Eye Issue...... Dr. Needed?

[Sassy]

I did do a search for eye issues and I got some information but not a whole lot pertaining to panthers. My new male "Davy Jones" is having an issues with his left eye. This morning as I was spraying like I do each morning, I noticed that he couldn't open his left eye. You could see the eye moving underneath, but he wasn't opening it. So I took him outside. Sprayed him for a few more minutes and finally after about 20 min he opened his eye. To me the left eye does not look the same as the right. The left pupil looks larger....I don't see it dialating like the right eye.......he's still opening and shutting it.......It's the 4th of July and seems that all the vets accept emergency are closed. Any suggestions? I appreciate the help.

 

[dodolah]

Hi Sassy,

Here is some recommended information to include when asking for help in the health clinic forum. By giving this info in your post, you will receive more accurate and beneficial responses. It might not be necessary to include all this info, but the more you do include the better. Please remember that even the most knowledgeable person can only guess at what your problem may be. Only an experienced reptile vet who can directly examine your animal can give a true diagnostic of your chameleon's health.

Cage Info:

* Cage Type - What kind of cage are you using? What is the size?
* Lighting - What kind of lighting are you using? How long do you keep the lights on during the day?
* Temperature - What temperature range have you created? Basking spot temp? What is the temperature at night?
* Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels?
* Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
* Location - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas?


Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon.
* Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What kind of schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
* Supplements - What are you dusting your feeders with and what kind of schedule do you use?
* Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
* Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings.
* History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
* Current Problem - The current problem that you are concerned about.


Pictures can really help as well.

 

[Sassy]

Cage Info:

* Cage Type - Aluminum Screen Cage, 48" Tall x 24" Squared
* Lighting - Right now his light comes on at 7:30 am and shuts off at 7:30 pm, he was brought to me with a tube 10.0 reptisun and a 75watt reg. incandescent bulb for heat.
* Temperature - 78 cool side. Basking spot temp is about 90 What is the temperature at night - 70 or so
* Humidity - I have not tested the humidity levels yet
* Plants - Umbrella Tree - Live
* Location - Where is your cage located? In our house our kitchen is very long....he is at the end of the kitchen against the wall Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? Fairly high traffic and the celing fan is on quite a bit, dosen't seem to be blowing near the cage though.


Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Ambanja, Male, 3 yrs.
* Feeding - Silkworms, hasn't tried anything else yet. About 3 a day till he gets his fat stores back up, 2 in the Am and 1 or tow in the afternoon?

* Supplements - I have only had him since Tuesday so as of right now I have not given him any supplements, today will be the first day when I dust the roaches.
* Watering - Dripper / Misting twice a day for about 10 min. Do you see your chameleon drinking? Yes
* Fecal Description - Has not pooped yet ( had His Since Tuesday)
* History - His previous owner was not very alert....had him without water for at least a day before he came to me, and was VERY hungry.
* Current Problem - This AM had his left eye shut, would not open it till I misted him for a long time....then opened it, not he's closing it off and on.

 

[Sassy]

First Pic - Right Eye
Second Pic - Left Eye
Third Pic - Front View.....

 

[mczoo]

Likely, this one will need a vet. until then

Several possible issues are:

corneal abrashion from the wind from fan (this would likely heal self)

humidity too much or to little can cause eye issues... need to measure it and adjust

infection is also possible

dehydration .... no poop and uncertain humidity (you could correct this with misting)

and the list goes on

Sean

i would do all i could to maximize husbandry and get seen by vet monday....i am sure others with more experience will add more

 

[Sassy]

Likely, this one will need a vet. until then

Several possible issues are:

corneal abrashion from the wind from fan (this would likely heal self)

humidity too much or to little can cause eye issues... need to measure it and adjust

infection is also possible

dehydration .... no poop and uncertain humidity (you could correct this with misting)

and the list goes on

Sean

i would do all i could to maximize husbandry and get seen by vet monday....i am sure others with more experience will add more

Yeah - I apprecaite the info - We turned the fan off..... we are thinking that he hasn't had water or food in at least a few days before he came to us....so we have been trying to pamper him, our female panther is in the same room, visual barrier but no issues with her.

 

[dodolah]

Unfortunately, closing eyes is a general symptom a chameleon displays to tell that there something not right.
Off course the best way to actually tell what's wrong with your cham is by going to the vet (try to get an appointment as soon as the holiday is over).

Cage Info:

* Cage Type - Aluminum Screen Cage, 48" Tall x 24" Squared
* Lighting - Right now his light comes on at 7:30 am and shuts off at 7:30 pm, he was brought to me with a tube 10.0 reptisun and a 75watt reg. incandescent bulb for heat.

Normally, we use reptisun 5.0 LINEAR tube.
Is your 10.0 tube is compact? (is the bulb spiral?) If it is, then this might be the source of your problem.
If it is a linear one, how far the chameleon get close to the light?

* Humidity - I have not tested the humidity levels yet
This simply won't do. If possible, try to get a hygrometer for his cage. Humidity and lighting are their living requirements. Without the ability to exactly know the enclosure humidity and temp, we cannot be sure that we are providing him the proper habitat. Lack of humidity/ overly humid cage contributes to a lot of health problem (hence the eye closing symptom appeared)

* Plants - Umbrella Tree - Live
* Location - Where is your cage located? In our house our kitchen is very long....he is at the end of the kitchen against the wall Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? Fairly high traffic and the celing fan is on quite a bit, dosen't seem to be blowing near the cage though.

Sometimes chameleon do exhibit stress symptom by closing their eyes. Also, the high traffic definitely does not help in this situation. If he is seeing too many "predators" activity near him, he will get stressed. The stress can weaken their immune system in the long run. So, please put him into a low traffic room and try to elevate his cage as high as possible. Chameleon feel "safe" when they can perch higher than their predator.

Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Ambanja, Male, 3 yrs.
* Feeding - Silkworms, hasn't tried anything else yet. About 3 a day till he gets his fat stores back up, 2 in the Am and 1 or tow in the afternoon?
This might not be a problem, but in the long run you want to vary his diet.

* Supplements - I have only had him since Tuesday so as of right now I have not given him any supplements, today will be the first day when I dust the roaches.
what kind of supplements you will be using?

* Watering - Dripper / Misting twice a day for about 10 min. Do you see your chameleon drinking? Yes

* Fecal Description - Has not pooped yet ( had His Since Tuesday)
Check the enclosure. Generally, you want to see poops. But, since he is an adult, he won't poop as often as babies. If he hasn't pooped in more than 4 days even though he is eating, I would start to be alert.

 

[Sassy]

What type of hygrometer do you reccomend?

 

[dodolah]

What type of hygrometer do you reccomend?

Accurite.
Cheap (about 12 bucks) and does the job perfectly. You can get it at walmart, lowes, etc..

 

[mczoo]

lowes has a thermometer with probe, hygrometer and high/low humidity for $13 usually in home and garden area

Sean

i guess i was too slow. i just bought 3 of those monday

 

[Sassy]

Guess I will drive over there to see if they have them, I can't even find them online.......wish me luck.....after I get it - what humidity should I try to keep it at?

 

[mczoo]

i mostly have montanes (jacksons/montium) they need high humidity. panthers as i understand need medium amounts, veileds less.

Screameleons (a sight sponsor/breeders) has 60-80% on their website as good humidity.

Sean

 

[dodolah]

50 - 60 % is acceptable with spikes after misting.

 

[Sassy]

ok - so I made a few modifications - I added a digital thermometer and humidity gage as well as decided to try the Murcury Vapor Bulb on him. Humidity is flexing between 50% and 60% and he did have quite a good poop and the urates looked nice and white Basking site is only staying at about 82 and the cool spots at about 75ish.


I will keep track of his eye and make and appt. if things don't seem to be back to normal, it's possible his eye has been like this before he came to me, but his previous owner has not called me back. I'll keep you posted

 

[chamlover]

Just wanted to let u know i went through quite an ordeal with my Nosybe thinking he had everything from a URI to who knows what. Started the same way, with 1 eye closing. By the time we figured out what was going on, he had both eyes closed and wasn't eating or drinking by himself. Long story short, parasites. He hadn't pooped because he hadn't eaten and the vet tried a swab but nothing was there. Took another few days before we got one and he tested positive for roundworms. I didn't think being c/b there could be many but boy was i surprised. They were coming out everywhere. It's been about 14 days since we STARTED treatment and the difference is like day and night. Both eyes opened and eating and drinking. So like everyone was saying, the eyes being shut is like us having a fever. It is just a clue that something is not right. Now it is up to you to figure out what it is. I would have a fecal done Monday am. And i would take the female out of his view. You might not think he has issues with her but i had a male have a prolapse got he got so excited about seeing a female for 2 long. With everything else he seems to be going through it's not worth putting him through any more stress than is necessary.

Good luck and keep us informed.
Debby

 

[Sassy]

Just wanted to let u know i went through quite an ordeal with my Nosybe thinking he had everything from a URI to who knows what. Started the same way, with 1 eye closing. By the time we figured out what was going on, he had both eyes closed and wasn't eating or drinking by himself. Long story short, parasites. He hadn't pooped because he hadn't eaten and the vet tried a swab but nothing was there. Took another few days before we got one and he tested positive for roundworms. I didn't think being c/b there could be many but boy was i surprised. They were coming out everywhere. It's been about 14 days since we STARTED treatment and the difference is like day and night. Both eyes opened and eating and drinking. So like everyone was saying, the eyes being shut is like us having a fever. It is just a clue that something is not right. Now it is up to you to figure out what it is. I would have a fecal done Monday am. And i would take the female out of his view. You might not think he has issues with her but i had a male have a prolapse got he got so excited about seeing a female for 2 long. With everything else he seems to be going through it's not worth putting him through any more stress than is necessary.

Good luck and keep us informed.
Debby

The Female is not in his view...I didn't see where I had posted that so sorry if you read that somewhere, they are in the same room, but they def. can not see eachother Thanks for the info, he had a fecal done a week ago with the pervious owner befoer he came to my house and he was fine, but I will not stop worrying until he's 100% Thank You!

 

[Dave Weldon]

...decided to try the Murcury Vapor Bulb on him...

Howdy,

Going from a Reptisun 10.0 to a Mercury Vapor (MV) may be heading in the wrong direction . See if you can exchange the MV for a ZooMed Reptisun 5.0 linear tube or just use the Reptisun 10.0 (assuming that it isn't a compact fluorescent) at a distance of around 12" away from his body while he's at the basking site.

By the way, which MV did you buy? Some downright dangerous while others are only just more powerful than optimum for typical chameleon applications...

 

[Sassy]

Howdy,

Going from a Reptisun 10.0 to a Mercury Vapor (MV) may be heading in the wrong direction . See if you can exchange the MV for a ZooMed Reptisun 5.0 linear tube or just use the Reptisun 10.0 (assuming that it isn't a compact fluorescent) at a distance of around 12" away from his body while he's at the basking site.

By the way, which MV did you buy? Some downright dangerous while others are only just more powerful than optimum for typical chameleon applications...

Well I didn't buy anything, we have a company that sends us light from www.reptileuv.com and I measure the UV from the 10.0 that he came with and it wasn't a good bulb, only reading a 10 at the basking site. Since I usually order my bulbs online to save a few bucks I thought that this MV bulb would be great - it' stays at about a 80 or a little higher at his basking site.

Also he previous owner called me back last night and said that the Left eye had been acting weird off and on for 2 months, he had forgotten to tell me that......great.......so yeah...not sure what to do at this point. I will find the dr. near me with the most Chameleon experience and make an appt I guess

 

[Dave Weldon]

...we have a company that sends us light from www.reptileuv.com and I measure the UV from the 10.0 that he came with and it wasn't a good bulb, only reading a 10 at the basking site. Since I usually order my bulbs online to save a few bucks I thought that this MV bulb would be great - it' stays at about a 80 or a little higher at his basking site...

Howdy,

Bob at ReptileUV supplies only the best MV UVB solutions. They work great for desert dwelling species and iguanas etc. If not set up correctly, they can be a bit powerful for chameleon applications. It sounds like you have a Solarmeter 6.2 UVB meter and have checked the level and found it to be 80uW/cm2 (or did you mean temperature ) at the basking site. That level is not too far out of line from the general recommended level for chameleons.

 

[Sassy]

Howdy,

Bob at ReptileUV supplies only the best MV UVB solutions. They work great for desert dwelling species and iguanas etc. If not set up correctly, they can be a bit powerful for chameleon applications. It sounds like you have a Solarmeter 6.2 UVB meter and have checked the level and found it to be 80uW/cm2 (or did you mean temperature ) at the basking site. That level is not too far out of line from the general recommended level for chameleons.

Thank you yes I meant that on the meter is says .80 at the highest point, I can make it higher but didn't want to go too high.