Eye problem - help needed

[Zopooh]

My veiled cham is having some eye problem that no one can identify..
It seems that some kind of liquid is flowing from his eyes, something like tears, then it dries out and forms a film that covers the eye. At first it was only with one eye. I used some eye drops and it went away, now it's starting all over and with both eyes. It's getting really bad during moulting.. I clean his eyes every day and every next day this scab appears again.
It also seems that the eyes have sunken in.. I don't want to take him to a vet, because there are no good vets that know how to treat hameleons in Moscow.
The terrarium is 50x60x80 cm, humidity 40-70%, temperature 30 C at basking spot, 22-23 C in the bottom left corner
The appetite is good. He starts eating after I clean the eyes..

Pls see some photos below
Thank you

 

[lizardboy119796]

I dont know much about his eyes, but an expert will see this thread and they should be able to help you out, but, I would change some things in the cage. I cant see it very well, but, I would take the bulb out of the inside of the cage, I dont know what kind of lighting you are using, but you should have a repti sun 5.0 linear(Long Tube) Bulb, and I think a 60 watt just common house bulb should be good for a basking bulb, I would get an all screen cage. lllreptile.com
Cheap screen cages, but the best, also, make sure you get the aluminum ones, not the reptariums. It looks like puss coming from his eyes, I would try to find a good vet asap, those eyes do not look good.

 

[beeze]

I would find a vet. He looks like he really needs one.

 

[adamb94]

I am no expert, but clearly some people don't read too well...(no vet)
It is clearly some type of eye infection...many are caused by simple exposure to high intensity bulbs. If caught in time they may heal themselves when used with drops.
Try moving the light fixture further away or switching the bulb intensity

 

[jannb]

Eye problems are often the sign of a more serious problem with a chameleon. We are not vets here and can only advise you from what we have seen either by experience or from reading other post here on the forums. The problem your guy has looks serious to me and sunken eyes are also a sign of a more serious problem. I would recommend that you feel out the ask for help form below and allow the members here to see if they can see any reason why your cham is having these problems. I understand that a good chameleon vet it hard to come by. I drive two hours to our vet but a vet is necessary to diagnose and treat many of these illnesses.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

 

[Zopooh]

Thank you for your answers!
Here's the form:
Cage Info:

* Cage Type - Glass with two screens one in the center of the roof, one in the bottom of the front glass. 50x60x80 cm (WxLxH)

* Lighting - 1 x 60 Wt standard basking bulb, 1 x ReptiGlo 5 15 Wt (standard set for Russian chameleon keepers). The light turns on at 7 am and turns off at 10 pm
* Temperature - (cage floor 22 C; basking spot 30 C)? Lowest overnight temp 21C. How do you measure these temps? - Two temperature indicators in the cage (by Exoterra)
* Humidity - 40-70% No sprinkling, no misting, just a dropper. The humidity level in the apartments is high enough to keep 40-70% in the cage. I use humidity indicator (by Exoterra)
* Plants - 1 Benjamine Ficus and two plastic plants
* Placement - The cage is in the corner of my bedroom. The side glasses are coverred with green paper, and there are three pieces of birch bark on the walls and 2 sisals. The top of the cage is above my head a little-bit..
* Location - Russia, Moscow


Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Veiled, male, around 4 months old. He's been living here for 2.5 months approx.
* Handling - I watch him every morning and night
* Feeding - Mostly crickets, some grasshoppers, cabbge white butterflies, few locusts. He eats about 6-8 average crickets per day. I feed him daily morning and night I feed crickets with vegetables, oatmeal and fish food (a little)
* Supplements - ReptoCal (Tetrafauna), Wardley reptile Calcium + Reptolife (TetraFauna). Proportion is 2+1+1. Dusting with every meal.
* Watering - Dropper. Don't mist at all. Haven't seen him drinking for a long time, but I see him only 2-3 hours a day..
* Fecal Description - Brown or blask "sausage" with some white stuff on it. I haven't tested him on parasites. The previous one was tested but he didn't survive anyway, so there's no point in disturbing the animal another time
* History - Was rubbing his eye once in the past but then everything was OK...
* Current Problem - Pls see above..

 

[jannb]

Tell us more about your UV light. It is a long blub or the coil style? The coil bulbs cause eye problems and blindness.

You should have the lights on no more than 12 hours a day and it should be completely dark at night so your cham can rest

You need to mist 3 times a day and with his eye problem even more. Give him very long mistings with very warm water.

Fish food is not a good gutload for your cham.

For supplements you should dust at just about every feeding with a plain calcium dust; twice a month with a dust with D3 in it and once a month with a multi vit. dust.

I would find a vet to get his eyes checked and the proper medication for what he has.

 

[Zopooh]

Jannb:
This is what I'm using for UV: http://www.petzoo.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=183
If I turn the lights later and turn off earlier there would be almost no time for me to see him. I normally come back from work at 8 pm. So I could turn the light off at 9.. which makes 14 hours..
I'm afraid if I mist the cage the humidity will go off-scale and I will have problems with mould. I also heard that the climat in Yemen is quite dry..
There's no such thing as "gut load" in Russia. You simply cannot find it here
I'm using dried minced gammarus because crickets need chitin when they grow or they start eating each other.. At least that's what the most knowledgeable guy in Moscow told me.
well, I'm afraid I have no other choice than taking him to a vet. But I don't trust them. I haven't heard of any cham cured by our vets

 

[tkilgour]

I am not sure about your enclosure! However, try vitamin A w/ retinol palmitate. Get the gel caps and crush the gel cap in your hand and smear it on it food for 5-7 days. See if it clear it up. It helped one of my guys eyes!

 

[jannb]

Jannb:
This is what I'm using for UV: http://www.petzoo.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=183
If I turn the lights later and turn off earlier there would be almost no time for me to see him. I normally come back from work at 8 pm. So I could turn the light off at 9.. which makes 14 hours..
I'm afraid if I mist the cage the humidity will go off-scale and I will have problems with mould. I also heard that the climat in Yemen is quite dry..
There's no such thing as "gut load" in Russia. You simply cannot find it here
I'm using dried minced gammarus because crickets need chitin when they grow or they start eating each other.. At least that's what the most knowledgeable guy in Moscow told me.
well, I'm afraid I have no other choice than taking him to a vet. But I don't trust them. I haven't heard of any cham cured by our vets

Chameleons NEED to be misted....all chameleons even veileds. I have two veileds and I mist two really long times or three shorter times a day.

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy,

For what looks like an eye infection, vets will often prescribe something like Gentamicin Sulfate Ophthalmic solution or Terramycin Ophthalmic Ointment (example: http://www.1800petmeds.com/Terramycin-prod10190.html). The infection could be deep into the nasal cavity so treating the eye may be a loosing battle if you can't attack the entire infected area . If you do treat the eye, you'll want to be sure that you are getting the medication under the eyelid. First, try flushing the eye with a fairly strong stream of cheap, bulk-buy saline eye wash solution. Load-up a small (2-4oz size is nice) squeeze bottle and stream it at the eye from an inch away, watching for the eye lid to fill-up and drain a few times. After you've flushed the heavy debri away then treat with meds. It may take a couple of treatments a day for a week or two to clear it up. Be sure to treat for many days after the symptoms are gone to insure that the infection is completely gone.

 

[jannb]

Here's a great link to help you with your veiled:
http://raisingkittytheveiledchamele...-max=2008-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=11

 

[chambabysitter1]

Here's a great link to help you with your veiled:
http://raisingkittytheveiledchamele...-max=2008-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=11

This link is very useful. It seems like you might be confused on some aspects with your husbandry, this guide is very useful.

Chameleons maintain the cleanliness of their eyes with misting, which represents rain and dew that would normally be in their enviroment. In fact, this is the natural way for them to drink. Most will make due with a dripper, but it's a downpour of mist that really stimulates them to drink.

Without the mist your chameleon has had no chances to clean his eyes.
The humidity will go back down after the misting, there are plenty of drainage solutions that people use here online, but misting is essential.

Trust me they have gutload in russia. Unless you guys ran out of leafy greens, carrots, fruits, and potatoes, I don't think you will have a problem providing a proper gutload.
These links will be very useful:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition.html

Anyways, many people here have some really great advice. Ask some questions, do some research, and you will probably have a long lived chameleon with no health problems. But research is key.

Good luck to you and your buddy!

 

[QuioteCham]

Increase humidity, you can even bring him into the shower with you (if theres a secure place for him to hold onto). Make sure he is drinking lots of water as well. A vet would be the best, but I understand you have no qualified herp vets in your area. you could also trying using reptaid. It was suggested to me for a cham with serious health issues and I have been seeing much improvement from using it. If you can find a vet tho, that would be the best bet.

 

[kinyonga]

Regarding supplementing...I dust with a phos.-free calcium powder at most feedings and twice a month with a vitamin powder containing a beta carotene source of vitamin A. If your chameleon needs preformed vitamin A it can be added to its diet when needed...but don't overdo it since excess preformed vitamin A can prevent the D3 from doing its job and lead to MBD. Because my chameleons get UVB from a UVB bulb, I dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder. D3 from supplements can build up in the system too...so don't overdo it.

Gutloading...I've been gutloading crickets for years with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, zucchini, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, celery leaves) and my crickets don't seem to eat each other. They also grow well and reproduce well.

I agree with chambabysitter1 concerning misting helping them clean their eyes. As for knowing what is wrong with the eye...you need a vet to look at it and tell you how to treat it.

 

[Zopooh]

Thanks everybody for your advices, they are very helpful!
I will follow your recommendations with misting and see what'll happen.
As for the "gutload" I thought that it meant some kind of special nutrition for crickets that is sold in packages. We have no problems with finding vegetables of course))
janndb: what is the humidity in the cage and in the room where it stands?
and thanks again for the links, I'll read them..
As for the dusting as I said I've been using ReptoCal with every meal which is (Ca, P and vit D3) - 2 parts plus Wardley's Replitle Ca (Ca 34-37%, vit А, D3, Е, В3, С) - 1 part and 1 part of ReptoVit (
This is a standard set for Russia. I'm afraid of experimenting with it because we don't have the same drugs as you do and I don't really understand whether they need Ca with phospohorus or without etc. I should definitely read more about it..
And once per 2-3 weeks I give him 1 drop of ReptoSol http://www.mascotaplanet.com/catalog/reptosol-p-860.html. Can't find exact content but mostly it's vitamin A.

 

[kinyonga]

Calcium, phosphorous, D3 and vitamin A are all important players in bone health and they need to be in balance. Here are some articles that might help....
http://web.archive.org/web/20060502...rnals.com/vet/index.php?show=5.Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/20060421.../index.php?show=6.Vitamin.D3.and.Calcium.html
http://chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=102

(Don't know if you know this or not but prOformed vitamin A (beta carotene) can not build up in the system....its converted as needed. However its not known for sure whether all/any chameleons can convert it. PrEformed vitamin A (retinol, palmitate, animal sources) is ready to go and can build up in the system.)

 

[jannb]

Thanks everybody for your advices, they are very helpful!
I will follow your recommendations with misting and see what'll happen.
As for the "gutload" I thought that it meant some kind of special nutrition for crickets that is sold in packages. We have no problems with finding vegetables of course))
janndb: what is the humidity in the cage and in the room where it stands?
and thanks again for the links, I'll read them..
As for the dusting as I said I've been using ReptoCal with every meal which is (Ca, P and vit D3) - 2 parts plus Wardley's Replitle Ca (Ca 34-37%, vit А, D3, Е, В3, С) - 1 part and 1 part of ReptoVit (
This is a standard set for Russia. I'm afraid of experimenting with it because we don't have the same drugs as you do and I don't really understand whether they need Ca with phospohorus or without etc. I should definitely read more about it..
And once per 2-3 weeks I give him 1 drop of ReptoSol http://www.mascotaplanet.com/catalog/reptosol-p-860.html. Can't find exact content but mostly it's vitamin A.

Veileds are not quite as sensitive to the humidity level as some chameleons. It will drop between mistings, then go back up. Where I live I never worry about humidity but on an average of 50 or more is good.......as I said it will go up and down with your mistings.