know all the time if she drinks but I have seen her quite a few times. This is a bit much. You want the enclosure to dry out in between misting. Usually mist once in the morning, mid day and then in the evening, each time for about 2 minutes.
* Fecal Description - Depending on how much she eats I notice 1-2 droppings a day (that’s only what I can find, when I clean at the end of the week I clean the plants and floor a see quite a few but don’t know when and how often these where done) usually white/pale yellowish and dark brown coloured.

Cage Info:

* Cage Type - Screen cage, 3ftx2ftx2ft
* Lighting - Arcadia UVB bulb 12%, 100w bulb for basking. 10am-10pm Your uvb is a bit strong. You can either get a 6% bulb or raise the 12% so that it is at least 12 inches from basking area.
* Temperature - Lowest overnight temp- 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Measured with a temperature dial roughly in the middle of the cage. Shows usually around 75-80 degrees Perfect!
* Humidity - Unsure on humidity levels or how to describe it? This is important to know. The ideal range during the day is between 30-50%, which is much drier than you’d think. At night when it’s cool, it can get up to 80-100%, which helps hydrate them. Hygrometers are relatively inexpensive. I’d suggest a digital one for accuracy.
* Plants - Using live plants, mainly umbrella plants Wonderful! You may need to invest in a plant light though.
* Placement - Cage is on a elevated platform in the living area so keeps a good temperature due to central heating but doesn’t get too hot for her. No fans, air vents or not near high traffic. The top of the cage is near around 5ft off the ground It could be higher if you’re able to raise it. Chameleons feel safest when they are above us.
* Location - Manchester, UK

Current Problem - A few days ago I noticed Karma had black marks around her eye, looked like dirt. I misted the cage as usual and tried to mist her aswell to see if I could maybe wash it off, trying not to spray directly into her eye only around and to see if she could maybe get it off herself. The next day when I woke her up the same eye looked abit oddly shaped (the only thing I can describe it as is squashed?) the other eye was looking normal, healthy, out and moving about as normal. Some of the black marks wasnt around the eye like they were yesterday but in their place looked like pink marks like they was sore. I also noticed the shape of her eyelid around her actual eye looked more oval than circle and well the overall eye just looked ‘sad’. She seems to be acting normal. Chameleons tend to hide any illness until it is quite advanced. Has she shed recently? Could maybe have gotten a small piece of shed skin stuck in her eye. Sometimes chameleons get keratin plugs in their eyes, which are irritating. Is there anything that could have poked her eye as she was moving around her enclosure? You may want to take her to a vet to get it checked out. If something is stuck in it, a good vet can do an eye flush to remove it. Or she may need eye drops or similar care. Wish I had better answers for you. Perhaps another member will have more to offer or a different perspective.

 

[QueenBadger]

Thank you for your fast reply. In regards to your comments on her enclosure and care I will work on what you’ve said ASAP.
Also I’ve noticed a few bits of shredded skin around the enclosure so I assume she’s slowly shedding. She has shed in my care once before and it was her full body but I don’t think this time it’s on that grand a scale.