Eye issues and this came out of his vent today

[SierraNevada]

Dino has been having problems with his right eye. I noticed a clear hardened film covering his eye yesterday. I put him under a warm shower and rinsed it. The clear film washed away and he was fine until today. The film came back in the late afternoon. So again, we put him under some warm water in the shower and rinsed it away.

Then he crapped. We were shocked because it was a lot. And...the first thing to come out was this large hard orange log of something. It's hard...and very strange. Also was this white dangling thing...I hope you can see it in the pic.

If anyone has any idea on what this is...please post. Thanks.

NOTE: After it's rinsed out, his eye goes back to normal. It's not at all the way it looks in these pics. It is a nice round turret with full motion and a clear eyeball....

Yesterday:

Here's a better view of the film or disk of clear junk in his eyeball. Once it was out, his turret and eye looked fine. When it's in his eye, he doesn't move his turret too much and won't use his eye. He'll either close it or leave it stationary and turn to see me with his other eye.

Here's his other side:

 

[ChromaChameleons]

Looks like your fella is not drinking enough water, as evidenced by the orange urate. His casque and eye turrets are not suggesting dehydration, but there might be a hydration issue .

The white thing looks like a sperm plug. Its normal for them to have these from time to time.

There may be some other underlying problem, but I'd start by making drip water available to him more often throughout the day.

 

[CleanLineChameleons]

I agree with Chroma...those are definitely sperm plugs and the urinates is a bit yellow which is a sign of dehydration. That could also be a reason for his eye problem...too low of humidity. I would get him some terramycin and try misting him more to solve both the dehydration and the eye. He looks good, nice clean barring, I like him!

-chris

 

[SierraNevada]

That orange urate is hard as a rock.

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

Yes, as afar as I know it is comprised of crystals of various salts, etc. It IS hard. The boy needs some hyper-hydration, such as showers or good heavy mistings, stil that whitens up a good deal. Some chams are real stubborn about drinking.

 

[SierraNevada]

He won't drink in the shower or when he's misted. The only time he drinks is when dropletts form on the ceiling of his enclosure after the humidifier has been running. I watch him sit up there and drink every day. There's plenty of water, mistings and sprayings daily.
hmmm. Maybe larger crickets with more body fluids would be helpful.

 

[SoCaliSon]

Is the dehydration the reason for the hard urates? I know that at least in other herps I deal with they say that the urate should be in one clump, but should be as soft as the rest of the stool. And how would you guys treat the eye. The store close to me started contacting when they have a sick herp, and You may have read on a previous thread I posted that they now have a female looks exactaly like this problem with the eye. Any input on how the eye should be treated? If it is something I may have the ability to treat on my own I may take her in. Aside from that eye, and being a lil on the chubby side she looks healthy, and at this point they will probably sell her to me for $50 as they can't sell her like that.. and nobody is treating it so it is just getting worse.

From what I have read above... I would say that you should keep giving him those nice long daily showers. With that hard orange urate I would say that address the hydration as head on as possible and hope that the eye clears up in the process.

 

[lbesok]

I really like him too and agree with everyone else about hydration. I could recommend daily placing paper towels on top of the cage, over the area he likes to hang out, so the water will collect for longer and continue to drip down. Maybe you cold also see if he would accept something like Pedialyte from a dropper or soak the paper towel in it for hydration.
My chameleon had a similar issue with they eye it looked like this 8/07:

He was having a lot of eye problems for a LONG time. it was also gewie and crusty. He had a vitamin A deficiency that took him a couple of months to fully recover from, and he still gets a RX liquid multi vitamin 2x a mo. to make sure he is getting what he needs.
Here is another thread that was recently talking about it, maybe it will help:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/dave-weldon-vit-11491/

 

[Sporkthedork]

Is the dehydration the reason for the hard urates? I know that at least in other herps I deal with they say that the urate should be in one clump, but should be as soft as the rest of the stool.

I know with my snakes their urates are soft as clay if you spot clean the moment it comes out. After an hour or so, their urates become hard as a rock as well. I guess you're just really good and fast at spot cleaning.

 

[SoCaliSon]

I do clean up poop as soon as as i see it and make sure all is good... But in this case looks like it happened in the shower and was observed right away.

 

[danielle609]

I agree with lbesok about hydration and Vitamin A. I would make sure you are suplementing him with a vitamin dust that has vitamin A in it 1-2 times a month. Don't overdo it though because it can be toxic along with the other fat soluble vitamins. Someone also said something about terymycin, that can be aquired without a vet appointment, but if you have the time and a little extra cash I personally think it would be benificial to get him to a vet and get some perscription eye drops. just my 2 cents. He is an absolutley beautiful chameleon!! Good luck with him!

 

[CleanLineChameleons]

Actually they have terramycin and/or tobramycin at most feed stores for about $12. Also I do supplement with vitamin A, but very rarely. I think it should be noted that vitamin A along with other fat soluble vitamins are never excreted out of the body and they become toxic at high levels. So, be very careful with these vitamins because they may not have any immediate negative effects but down the road they can kill your cham and there is no remedy that can bring those vitamin levels down. So, be careful.

-chris

 

[SierraNevada]

Update:

After Dino passed that orange hard urate and "sperm plug", his eye problem stopped/changed. It was just minor signs of minor irritation, and no mucus.

He gets all his necessary vitamins...there's no deficiency...and he's not dehydrated. Actually...I think the initial cause is solved and it happens to be opposite the dehydration thoughts on it. More on that later.

Anyhow - I took him to a reptile vet and had him examined.

Dino does not have an eye infection, however the vet gave me some antibiotic eye drops to use as needed.

The Orange urate was as you guys described...crystallized urates hardened, etc.

The "sperm plug" was a huge issue. The Vet said he had never seen anything like that object in his 14 years as a reptile vet. He told me they (it) was too big to be a sperm plug - however...he would contact an expert zoo vet he knew, who was one of the top herp vets in the world with photos of it, etc.

Even with my 30+ years keeping reptiles...I had never seen or heard of this object either. My vet said he spent an hour researching it in all his digests and volumes, coming up with nothing. Since chameleons are a re-newed experience for me, I had no idea, either way. The odd thing was the object was symmetrical on both ends with a fleshy string attaching the two ends.

Another note: I sent the pics to Liddy Kammer. She had no idea what that object "sperm plug" was. She had never seen it before either. Then she called me...but we played phone tag.

The Vet put the object under a microscope and could not determine it's origin. He also checked the stool sample and found no parasites or unusual microbes. At first, he thought it could be a tape worm...but it wasn't...and didn't look right anyway.

Dino's water source are droplets left over from a humidifier. He tilts his head at a certain angle at the top of a vine and drinks. It happens that his right eye is always facing the dripping water when he drinks.

It is my theory, the water was infected with bacteria from the tube....some was getting into his eye and caused a minor infection which healed with the rinsing on it's own. My vet gave me a sterile vile and syringe for taking a sample of the water container/humidifier and bringing it to him for testing at no charge.

The "de-hydration" issue might have been because he was being fed very small crickets that week due to a local shortage when I went on my feed run. Large crickets provide some hydration which may make up for drinking time. That's my theory, anyhow.

At this point - he's passing normally with healthy looking waste. His eye is fine and he's eating like a horse.

 

[SierraNevada]

Another update:

The vet called...to tell me those WERE sperm plugs. I told him thats what you guys said they were and he said they weren't. It's a little irritating.

Thanks for everyone's help. He's doing great.

 

[ChromaChameleons]

Sierra:

Did you ask your vet for a refund??????

 

[SierraNevada]

Sierra:

Did you ask your vet for a refund??????

The vet bill was $97 dollars...plus the 100 mile round trip at $4.69 a gallon for diesel fuel up here. He DID give me anti-biotics for Dino's eye, if it had any more problems with it.

I don't know man...on one hand, the vet spent a long time with me, offered stuff at no charge...like testing of my humidifier water under a microscope, etc.

He didn't know they were sperm plugs. BUT...he researched it and called me ...so it's not like he was not doing his job. He wanted to make sure, I suppose.

They treated me really good there and were all very professional and nice. Plus, they complimented the heck out of me for doing such a good job with my chameleon. They especially liked that I had a thermometer in his travel cage.

All in all....I'd say the idea of asking for a refund wouldn't be right.

 

[ChromaChameleons]

Well it sounds as though your vet was thorough and diligent . I personally would have expected that he could identify a sperm plug easily. If you are happy with him, then by all means continue to patronize his establishment.

It does illustrate that medicine is not an exact science. How many other disciplines get away with being right some of the time...LOL

Myself, I've switched herp vets once due to repeated botch ups. I now have a vet that has less experience with herps, than the last, but is totally open to my input. She will not BS her way around any issue and openly admits , when she is delving into unfamiliar territory. I have even been allowed to assist her during surgery and I have even suggested courses of action , with my vet researching my suggestions and prescribing meds on that basis. We are now working in sync and have produced successful remedies for several issues .

If you can find an "open-minded" vet , then you will have the best of both worlds. I wouldn't give up my present vet for anything.

I think your vet sounds like a winner.