Chameleon eye swollen badly...

O

Oatmealeon

New Member
Cage Info:

* Cage Type - Screen, Height 32" x 2' x 2'
* Lighting - When indoors: one 26w reptiglo 5.0 and 60 w basking bulb...
* Temperature - Day 90 F at baskin spot 80 F in shade, Night 70-75 F
* Humidity - 60-80% heavy misting 3-4 times daily and live plants to maintain
* Plants - Mandevilla vine, lavender, common ivy, and a tree i forget the name
* Placement - Where is your cage located? Outdoors elevated on a table on deck getting partial shade. cage height 4 ft to floor...Indoors next to window under a large palm tree which he frequents when i open his cage. Near a ceiling fan and 6 feet from AC duct.
* Location - New Jersey (south jersey)


Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Fischers Chameleon male. Got it at a reptile show 2 weeks ago. About 8-9 months
* Handling - Once a day only when putting him on an outdoor vine or indoor tree fro free range climbing
* Feeding - 3-6 crickets a day 3 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon. Occasional silk worms, superworms and random flies he eats when he's out of his cage. Feeders fed lettuce and Sandfire cricket diet insect loading formula
* Supplements - Flukes calcium every other feeding
* Watering - Misting and little dripper. I mist heavily 3-4 times daily for about 5-10 minutes at time
* Fecal Description - brown soft shiny
* History - it has lost 2 nails on the screen cage from climbing i assume
* Current Problem - Right eye turret swollen immensely. He was fine yesterday and today I check on him and his eye is huge. Someone in my family put a day basking light on his cage last night without my consent. I could tell by the dead moths gathered on top of his screen cage. I usually keep his sleep time dark!! or with a red bulb when temps are low...despite his eye he ate 3 small silkworms today...

heres a pic
img_1132.jpg


img_1133.jpg
 
OK-A couple of things. Fischers like it cool. You should have an ambient temp in the low 70"s and a basking spot no higher than 80.

Next-is your UVB a twisty compact bulb? If so-it needs to go.
 
Are you suggesting i use the tube version of this bulb? As for the heat I am bringing him inside right now and will adjust his basking bulb accordingly. Should i try to treat his eye with saline solution?
 
yes i know it is huge!!??? now i just heard him coughing...

I contacted my local vet and left a message for her. She does house calls and may return my call today...I am wondering if it is the temps that caused this issue. I've been keeping him mostly outside lately because of the high humidity and day time temps ranging from 80-90F...I've been taking meticulous care of this chameleon everyday as I've lost a few sickly pets purchased from petsmart in the past. This particular chameleon was purchased a a reptile show in hamburg, PA and seemed more active and in greater health than any cham ive had from Petsmart...

The vet called me back and it seems i cannot get help until Monday!! I am worried he won't survive...Any quick remedies???
 
I doubt the temps caused it. He either has something stuck in there or it is infected. It IS huge. If you can get hold of some Terramycin ointment, you could put a bit of that on the eye. Lightly mist him with warm water on that side and see if that helps him get it out. You can also use people eye drops-there is another thread here somewhere that specified what kind to use.

Is he keeping it that way all the time or bulging it out sometimes like that?

If he is "coughing" or you see bubbles or foam in his mouth-that could be a respiratory infection caused by the temps.
 
Julirs said:
I doubt the temps caused it. He either has something stuck in there or it is infected. It IS huge. If you can get hold of some Terramycin ointment, you could put a bit of that on the eye. Lightly mist him with warm water on that side and see if that helps him get it out. You can also use people eye drops-there is another thread here somewhere that specified what kind to use.

Is he keeping it that way all the time or bulging it out sometimes like that?

If he is "coughing" or you see bubbles or foam in his mouth-that could be a respiratory infection caused by the temps.
Click to expand...
he is keeping it out that way...i have him in a large tree indoors now with a basking temp of 80 and ambient temp of 75...with the reptisun uvb directly on him.
i just ordered some terramycin $35 with expedited shipping on amazon..I am going to get some saline solution now...does anyone know the "human eyedrops" that are acceptable?
 
I had the same thing happen to me twice with Panthers. Dr.Greek told me to use saline solution/contact solution and squirt it in his eye. He is puffing it out that far because something is in there. It worked for me.
 
Warrix642 said:
I had the same thing happen to me twice with Panthers. Dr.Greek told me to use saline solution/contact solution and squirt it in his eye. He is puffing it out that far because something is in there. It worked for me.
Click to expand...

How long did it take before you saw results? Did you apply the solution multiple times?
 
progress...

So today poor Estebans eye was open a little bit and he was trying to actually rotate it. The swelling went down a bit near his eye but the turret is still inflated...I washed his eye again with more saline solution. I"m wondering if i should be more aggressive in administering the solution to his eye. Should i try to gently open his eye a bit and make sure the solution gets in. His eye was slightly opened when i gave it to him earlier. He has not eaten today yet although I offered him a few crickets and a superworm.

He was trying to rub his eye against my hand and wiping at it with his own foot. I am scared that he will pop his eye turret if he squeezes it too hard.

Should i constrain him to his cage or should i let him bask by the window on a large palm tree?? He is very active and has been climbing still quite often. Tomorrow I am taking him to an animal eye specialist center that i found only 10 minutes from my house!!

Oat
 
I have squeezed the bottled of saline to get a tiny stream going then wash the eye out with the stream. Did you get him from havre de grace show?
 
ciafardo 4 said:
I have squeezed the bottled of saline to get a tiny stream going then wash the eye out with the stream. Did you get him from havre de grace show?
Click to expand...

No, I got him from the Hamburg, PA show. He still hasn't eaten today. I left a cup containing 2 crickets and 2 superworms in his cage.
 
I was told to apply it by squirting the solution in the eye hole and actually filling it up a little, it is very scary to do but not hard and my cham didn't mind at all and I have never had another problem with him.
 
So the only one who will see my cham in the area isnt available until tues and its $70 just to have him looked at. The woman on the phone recommended a cold compress, which I think is complete bullshit for lack of a better term. He isn't eating and his activity is decreasing although his eye is a bit more open today but the swelling is still huge. :(:(:(

Oat
 
can we see a picture

i was wondering how much improvement there has been. Keep on it and his eye will get better. Just be sure to keep the temps right and make sure your bulbs are right too. If you dont mind take a couple snap shots of your bulbs so we all know 100% that it wasnt them that caused the eye irritation/swelling. Best of luck

-Trevor
 
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