Chameleon has one eye closed

Jeremy.

New Member
Hi my juvenile veiled cham has had this slight problem with his right eye. He closes it then rubs it on a branch and then it seems to be okay but a few minutes later it goes back to being closed. i've done some searching and have done a lot of things to help it but they dont seem to work. i've done things such as:
Mist him with warm water
checked his humidity and temp
and other things. Also he doesn't seem to be having much appetite either and im getting worried because he's supposed to be eating quite a bit since he is still a very young cham, so can someone please help me figure out what to do? But i have seen him drink some so thats good.
 
Sorry to hear that! Welcome to the forum, folks here will help. Can you share some pics of him, his eye, and the entire enclosure top to bottom to help folks here provide advice?
 
Yes of course! The cage is the right size for him right now, but I will be buying him a full size one as he gets older. As you can see in the first picture his eye is open but he a few minutes before I took it the eye was closed.
 

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UPDATE! I just noticed that the feeding bowl doesn't have food in it anymore, so he did eat! i know they are shy eaters so i wasnt entirely sure if he had eaten or not.
 
His eye is slightly closed in this one.
 

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Hahah yes they can be very sensitive and shy at times. It's part of what makes them so special. You have a cutie.

I see you have a lot of moss in the enclosure. That could be causing the issue. We recommend no moss or substrate unless you're going bioactive. You cover potted plants with either big river rocks or leaves.

A few follow up questions. What UVB light do you have? Which supplements? I don't clearly see your lights. It's very important to have the right light and supplements both for their eye health and bone health. Metabolic bone disease can develop without proper lighting or supplements because the chameleon can't process calcium without the right light and supplements so it's body pulls calcium from its bones which results in all sorts of issues and eventually death.

We actually have a full husbandry help form that you can find in the health forum and if you copy and paste that and stick in your answers we can go over everything... Since they are so sensitive all of their care in a related and it's important to get it all just right to keep them healthy and happy.
 
I'm not so sure this is a he... Please post photos of its feet.
Well I asked someone on how to tell if my cham was a he or she and they told me to look at their feet and see if they had a little bump then its a boy and that's exactly what mine has so he is a boy.
 
Hahah yes they can be very sensitive and shy at times. It's part of what makes them so special. You have a cutie.

I see you have a lot of moss in the enclosure. That could be causing the issue. We recommend no moss or substrate unless you're going bioactive. You cover potted plants with either big river rocks or leaves.

A few follow up questions. What UVB light do you have? Which supplements? I don't clearly see your lights. It's very important to have the right light and supplements both for their eye health and bone health. Metabolic bone disease can develop without proper lighting or supplements because the chameleon can't process calcium without the right light and supplements so it's body pulls calcium from its bones which results in all sorts of issues and eventually death.

We actually have a full husbandry help form that you can find in the health forum and if you copy and paste that and stick in your answers we can go over everything... Since they are so sensitive all of their care in a related and it's important to get it all just right to keep them healthy and happy.
Yes well currently i don't have a UVB lught but a UVA (at least thats what the box of the bulb says) and its a 60 WATT bulb. And i don't really buy any powder supplements but gut load my feeders with fruits that contain the vitamins that my chameleon needs.
 
Hahah yes they can be very sensitive and shy at times. It's part of what makes them so special. You have a cutie.

I see you have a lot of moss in the enclosure. That could be causing the issue. We recommend no moss or substrate unless you're going bioactive. You cover potted plants with either big river rocks or leaves.

A few follow up questions. What UVB light do you have? Which supplements? I don't clearly see your lights. It's very important to have the right light and supplements both for their eye health and bone health. Metabolic bone disease can develop without proper lighting or supplements because the chameleon can't process calcium without the right light and supplements so it's body pulls calcium from its bones which results in all sorts of issues and eventually death.

We actually have a full husbandry help form that you can find in the health forum and if you copy and paste that and stick in your answers we can go over everything... Since they are so sensitive all of their care in a related and it's important to get it all just right to keep them healthy and happy.
also when i get the other cage for him i will eventually make it a bioactive enclosure mainly because the enclosure i have right now doesn't have a lot of space for real trees or plants.
 
well now he has his eye open most of the time so idk what he did but it seemed to work a bit! but i still will like some recommendations on what to do better and some ideas on other stuff for a nice and healthy life for my chameleon
 
For the best way to learn how to properly care for your chameleon is to: watch Neptune the chameleon on youtube and read through the modules on chameleonacademy.com :)
 
Yes well currently i don't have a UVB lught but a UVA (at least thats what the box of the bulb says) and its a 60 WATT bulb. And i don't really buy any powder supplements but gut load my feeders with fruits that contain the vitamins that my chameleon needs.

It's great you're gutloading your feeders. Gutload should be a variety that includes veggies and some fruit.

But that doesn't negate the need for calcium, D3, and vitamin supplements. Those are important for them to process the UVB correctly and keep from developing issues like MBD, gout, and eye issues too.

A linear T5 UVB bulb is critical. Without it, your chameleon will eventually die from MBD.

If you're open to feedback, everyone here can advise and help you and suggest options that are cost effective. It sounds like you might not be though.

I also thought your chameleon might be a girl. If you take a pic of her feet and tail base we can assess. Some females have very slight bumps on their feet.

If she is a girl, the supplements and feeders and UVB is additionally critical because she will need calcium to properly produce and lay eggs. They lay eggs like chickens even if they're not bred.
 
For the best way to learn how to properly care for your chameleon is to: watch Neptune the chameleon on youtube and read through the modules on chameleonacademy.com :)
yes i watch Her a lot actually and i'll have to check into the website thank you!
 
It's great you're gutloading your feeders. Gutload should be a variety that includes veggies and some fruit.

But that doesn't negate the need for calcium, D3, and vitamin supplements. Those are important for them to process the UVB correctly and keep from developing issues like MBD, gout, and eye issues too.

A linear T5 UVB bulb is critical. Without it, your chameleon will eventually die from MBD.

If you're open to feedback, everyone here can advise and help you and suggest options that are cost effective. It sounds like you might not be though.

I also thought your chameleon might be a girl. If you take a pic of her feet and tail base we can assess. Some females have very slight bumps on their feet.

If she is a girl, the supplements and feeders and UVB is additionally critical because she will need calcium to properly produce and lay eggs. They lay eggs like chickens even if they're not bred.
Yes i am open to any suggestions that are cost effective. I'm sorry if i didn't make myself clear or sounded a little rude. i will definitely get all the supplements and the UVB bulb for my chameleon, because i did not know about some of these stuff and i've been researching to learn. but i'm happy i found this amazing community that helps each other with their different ideas on how to correct the issues that some of us are making with our new reptile friends. i will place the picture of my chams feet below
 
Here they are
 

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You really do need a long linear( fits the width of your cage) T5ho fixture with either a reptisun 5.0 or Arcadia 6% bulb this will provide the proper uvb for your Cham. They usually run around 50 to 60 dollars and also supplements that I will tag some other people in to explain what you need because I don’t keep veileds so I’m less familiar with their supplements and schedules. These things are very important for the proper health of your chameleon.
@Beman @MissSkittles @kinyonga
 
You really do need a long linear( fits the width of your cage) T5ho fixture with either a reptisun 5.0 or Arcadia 6% bulb this will provide the proper uvb for your Cham. They usually run around 50 to 60 dollars and also supplements that I will tag some other people in to explain what you need because I don’t keep veileds so I’m less familiar with their supplements and schedules. These things are very important for the proper health of your chameleon.
@Beman @MissSkittles @kinyonga
Thank you so so much for the help and advice I appreciate it! 😊
 
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