Closing one eye

[jennasandlin]

My new veiled chameleon has been perfectly fine since I first got her. Today I noticed her right eye was closed. I brought her out of her cage and held her as I saw that prompted other people’s chameleons to open their eye but she kept hers closed. I’ve seen her open it a couple of times but close it again shortly after. I’m not sure what this could be. I have an automatic mister that goes off for 30 seconds every hour and I hand mist throughout the day. I’m not completely sure about her age, the pet store never told me. My guess is maybe 3-5 months? i’m not sure at all i’m completely new to this. I’ll attach some photos of her closed eye and her opened one. The closed eye also seems to be slightly deflated looking? Any help is greatly appreciated and I can answer and questions or attach more photos. I’m pretty new to chameleons and I want to give her the best life that I can.

 

[jennasandlin]

i found this thing to fill out so maybe this will help.
Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?

Female Veiled Chameleon. Not sure of the age possible anywhere from 3-5 months? I got her about a month ago.

• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?

Not too often. Every other day at most for a short period of time unless it’s necessary.

• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?

Small feeder crickets. Anywhere from 12-15 until she stops eating since she’s young. I feed her in the early afternoon every day. I use the flickers orange cubes.

Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?

I use the repti-calcium powder and dust them before i give them to my chameleon.

• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?

I have an automatic mister that goes off for 30 seconds every hour and i hand mist frequently. I see her drinking sometimes but she is pretty drink shy.

• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?

I’ve been monitoring this and her droppings are moist and brown and the urate on the end is always white or with a very very slight tint of yellow. She has not been tested 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?

Screen cage 16x16x24 i believe.

• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?

I have the zoo med lighting kit which has the blue daylight bulb (60 watt) and the repti sun 5.0 bulb (13 watt). lights come on at 12pm and go off at 12 am

• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?

The basking spot is around 80 and drops as the cage gets lower. The temps at night are around 70. I use a digital thermometer.

• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?

I have a digital humidity gage. The humidity stays around 40-50 percent.

• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?

I have one decently sized Golden Pothos plant.

• 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?

The cage is in my bedroom and isn’t near and vents and i don’t have a fan. My room is very low traffic. The top of the cage is probably about 4 feet from the ground.

• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Ohio.
Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.
My chameleon doesn’t want to open her right eye.

 

[jennasandlin]

I noticed today that she’s opening her eye more often. I moved her basking spot further from the light yesterday and that may have helped? I still would like any help or advice

 

[kinyonga]

Please post some photos of your whole cage too.

 

[jennasandlin]

Please post some photos of your whole cage too.

 

[twistychams]

Could be the lighting. Most people recommend a linear uvb bulb(reptisun T5) and I would raise your basking temps to around 90-92 as I would say 80 is too low for a basking spot. Good luck!

 

[Beman]

Could be the lighting. Most people recommend a linear uvb bulb(reptisun T5) and I would raise your basking temps to around 90-92 as I would say 80 is too low for a basking spot. Good luck!

80 is perfectly fine for a Veiled female. temps of 90-92 are quite high even for an adult male veiled.

 

[Beman]

@jennasandlin Hi there please see my feedback in red bold. From the look of the pictures I am guessing the eye issue is more then likely an issue of lighting, supplementation, or she got some of the moss vine stuck in her eye. Let us know if you have questions.

i found this thing to fill out so maybe this will help.
Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?

Female Veiled Chameleon. Not sure of the age possible anywhere from 3-5 months? I got her about a month ago.

• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?

Not too often. Every other day at most for a short period of time unless it’s necessary.

• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?

Small feeder crickets. Anywhere from 12-15 until she stops eating since she’s young. I feed her in the early afternoon every day. I use the flickers orange cubes. The fluckers orange cubes are worthless as a gutload. See image for gutload below. Feeding amounts now are fine. Here is recommended feeding that my friend does with her females. As she matures you will have to start cutting back her food. By about 6 months she should be getting about 5-8 small feeders each day. At about 7 months you want to slowly reduce by cutting down feeders so that she is on a feeding schedule of 3 days a week with 3-4 feeders. You want them to be on this schedule by the time they are 10 months old. feeder amounts and temperatures have a direct correlation to how many eggs she will produce. With reduced feeding and lower temps she will produce a smaller clutch which will be easier on her body.

Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?

I use the repti-calcium powder and dust them before i give them to my chameleon. Which repticalcium? Does it say with D3 or without on the label? You need to be giving calcium with D3 two times a month and a mulitivitamin two times a month. These two should be rotated week to week. THen at all other feedings she should get calcium without D3.

• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?

I have an automatic mister that goes off for 30 seconds every hour and i hand mist frequently. I see her drinking sometimes but she is pretty drink shy. 30 seconds is a short period of time. I am guessing you got the monsoon and it limits time and frequency. I would do a longer misting of the cage by hand of about 2 minutes in the evening.

• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?

I’ve been monitoring this and her droppings are moist and brown and the urate on the end is always white or with a very very slight tint of yellow. She has not been tested for parasites. Slight yellow is fine. I do recommend everyone get their cham tested for parasites to ensure there are not issues.

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?

Screen cage 16x16x24 i believe. This will need to be upgraded to the 18x18x36 minimum size and soon. She has out grown the cage she is in. I would recommend however that you go with a 2x2x4 enclosure because you will need to accommodate a permanent lay bin for her.

• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?

I have the zoo med lighting kit which has the blue daylight bulb (60 watt) and the repti sun 5.0 bulb (13 watt). lights come on at 12pm and go off at 12 am
UVB lighting needs to be changed from the coil bulb to a T5HO fixture with either a 5.0 or 6% UVB bulb. These you will buy to fit the next cage size because it needs to run the width of the cage. Then basking is approximately 9 inches below to give her the correct UVB level.

• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?

The basking spot is around 80 and drops as the cage gets lower. The temps at night are around 70. I use a digital thermometer. 80 at basking is perfectly fine for a female. You will not want basking to be over 80 for her. Very important for females because as she ages she needs this temp no higher at basking to help control the amount of eggs she produces.

• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?

I have a digital humidity gage. The humidity stays around 40-50 percent. This is perfect for daytime. At night they can be up to 100% when you do not have lighting on.

• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?

I have one decently sized Golden Pothos plant. wonderful!

• 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?

The cage is in my bedroom and isn’t near and vents and i don’t have a fan. My room is very low traffic. The top of the cage is probably about 4 feet from the ground.

• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Ohio.
Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.
My chameleon doesn’t want to open her right eye.

Links I like:

www.dragonstrand.com

https://chameleonacademy.com/

https://www.chameleonbreeder.com/

https://www.youtube.com/c/NeptunetheChameleon?sub_confirmation=1

 

[Nicholashubbs410]

Chams can close their eyes when under stress. I thought that my ambilobe was dying when I first got him because he always had his eyes closed. 2 minute mistings, 4 times a day and some bee pollen from biodude did the trick. He’s constantly alert and eats well these days.

 

[twistychams]

80 is perfectly fine for a Veiled female. temps of 90-92 are quite high even for an adult male veiled.

80 for a basking spot has always been low for my chams but everyone has different climate and experiences.

 

[Marcoa1988]

Could be the lighting. Most people recommend a linear uvb bulb(reptisun T5) and I would raise your basking temps to around 90-92 as I would say 80 is too low for a basking spot. Good luck!

That cham seems way to small for that temp. My 9 month old basking temp stays around 82 to 85