closing eyes during the day

[modernjamie]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Panther - ambanja, male, 3month old

Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? never handled

Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? 1/2'' crickets, 3-4 crickets a day, usually at around 11 am, I gutload with cricket crack and carrot/apples

Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? calcium w/o D3 (everyday), calcium w/ D3 and herptivite (once every 2 weeks)

Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
little drippers, misting 5 times a day - 3 minutes each until water drops

Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? black and little white on the side, no test for parasites

History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? 18x18x36 screen cage

Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? Zoomed reptisun HO T5 5.0 (tube) + 50 watt basking bulb

Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Top: 83-85 and bottom: 60 Lowest overnight temp? 50-60 How do you measure these temps? Thermometer

Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? I mist his cage 5 times a day with exo terra pressure mister (I ordered mistking starter kit and it will be delivered this week)

Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? Ficus Benjamina and fake vines

Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? In the bedroom - a few feet from the heater. The cage is located on top of a table (table is about 30 inches hight)

Location - Where are you geographically located? New Jersey

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

I noticed that my panther chameleon Rocket (3 month old) has been closing his eyes constantly during the day. Even when I feed him, he would take a break and close his eyes and he would turn brown when he does so. I caught him basking under the light, turned brown, closing eyes a few times. Recently, he also has been sitting very close to the UVB - He was almost black as you can see in the picture.

I read that chameleons should not be closing his eyes during the day. I want to know if I'm doing something wrong here.. I've had him for a week and he's been eating about 3-4 1/2'' crickets a day (dusted in calcium w/o D3 everyday and w/ D3 once every two weeks and same for the herptivite) I wanted to get smaller crickets but local petsmart only had small and large crickets available and 1/2'' was the smallest I could get.. The crickets are about half the size of his entire head.

I attached some pictures.

1st pic - normal color
2nd pic - closing his eyes under baking light
3rd pic - being closed to UVB (turned to almost black color)
4th pic - being closed to UVB (turned to almost black color)
5th pic - entire enclosure

 

[carol5208]

I don't see anything in our set up that jumps out as to the cause of his eye problems. They will turn dark to absorb the heat sometimes, but that is odd under the uvb as they do not really produce any heat. Are you only offering him 3-5 crickets a day or is that all he will eat? He should be eating about 15 crickets or prey items a day at 3 months. They are usually little eating machines! He looks very tiny to be eating 1/2 inch crickets. Try feeding him smaller ones if that is all he will eat for you. Wish I could help with the eye problems, but I don't see anything in your set up that seems wrong.

 

[modernjamie]

Are you only offering him 3-5 crickets a day or is that all he will eat? He should be eating about 15 crickets or prey items a day at 3 months. They are usually little eating machines!

Thank you for helping me out with my little guy! I offer more than that but he would only eat 3-5 crickets per day. It might be because he is still adjusting (I got him last Tuesday)? His one eye is always fixed on me when he's hunting. He is very conscious of my existence. Do you think it's possible that the cause is from not being familiar with the environment yet? I try to feed him multiple times during the day. Feeding him has not been so easy since he would not eat crickets in a cup. I have to put a cricket on a vine and he would finally eat it. It takes about couple hours to feed him a day.

I am a bit worried about him being so close to UVB lamp. He would sit only 2-3 inches away from the lamp. Do you think it will harm him? Should I lower the vine?

 

[carol5208]

Don't worry about the uvb bulb and him being close to it. You could lower your vine, but if he wants to get under it, he will crawl the screen. They like to do that as babies for some reason and get right underneath it. It will not burn him, nor should it be causing him to close his eyes. He's not eating much, but he also might still be getting settled into his new home with you. I would try letting some of the crickets loose and see if he will eat more for you that way. It should not take hours of your time to feed him! Remove any crickets he does not eat at night, as they might bother him and even nibble on him while he is sleeping. You can always throw a little cricket food to the bottom of your enclosure if you are worried you did not find them all, as they do tend to hide. I would also some try some little worms, like silkworms. They are a good feeder and most chameleons seem to like them.