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
