eye problem

lillouie

Member
Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - Louie is a 1 year and 10 months old male veiled cham. I have had him since he was a couple weeks old.
  • Handling - I don’t handle very often because he doesn’t like it. i can pick him up when needed but try to avoid.
  • Feeding - Usually feed him 5-7 crickets every other day. Sometimes he gets superworms or hornworms about once a week
  • Supplements - repti calcium without D3 with every feeding, repti calcium with D3 once every two weeks, herptivite multivitamins once every two weeks.
  • Watering - I have a mistking that sprays every 2 hours for about 1-2 minutes while he is awake.
  • Fecal Description - his urate is sometimes orange with a white end. His poop looks to be normal.
Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Screen reptibreeze 2x2x4
  • Lighting - UVB 5.0 reptisun. and a 75w incandescent light for heat.
  • Temperature - Basking area is around 85. overnight his cage gets into the low 70s
  • Plants - i had a ficus tree that just recently died, need to get a new one.
  • Placement - the cage is located in the living room. his cage is about 2 ft off the ground.
  • Location - Northern Colorado

Current Problem - his left eye is sunken in and red. i think this may be due to a piece of debris breaking off from his branch. I have replaced the branch in the picture to avoid more problems because of advice received in previous post.
 

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They gave me some great advice in my previous post! just wanted to also fill out my complete cage and care information
They gave me great advice on my first post too @Beman might know something too.

What I would say is give your Cham a long misting and let it clean it’s eye. If it doesn’t get any better take him to a vet to get checked out.
 
Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - Louie is a 1 year and 10 months old male veiled cham. I have had him since he was a couple weeks old.
  • Handling - I don’t handle very often because he doesn’t like it. i can pick him up when needed but try to avoid.
  • Feeding - Usually feed him 5-7 crickets every other day. Sometimes he gets superworms or hornworms about once a week Since he is overweight, I'd cut out the superworms and hornworms. He should only be getting 2-3 crickets 3 times a week, as well. What do you gutload with?
  • Supplements - repti calcium without D3 with every feeding, repti calcium with D3 once every two weeks, herptivite multivitamins once every two weeks. I'd get Zoo Med's Reptivite Without D3 to replace your Herptivite with to see if it helps his eye (it has preformed Vit. A in it, Herptivite only has proformed).
  • Watering - I have a mistking that sprays every 2 hours for about 1-2 minutes while he is awake. I'd change his misting schedule to what I said in your previous thread.
  • Fecal Description - his urate is sometimes orange with a white end. His poop looks to be normal.
Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Screen reptibreeze 2x2x4 Did you remove all of the Exo Terra vines? Could you post a pic of his entire cage, please, including lights?
  • Lighting - UVB 5.0 reptisun. and a 75w incandescent light for heat. Is the UVB bulb a T8 linear bulb, T5 High Output linear bulb, or compact coil UVB bulb, and how far away is it from the basking branch? Is the heat bulb a white light or colored light?
  • Temperature - Basking area is around 85. overnight his cage gets into the low 70s How is his basking temp (and other temps) measured? 80-85*F at basking (most do 80-82*F) is perfect! If you could get his overnight temps to at least 67*F (preferably 65*F or lower), that'd be amazing, as well. What are his ambient temps?
  • Plants - i had a ficus tree that just recently died, need to get a new one. All of the fake plants need to be taken out and replaced with veiled-tested live ones, as fake plants are an impaction risk that can lead to death. I've attached a plant link with veiled-tested ones below.
  • Placement - the cage is located in the living room. his cage is about 2 ft off the ground. Is he by a vent or window? Is the living room high traffic?
  • Location - Northern Colorado

Current Problem - his left eye is sunken in and red. i think this may be due to a piece of debris breaking off from his branch. I have replaced the branch in the picture to avoid more problems because of advice received in previous post. Have you found a chameleon vet yet? They can look at his eye and do bloodwork to see if it is a Vit. A deficiency, something stuck in his eye, or something else/a combo of things.

Here's some helpful links and images:

 

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Hi @lillouie see feedback below in bold. :)

Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - Louie is a 1 year and 10 months old male veiled cham. I have had him since he was a couple weeks old.
  • Handling - I don’t handle very often because he doesn’t like it. i can pick him up when needed but try to avoid.
  • Feeding - Usually feed him 5-7 crickets every other day. Sometimes he gets superworms or hornworms about once a week Too much food. He is over weight. Reduce back to 2-3 feeders only 3 days a week.
  • Supplements - repti calcium without D3 with every feeding, repti calcium with D3 once every two weeks, herptivite multivitamins once every two weeks. Make sure you are actually giving the D3 and the mulitvitamins 2 times a month each. So you would rotate week to week with these at one feeding day. Then other feedings use the calcium without D3.
  • Watering - I have a mistking that sprays every 2 hours for about 1-2 minutes while he is awake. Try switching this up. Longer session in the morning and evening 3-5 minutes long. Reduce or eliminate mistings from 10-4 during the day when temps are hottest and this will allow for the cage to dry out which is important.
  • Fecal Description - his urate is sometimes orange with a white end. His poop looks to be normal. A little bit of orange is fine. It is when more than 50% of the urate is orange that they can be showing signs of dehydration.
Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Screen reptibreeze 2x2x4 Great.
  • Lighting - UVB 5.0 reptisun. and a 75w incandescent light for heat. Great. When last did you replace the UVB bulb? What is your distance from the bottom of the UVB bulb to where his branches are? Is the UVB a T8 fixture or T5?
  • Temperature - Basking area is around 85. overnight his cage gets into the low 70s Good. If you can get a lower temp drop at night it would be more beneficial for him. They really need the cool down. Make sure basking is no hotter then 85. Really could be lower in the 80-82 range. That is where I keep my male.
  • Plants - i had a ficus tree that just recently died, need to get a new one. See this link for Veiled safe plants. https://chameleonacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Chameleon-Plants-061321.pdf
  • Placement - the cage is located in the living room. his cage is about 2 ft off the ground. good.
  • Location - Northern Colorado

Current Problem - his left eye is sunken in and red. i think this may be due to a piece of debris breaking off from his branch. I have replaced the branch in the picture to avoid more problems because of advice received in previous post.
If it was the exo terra yes they can cause major eye issues. Try longer mistings morning and evening and see if he can clear it on his own. Everyone here is going to recommend you pull all the fake plants out and replace with live ones. Not only are they healthier because they up ambient humidity but they also are safe if they eat them unlike the fake ones.

Could also be an issue of vitamin A although I doubt it since he is only holding in one eye. But it is possible because your multivitamin does not contain preformed vitamin A. How is tongue function?

This is a great link for a husbandry program. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/
 
Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - Louie is a 1 year and 10 months old male veiled cham. I have had him since he was a couple weeks old.
  • Handling - I don’t handle very often because he doesn’t like it. i can pick him up when needed but try to avoid.
  • Feeding - Usually feed him 5-7 crickets every other day. Sometimes he gets superworms or hornworms about once a week Since he is overweight, I'd cut out the superworms and hornworms. He should only be getting 2-3 crickets 3 times a week, as well. What do you gutload with?
  • Supplements - repti calcium without D3 with every feeding, repti calcium with D3 once every two weeks, herptivite multivitamins once every two weeks. I'd get Zoo Med's Reptivite Without D3 to replace your Herptivite with to see if it helps his eye (it has preformed Vit. A in it, Herptivite only has proformed).
  • Watering - I have a mistking that sprays every 2 hours for about 1-2 minutes while he is awake. I'd change his misting schedule to what I said in your previous thread.
  • Fecal Description - his urate is sometimes orange with a white end. His poop looks to be normal.
Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Screen reptibreeze 2x2x4 Did you remove all of the Exo Terra vines? Could you post a pic of his entire cage, please, including lights?
  • Lighting - UVB 5.0 reptisun. and a 75w incandescent light for heat. Is the UVB bulb a T8 linear bulb, T5 High Output linear bulb, or compact coil UVB bulb, and how far away is it from the basking branch? Is the heat bulb a white light or colored light?
  • Temperature - Basking area is around 85. overnight his cage gets into the low 70s How is his basking temp (and other temps) measured? 80-85*F at basking (most do 80-82*F) is perfect! If you could get his overnight temps to at least 67*F (preferably 65*F or lower), that'd be amazing, as well. What are his ambient temps?
  • Plants - i had a ficus tree that just recently died, need to get a new one. All of the fake plants need to be taken out and replaced with veiled-tested live ones, as fake plants are an impaction risk that can lead to death. I've attached a plant link with veiled-tested ones below.
  • Placement - the cage is located in the living room. his cage is about 2 ft off the ground. Is he by a vent or window? Is the living room high traffic?
  • Location - Northern Colorado

Current Problem - his left eye is sunken in and red. i think this may be due to a piece of debris breaking off from his branch. I have replaced the branch in the picture to avoid more problems because of advice received in previous post. Have you found a chameleon vet yet? They can look at his eye and do bloodwork to see if it is a Vit. A deficiency, something stuck in his eye, or something else/a combo of things.

Here's some helpful links and images:

i gut load with collard greens as well as flukers cricket food and flukers cricket quencher. also, i did remove the Exo Terra vines immediately. I’m not entirely sure which bulb it is. It is a linear bulb, i’m assuming T5 since it says 5.0 UVB. The heat bulb is white light. I use a digital thermometer to measure ambient temps. They are usually 76-80 F. The cage is not in a high traffic area and there is a vent nearby but it is far enough away to not bother the cage.

I have found a few vets that i need to call around to… unfortunately they have been closed all weekend. Thanks for the feedback! i will definitely be making improvements.
 
Hi @lillouie see feedback below in bold. :)

Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - Louie is a 1 year and 10 months old male veiled cham. I have had him since he was a couple weeks old.
  • Handling - I don’t handle very often because he doesn’t like it. i can pick him up when needed but try to avoid.
  • Feeding - Usually feed him 5-7 crickets every other day. Sometimes he gets superworms or hornworms about once a week Too much food. He is over weight. Reduce back to 2-3 feeders only 3 days a week.
  • Supplements - repti calcium without D3 with every feeding, repti calcium with D3 once every two weeks, herptivite multivitamins once every two weeks. Make sure you are actually giving the D3 and the mulitvitamins 2 times a month each. So you would rotate week to week with these at one feeding day. Then other feedings use the calcium without D3.
  • Watering - I have a mistking that sprays every 2 hours for about 1-2 minutes while he is awake. Try switching this up. Longer session in the morning and evening 3-5 minutes long. Reduce or eliminate mistings from 10-4 during the day when temps are hottest and this will allow for the cage to dry out which is important.
  • Fecal Description - his urate is sometimes orange with a white end. His poop looks to be normal. A little bit of orange is fine. It is when more than 50% of the urate is orange that they can be showing signs of dehydration.
Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Screen reptibreeze 2x2x4 Great.
  • Lighting - UVB 5.0 reptisun. and a 75w incandescent light for heat. Great. When last did you replace the UVB bulb? What is your distance from the bottom of the UVB bulb to where his branches are? Is the UVB a T8 fixture or T5?
  • Temperature - Basking area is around 85. overnight his cage gets into the low 70s Good. If you can get a lower temp drop at night it would be more beneficial for him. They really need the cool down. Make sure basking is no hotter then 85. Really could be lower in the 80-82 range. That is where I keep my male.
  • Plants - i had a ficus tree that just recently died, need to get a new one. See this link for Veiled safe plants. https://chameleonacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Chameleon-Plants-061321.pdf
  • Placement - the cage is located in the living room. his cage is about 2 ft off the ground. good.
  • Location - Northern Colorado

Current Problem - his left eye is sunken in and red. i think this may be due to a piece of debris breaking off from his branch. I have replaced the branch in the picture to avoid more problems because of advice received in previous post.
If it was the exo terra yes they can cause major eye issues. Try longer mistings morning and evening and see if he can clear it on his own. Everyone here is going to recommend you pull all the fake plants out and replace with live ones. Not only are they healthier because they up ambient humidity but they also are safe if they eat them unlike the fake ones.

Could also be an issue of vitamin A although I doubt it since he is only holding in one eye. But it is possible because your multivitamin does not contain preformed vitamin A. How is tongue function?

This is a great link for a husbandry program. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/
Thank you for the advice. I did have Exo Terra vines but immediately removed them when i suspected they could have caused a problem. I would say tongue function is okay, i’ve never really noticed any differences and he still catches his food just fine. I will definitely try the longer mistings. would you recommend any misting at all between 10-4 or just to stick to two longer mistings a day?
 
So the Fluker's Cricket Food isn't the best. Using as many ingredients as possible (in the correct ratios) from the gutload chart I posted will be best. Fluker's Cricket Quencher isn't the best either, using fresh gutload, gutload ingredients mixed with gelatin/Agar-Agar, carrots, or plain water crystals from a reputable online feeder store are all better options. You can use wet cotton balls or paper towel, too. It should say what type of bulb it is on the UVB bulb. Depending if it's a T8 or T5 HO changes the distance it needs to be from the basking branch and the strength of bulb needed. You'll want to use a digital thermometer with probe, with the probe placed where the top of his back is when he's on his basking branch, to measure his basking temps.
 
Thank you for the advice. I did have Exo Terra vines but immediately removed them when i suspected they could have caused a problem. I would say tongue function is okay, i’ve never really noticed any differences and he still catches his food just fine. I will definitely try the longer mistings. would you recommend any misting at all between 10-4 or just to stick to two longer mistings a day?
So the rule of thought is no mistings during the day. You want the cage to dry out. Otherwise the risk of bacterial growth is higher. This can also lead to them developing infections on the bottom of their feet since they are holding on to wet surfaces all day. You can provide a dripper during the day. Take a plastic solo cup and poke tiny pin holes in the bottom put ice cubes in it and set it on top of your screen over plants below it. This will drip slowly over a few hours onto the plants for him to drink.

So we mist morning and evening when cage is cooler. How long you mist will depend on your ambient levels. But to help clear the eye if it is something stuck you want longer mistings so he has the moisture to dislodge it. If this does not work then a vet is in order. Just make sure they are a reptile vet.

UVB is also very important. So double checking what type of fixture and bulb strength will make a big difference where you basking level should be for proper exposure. Just because you see the light does not mean that it is UVB.
 
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