Closed eyes, not eating veiled female

zmoore1980

New Member
[/ATTACH]
20160219_180152_HDR.jpg
20160219_180145_HDR.jpg
20160206_144824.jpg
20151205_144559.jpg
20151205_144859.jpg
20160206_145108.jpg
20160207_002109.jpg
20160219_180137_HDR.jpg


Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon – Female veiled. 5 months(Aug 2015). Bought from Petco.

Handling - Before she was sick twice per month when cleaning her enclosure. After she got sick every 3 days as directed by vet.
Feeding – Gut loaded crickets with Fluker’s calcium powder. Before she got sick she got 8 every other day. After she gets 3 every other day.

Supplements – Gut loading with Fluker’s high calcium cricket feed always available in the cricket holder

Watering –
Before she was sick: Spray her and cage 3 times per day (about 6-8oz of water each time)
After eggs laid: Was thirsty and drinking directly from spray bottle.
After she got sick: Spray twice per day 6-8oz, warm bath every other day (directed by vet) and use a syringe to put 1-2mL of water mixed with Kale and romaine lettuce juice in her mouth every other bath (also directed by vet). We do not see her drinking

Fecal Description – today’s BM was watery and green all others prior are solid brown with white thin layer. Never been tested for parasites. BM every 3-4 days.

History – She was very active and very hungry from the day we got her up until she laid her first batch of eggs. When she was ready to lay, as evident by her attempting to claw her way out of the bottom corner of her cage, we set up a large plastic container with prewashed sand in it and plants for cover. She spent about one month in it until she finally dug a hole and laid her eggs on Feb 2nd. After that she was hungry the first day and her eyes were open. The next day she seemed lethargic and was not eating. She had her eyes closed and was not moving at all. On Feb 4th we took her to the vet who flushed her eyes out with saline and gave us antibiotic eye drops. He told us to give her warm baths and to use the drops twice a day using tweezers to open them and get some of the drop in each eye. He also told us to give her fluids with the syringe every couple days. Since then we have taken her back to get her eyes flushed 3 other times and he keeps telling us to give it time and bring her back in a couple days. (He is not charging us for any of those extra visits, only the initial one so it’s not a money thing)

Cage Info:
Cage Type – Initially we had her in a glass tank with a screen top that measured 18” tall and 30-31” long. Once she started getting bigger and started to dig at the bottom of the glass tank we realized she was trying to dig holes so we bought a large plastic container that measured about 24” tall by 40” long. We added prewashed sand and a plant. She spent one month in the sand box and then laid eggs. After 2 days she had laid all her eggs. We moved her to a wooden box while we prepared a new larger wooden screen enclosure. She now lives in a 42” tall by 24” long screened enclosure.

Lighting –
Month 0-month 3: Exo Terra UVB 100, 26 watt + ZooMed nocturnal infrared 75 watt
Month 3- Now ZooMed Reptisun 5.0 UVB 13 watt + ZooMed 60watt heated moonlight reptile bulb
Schedule: On 6am to 8pm on a timer

Temperature – Measured with one (petco) thermometer attached to side of enclosure
Month 0-4: 80-85
Month 4 to now: 70-75
Lowest overnight temp: 70 (Home temp is set to 75)

Humidity – 40-50% Created by spraying 3 times per day and live plants measured by a humidity gage (petco)

Plants – Pothos
Placement – Located in the kitchen area near a sliding glass door. Traffic is high. 3 dogs and 2 adults. Cage is on a table that is 3ft from the ground. No fans or vents near it. Were some bite marks out of plant right after eggs were laid. None since.

Location – Indianapolis, IN

Current Problem – Her eyes remain closed since Feb 3rd. She will open them briefly and only slightly when flushed or disturbed. She is not eating unless forced fed. Probably wants to eat but can’t see. Vet does not seem to know the cause. Keeps thinking it is debris in her eyes. Performed imaging to rule out unlaid eggs. Imaging was unremarkable. No eggs, but a little debris, probably some sand, in stomach. Vet was not concerned and said it should pass naturally with time.
She will sometimes rub her left eye against a branch or if I’m holding her, she will rub against my sleeve. She bulges it out (left) and looks very different then it did before this started. She often rolls both eyes around when closed.
Once we finish giving her drops and bath she goes right back to the top of her enclosure and just sits in the same spot.
I’m mainly worried about her eyes never going back to normal and her decreased activity level. We can feed her if needed but is this ever going back to the way it was before? We appreciate any help. Thank you.
 
Sorry this is so long. The pictures above are as follow:

Pic 1: Current right eye
Pic 2: Current left eye
Pic 3: Current enclosure
Pic 4: Old enclosure and look before egg laying (December)
Pic 5: Old enclosure and look before egg laying (December)
Pic 6: Current look and location of basking
Pic 7: Current enclosure height from the ground
Pic 8: Current look (skinny)
 
Welcome to the forums. I am sorry to hear about your girl. I absolutely love veileds epecially the girl. She does not look well in her recent pictures. It might have something to do with the egg laying. Allot of the veiled girls have problems during or after laying eggs. I lost one of my girls to Coelomitis. Is there a more experienced chameleon vet in your area that you can take her to? I have a chameleon friend that use to live in indianapolis I'll email her and see who she recommends.
 
The same thing happened to my Yemen( veiled) do you have a mister or do you use hand held spray bottle[/QUOTE
Welcome to the forums. I am sorry to hear about your girl. I absolutely love veileds epecially the girl. She does not look well in her recent pictures. It might have something to do with the egg laying. Allot of the veiled girls have problems during or after laying eggs. I lost one of my girls to Coelomitis. Is there a more experienced chameleon vet in your area that you can take her to? I have a chameleon friend that use to live in indianapolis I'll email her and see who she recommends.
Welcome to the forums. I am sorry to hear about your girl. I absolutely love veileds epecially the girl. She does not look well in her recent pictures. It might have something to do with the egg laying. Allot of the veiled girls have problems during or after laying eggs. I lost one of my girls to Coelomitis. Is there a more experienced chameleon vet in your area that you can take her to? I have a chameleon friend that use to live in indianapolis I'll email her and see who she recommends.
Thank you Jannb. Our Vet is the most experienced with exotics in our area, but I fear he may have limited experience with this presenting issue. Any help you could provide by linking us with Vets that have more experience would be awesome.
 
I noticed that your supplements just list high calcium cricket food. If you haven't been giving her calcium without d3 at most feedings, calcium With d3 and multi vitamins twice a month dusted onto the crickets right before feeding that could be causing some of your problems. Especially after she just laid eggs, that takes a lot out of them. Also, that's really not a good Gutload anyways so she hasn't been getting any good nutrients for a while. I'm no vet and have zero experience with females but I do know that proper gutloading and supplementing are extremely important.
 
If they are not injuries then they could be a number of things. I'm looking in the last photo. A little way up from where the leg joins her body there is one and a little way further up from there there is one. There are several more faint ones.
 
How's she doing today? Here's what my friend said about vets in your area.

Sorry I cannot find his name. But she should do good with Dr Tim Paul. I have more faith in him then I do with DR Beth Bright wiser (All Living Things) or Dr Lennox ( Avian & Exotic Care) who are supposedly exotic pets but I personally find them to be idiots..,Xanthoman (think that his name) on CF lives near Terre Haute maybe he can advise of vets or help.


Dr Scott Emch is Working at Specks Pet Supplies 12664 E 116th today 4-6pm . He is not reptile but Very Amazing Most Compassionate Vet I ever met. Maybe he can recomend someone to help her . Dr Emch did releif vet work when I was a tech.
 
Back
Top Bottom