Chameleons eyes STILL shut, after two weeks...

[friedferret]

My Velied chameleons had his eyes shut for around 2 weeks now. Heres a quick list of what I have:
3L X 2W X 3H dimensions of cage.
UVA/UVA 5.0 Light
two 100w heat lamps.

Mist him atleast twice a day and now give him 30min long showers a day with warm water.
Latley he's been eating only 4-5 wax worms a day. I have to wait until he's out of the shower to feed him because thats when he "hisses" at me and I can pop a worm in his mouth.

He's around 4 months old. However the first two weeks Ive had him he was fine (crawling around with both eyes open, eating fine, etc) around two weeks ago he shut one eye, and about one week ago the other eye shut.

I have all vitamin suppliments for him with D3 and multi vitamin spray for his food.

When I had him eating crickets, they were gut loaded.

Is there any reason why his eyes might still be shut, and he will nto open them for any reason?! Please help!

 

[veiledchamguy]

My Velied chameleons had his eyes shut for around 2 weeks now. Heres a quick list of what I have:
3L X 2W X 3H dimensions of cage.
UVA/UVA 5.0 Light
two 100w heat lamps.

Mist him atleast twice a day and now give him 30min long showers a day with warm water.
Latley he's been eating only 4-5 wax worms a day. I have to wait until he's out of the shower to feed him because thats when he "hisses" at me and I can pop a worm in his mouth.

He's around 4 months old. However the first two weeks Ive had him he was fine (crawling around with both eyes open, eating fine, etc) around two weeks ago he shut one eye, and about one week ago the other eye shut.

I have all vitamin suppliments for him with D3 and multi vitamin spray for his food.

When I had him eating crickets, they were gut loaded.

Is there any reason why his eyes might still be shut, and he will nto open them for any reason?! Please help!

2 100w heating bulbs damn that is hott YOU ONLY NEED ONE 60-70 watt incandescent HOUSE BULB for that age of chameleon!

and you said 5.0 uvb uva? what brand is that light and is it a linear tube light?

 

[Sancho]

Your best bet is to read this http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

And if you can't find info their fill out this information and a expert will respond.

Cage Info:

* Cage Type
* Lighting
* Temperature
* Humidity
* Plants
* Location


Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon
* Handling
* Feeding
* Supplements
* Watering
* History
* Current Problem

 

[jojackson]

2 100w heating bulbs damn that is hott YOU ONLY NEED ONE 60-70 watt incandescent HOUSE BULB for that age of chameleon!

For the age? sure young ones need a cooler basking spot but the heating source and wattage should be whatever is sufficient for the CAGE, the distance from the animals basking spot, ventilation.

Assuming temperature is carefully monitored with thermometer/s, and the correct temp at the basking spot acheived, it dosent really matter what wattage is used, though a higher than nessesary wattage will shorten bulb life due to constant switching as the thermostate does its job,
not to mention power costs, but thats his/her buisness. Though for that size cage id agree it seems excessive. Whats the cage constructed of? how far/close is the heating/uv to the chams highest basking spot?

As for the 'eyes wide shut' thing, I was thinking compact uv aswell ??
Eitherway, its not natural, take it to a vet. A cham should be alert and awake and its eyes constantly roving during daylight hrs. How is it finding food? Not on his own?

Mist him atleast twice a day and now give him 30min long showers a day with warm water.
Latley he's been eating only 4-5 wax worms a day. I have to wait until he's out of the shower to feed him because thats when he "hisses" at me and I can pop a worm in his mouth.

Id say your stressing the hell out of it! Its hissing for a reason. Does it change color, go dark? constantly dark? Why are you making it experience the equivalent of a tropical downpour everyday? It dosent rain everyday in Yemen.

Is he drinking on his own? how? where in that cage does it hang out? does it climb around?
Is it crapping? whats it like? how often?

 

[chameleonneeds]

I think its your uvb, for some reason whenever I used my 5.0 linear tube with all the chameleons I used it on they would ALWAYS close their eyes constantly, never open their eyes.
So I turned the uvb off and after a week or 2 they had their eyes open again.
Then afterwards i just keep my chameleons out in the pure unfiltered sun.
They love the sun but with young chams you should always put them in semi sun so that they if the temps go too high.
So try turning off you uvb for a while it should work.

 

[OntarioLizardman]

i had an occurance of this, but instead of just completely turning the lights off you could turn the uvb light on its side, so less light gets in. also the light relfects of my daylight heat lamps holder and a little more uvb gets in. plus i open the windows and put the cage right up next to the window so he gets a lil natural sunlight everyday. good luck! and welcome to the forums!

 

[jojackson]

plus i open the windows and put the cage right up next to the window so he gets a lil natural sunlight everyday.

beware of overheating!

 

[Syn]

Get the humidity up and try using saline solution on his eye, see if that makes it better. Is it swelling up?

 

[Ashley]

......?

For the record UVB rays arealmost completely filtered out when coming through a window. That doesn't suffice for proper UVB exposure. Texas, I know that you have the window open but I just wanted to make sure that was absolutely clear incase someone read it incorrectly. I will be the first to admit that natural sunlight is far better than any other, but if opening the window is not an option another form should really be used.
Have we figured out what type of bulb is being used? As mentioned earlier, compact lighting could likely be the culprit.

 

[Eric Adrignola]

D3 spray is useless - completely. Get repcal or minerall with D3. They work, and are proven. D3 spray does not work as far as I know.

 

[OntarioLizardman]

For the record UVB rays arealmost completely filtered out when coming through a window. That doesn't suffice for proper UVB exposure. Texas, I know that you have the window open but I just wanted to make sure that was absolutely clear incase someone read it incorrectly. I will be the first to admit that natural sunlight is far better than any other, but if opening the window is not an option another form should really be used.
Have we figured out what type of bulb is being used? As mentioned earlier, compact lighting could likely be the culprit.

as i said the window is open lol. and to answer jojackson- of course i check for overheating.

 

[Chameleon Company]

PM sent

Nothing is certain, but it sounds like classic Vitamin A deficiency. Right age. First one eye, then the other, with no other apparent explanation. Its about as textbook as symptoms can get, although as I said, not certain. Besides my PM, in the future, use Reptivite.

 

[Chameleon Company]

Possible Vitamin A Deficiency in Chameleons, Symptoms and Solutions

Vitamin A deficiency is a common malady in LTC chameleons, either with WC or CB origins. This stems from the chameleons inability to synthesize real Vitamin A from common precursors, such as beta-carotene. This can be confusing when evaluating supplementations, as many dry supplements list Vitamin A benefits, but only as the precursor, beta-carotene, and not as “pre-formed” or in essence, real Vitamin A.

While lack of Vitamin A effects many aspects of chameleon health, the usual first observed symptom is the appearance of an unexplained eye irritation, manifested in difficulties in keeping first one eye open, and after a few days, both eyes are affected. The eyes will not appear sunken, or in any other way mis-shaped initially, although secondary problems, such as an infection, can follow. The initial observationis that it is causing irritation to the chameleon, and that it can't keep the eye open as normal. It occurs more often in larger animals, but sometimes occurs in larger juveniles. Successfully hatched chameleons seem to be born with a supply of Vitamin A, an essential ingredient for successful embryonic development, and fresh WC’s seem to be imported with a supply. Mother Nature seems able to provide this vitamin without problem. Without some real vitamin A in their diet, these stores will deplete. It is a difficult vitamin for the hobbyist to gut-load via crickets and insects though, and such attempts are usually ineffective.

Vitamin A is a fat soluble vitamin, as is Vitamin E. It is most commonly sold in gel caps, with each gel cap containing approximately three drops of an oil solvent. It is available on-line from many suppliers, or is sold in most vitamin and health stores. The most common, and consensus most effective, form of vitamin A is a compound known as retinal palmitate. It is a common human food supplement as well. Depending on manufacturer, gel caps may contain 2000-15,000 iu’s (intravenous units) per gel cap. Read the label to insure you are buying a product with retinal palmitate as the Vitamin A. The solvent may be fish oil, which outside of its odor, is OK.

Vitamin A is toxic in large quantities. As you are dealing with an oil, a strong word of caution as well. Chameleons have an extreme dislike for almost any measurable quantity of oil introduced into their mouth. While inexact, usually a negative reaction starts to become likely to occur if a quantity of oil ½ drop or greater is introduced into an adult chameleon’s mouth, and is virtually guaranteed with 2 or more drops. This can induce vomiting and inhalation of the oil, possibly death. Fortunately, the amount of oil (and vitamin A) needed to effectively dose a chameleon is usually less than 1/20th of a drop. Again, an inexact science, but depending upon the concentration of the Vitamin A in the oil, your goal is to deliver a dose that contains approximately 100 iu’s per 50g of chameleon. An exceedingly rough estimate would be 1/20th of a drop of the oil in an average adult female panther chameleon. There is a reasonable margin for error. This can administered by puncturing one or more gel caps, and wetting a Q-tip with the oil, so that is is wet, but not dripping. You can then grab the chameleon behind the head, and when it says “Ahhhh”, touch the Q-tip to its inner gum, etc. It will likely chomp down, then let go of the Q-tip once released itself. Or, if you are able to hand-feed, swab the back of a cricket or such with a smear of the oil, and then coax your chameleon into eating it.

As a rule, we recommend this treatment to all adult chameleons once every two weeks. If an animal is showing symptoms of Vitamin A deficiency, such as eye closing with no other apparent malady, we recommend the dose daily for five days, then once every two weeks. In such cases where Vitamin A deficiency is the problem, the eyes usually improve on the third or fourth day. Good luck.

Jim Flaherty
The Chameleon Company, LLC

 

[jojackson]

and to answer jojackson- of course i check for overheating.

Yeah I know your a thinker Richard, that was more for the benifit of possible newbys reading, who might think 'good idea', but not check for overheating with disasterous result.

 

[ciafardo 4]

hey jim once again providing valuable info . i have been using reptavite do you recomend the the preformed oil vite once monthly or is reptavite providing enough?

 

[Chameleon Company]

Cia,

I am leaning towards saying that Reptivite can maintain adequate levels, but the jury is still out. Don't have a year using it under my belt yet, and for now, we still use palmitate directly on all breeders, and Reptivite on all that we sell (too many for direct dosage). I am slow to draw conclusions with chameleons. More and more vets are recommending Reptivite, as it is the only commonly available powder with pre-formed A in it.

I wrote that blurb a couple years ago, and some reading here,may have gotten it from me in the past. The key part in the probable diagosis is a) an otherwise healthy chameleon around the 4-6th month of age (or duration in captivity); and b) first one eye, then the other 3-7 days later.

Happens "A" lot !

 

[ciafardo 4]

i have to say i have always used reptivite and i have never had a problem like this and i have over thirty chams nowhere near your operation but definately more than the average hobbiest. and to think i was going to switch to herptivite a while back sure glad i didn't

 

[blackbetty]

What happened to this chameleon!?

 

[Eric Adrignola]

Lost track of this thread. I can add to it. Reptivite or Fluker's multivitamin work fine. Reptivite is proven, without a doubt, to me. I've used it alongside herptivite for a long time, and before herptivite became available, I used it alone.

The lfuker's stuff I've used only a year or two, and it has worked fine. MY daughter dumped out all my reptivite, and I forgot to replace it. After several months of just herptivite, a female veiled developed some eye swelling. Never had any sort of edema in my animals. After a week or two of using the vitamin A (in the flukers), the eyes went back to normal. I've used it with melleri, veileds and deremensis. So I'd say it's safe, and it's good for vitamin A.

I've never used the drops, as reptivite has proven adequate for me. I tend to give my animals ultra-light quantities of supplements almost daily. one half dusted insect a week, on average, wiht the vitamin A, more often wiht herptivite, and pretty much every other day with some minerals. I find that keeping the supplementation very very light, but very often works well for me. Hard to mess it up.