Eye problems plaguing my jackson, Greedo

[erinblu]

I purchased a jackson chameleon from a local pet store. The day after we got him, his left eye began to bother him. He was rubbing it on a branch a bit. Soon he stopped opening it, so I took him to the reptile vet. She prescribed eye drops, but within a day or two he stopped eating and became dehydrated. Then he stopped opening his right eye very much. We took him back and now she recommended Fortaz shots. So we're giving him one every 3 days.
The problem is, he still won't open either eye, barely eats, and is still dehydrated. Any suggestions? I'm really worried!

 

[Silverdusk]

Most likely the petstore you got him from, kept him under a CFL bulb. I rescued a Jackson from a local pet store recently for the exact same reason. Natural sunlight is the best cure, but if you do not have an outside set up you can move him to, then I'd suggest just using a linear bulb.

Then it's just a matter of time. I also applied a light dose of Neosporin each day to help moisturize the eye and that seemed to help as well. Good luck!

 

[JaxyGirl]

Hi there and welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear about your jackson's but what is good to know is that you're doing your best to take care of him by taking him to the vets. You're definitely a caring owner. Jackson's get dehydrated very easily..they need lots of water to drink and have their body sprayed. One of the fastest ways to rehydrate is by putting your cham in the shower. Put your cham in a real or fake plant inside your shower. Aim the shower head so that it hits the wall and bounces onto the plant creating a mists on the plant. Leave him there 20-30 mins. You can do this daily if need be until he becomes hydrated. Also, Jackson's need to be misted in their cage 5-10mins at a time. Most love the water and will just sit there while you soak them. Also, it would be helpful for us to fill out the how to ask for help form https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/ it takes a couple of mins but it's really worth it. It will help us check out your husbandry, cage, lighting, feeding etc so we can help you tweak your set up. Were here to help as much as possible

Also, when showering and misting use warm water. I gauge it by feeling the watere temp on my wrist. The water should be the same temp as your wrist so that it isn't hot or cold pretty much body temp..kinda like checking milk temp in a baby bottle by squirting it on your wrist.

 

[cantgetagoodsn]

Whats the easiest way to get the temp of the water that is inside the bucket on the warm side? It seems to stay pretty cold...

 

[Elizadolots]

Erinblu, please follow JaxyGirl's recommendations. If your chameleon is dehydrated, then it's very possible that the eye is irritated and cannot be flushed out because he's not been misted enough.

cantgetagoosn, I'm not 100% sure what you are asking, but working on the theory that you're asking how to warm up the water you use for misting, I'd say an easy way would be to pull out a few cups and warm them either on the stove or in the microwave. When mixed back in with the main supply it should up the temps some. How much you'll need to heat will depend on how much water is in your system.

 

[PedroANDAshley]

How lonf has it been since you purchased him?
If they have a return policy I would return him and maybe get a veiled?
Plus it was a day after you got him,
its prolly the pet stores fault.
Jacksons are very senstive montane chams.

 

[xanthoman]

heated misting water,fortaz & other

the main reason to heat your misting(not dripping)water, is, temp usualy drops a couple of degrees when water is atomized, and the water is already likely colder (room temp) than they would like it. so if you have a cham that has been basking at say 85+*, then you spray him, with water that started out at say 70*then you are likely misting it with even colder water, so you could very easily at times be misting with water that is 15 or more degrees colder than your cham, thats quite a shock and a suprise to an animal that relies on external sources for its heat and likes to control its own gradual temperature changes. imo unheated misting water is probably one of the main reasons for chams not being comfortable with their misting and imo provides a fairly unatural scenario (in that, in the wild, water temps would likely be closer to the actual ambient air temp). it could be argued that it is also a possible source of uri. heating misting/spraying water, can be as simple as placing your reseviour or spray bottle on top of a uth(under tank heater), if thats not enough, then even more heat can be gained by insulating the container with bubble wrap,poster paper, or similar, or placing a cardboard box, or larger bucket over your reseviour/spray bottle. as far as the eye thing, i agree with the earlier poster that it is a reasonable assumption that the pet store uses cfls, quite possibly older non safe models. i would reccomend viewing the eye with a triplet or similar higher powered magnifying glass and rinsing with saline, so as to discount the possibility of it being a debris issue. if it is limited to just one eye then it could very well be a debris issue, however if it has progressed to both eyes,and appetite is affected, then it would be reasonable to assume that it is more likely a lighting or supplement issue. if you are having problems the first week then another reasonable assumtion, would be that the long term outlook is not good. the help form would be good as there are actually a #of issues that could cause problems,(also, are you using a cfl?, is it new? and if so did you break it in for 24hrs before exposing your cham to it? if its old, get rid of it, and replace with a lineal reptisun 5.0. or, are you dumping in overly dusted feeders from above?) but without any info it is all just speculation. if you could get the pet store to exchange it for a veiled that would be a good move, jacksons arent normally considered the best starter chams. but with any cham your chances are greatly increased if you study the issues for at least several weeks before getting one. seems odd to me that an experienced herp vet would reccomend that a newer keeper would do their own fortaz injections without the root cause having ever been diagnosed or identified /// about fortaz (excerpt from melissa kaplans herp care collection)Fortaz (ceftazidime) 20 mg/kg SQ/IM q 72h * † This is a 3rd generation cephalosporin (newer than Baytril)used parenterally for gram-negative infections, and is particularly, useful in reptiles. May cause pain on IM injection; SC injection probably less painful. Is kept in freezer and must be brought to room temperature before injecting. May cause hypersensitivity reactions, diarrhea, granulocytopenia, thrombocytopenia, mild azotemia. May need to reduce dose in renal failure; use with caution. jmo