Eye Problems?

[Amy J]

Thanks. I'll keep those in mind, but we might just wait to see if we can get it from the vet on Monday. We'll probably get another reptile eye product at the petstore tomorrow to try out as well.

 

[BIGGUN]

Oh, one more thing.

I wouldn't use the topical wound-aid on her eyes as it may cause more irritation than good. The eye-drops may help as they should lubricate and possibly introduce some vit A that may be needed.

Kevin

 

[Amy J]

Yeah, my boyfriend brought up the idea, but that's exactly what worried me. We'll probably end up getting the turtle eye drops.

 

[CleanLineChameleons]

Do not use the turtle drops...there was a thread on here a couple months ago where someone did and it ended up damaging the chameleons eyes very badly and if I recall correctly he was then permanently blind. Use terramyacin...all reptile eye drops are not the same, I know this stuff works.

-chris

 

[BIGGUN]

Chris,
I remember hearing something about the drops before but can't find ANY threads or info about it. All that I have found was suggested uses and no real responses. Do you have any links so I can read up on it more? Or can you remember where you heard that?

Thanks a lot,
Kevin

 

[Amy J]

Thank you very much for warning me. I will just dab her eyes with water until we can get the terramyacin from the vet on Monday then.

 

[BIGGUN]

Another shower or 2 tomorrow might help also. I hope she opens her eyes for you soon. How long has it been since she's eaten?

 

[Amy J]

I'll try that, thanks. I'm not completely sure whether she's been eating or not, but I haven't witnessed it. She does seem blind at this point. I don't know if she'd be eating anyway though, since it is a new environment for her. Her eyes were like this even when we came to pick her out on Wednesday though. Should we try to hand feed her crickets?

 

[BIGGUN]

You'll probably have to weigh how much it stresses her out to be force fed against how weak she may be. If she still seems fairly strong you may want to wait until after you see the vet. If she seems weak it would probably better to intervene now. If you're heading to the pet store you could try Repti-Aid. Just give it to her with an eye dropper or small feeding syringe. I don't know if you could stimulate her to eat a cricket without the visual.

Kevin

 

[Amy J]

Yes, I tried to hand feed her this morning, trying to stimulate her mouth and everything, but it didn't work. Her one eye has opened slightly now, and she has began attempting to hunt around the cage. She is way off, going the opposite direction of the crickets, but she still seems strong, and I'm hoping she will figure it out soon. I'll try to find the Repti Aid when I go out later. Thanks.

 

[BIGGUN]

How's your girl doing?

Kevin

 

[Amy J]

Sorry Biggun, just found this thread again. We ended up taking her back to the petstore to recover that Monday I believe (they have a vet that visitd the store) and, last time I heard, she's still not better! Her brother who had the same infection died a few days ago. I wasn't able to tell if she was improving or not last time I saw her a few days ago, but my theory is that her eyes may be permanently damaged. We were told that the petstore had just received a baby veiled before we arrived that day. When we asked where it was, we found out that they had had a signifigantly deep pool of bubbling water in the cage and the baby had just drowned in it. I was outraged! I also found moldy substrate in my sick chameleon's cage. I had told them I would not use a bowl or substrate before, but their convinced they know everything about chameleons. I may not have much experience, but I am always putting safety first by doing as much research as possible when it comes to the well-being of my animals. We aren't going back there again.

They gave us a refund though, so we traveled to another petstore that was supposed to be good and found some major problems in their care for chameleons. The Fischer's was dead and they hadn't even noticed. The one person who knew about chams was not the one taking care of them. But we found a very healthy female Jackson's that we decided to rescue from there. We know she's hardy because the conditions were much too hot for a Jackson's, but she was thriving. She did not mind being held and had extremely healthy-looking eyes. I noticed that she was very overweight though, and then the petstore employee suggested she might be gravid as there was another Jackson's in the cage before...And that's what my next thread will be about.

 

[BIGGUN]

I very sorry to hear about your first one. That store should be doing everything to help her. She could probably be saved with the right attention.......but I'm sure it's just a business decision.

Glad to hear you're looking into info about others before making your purchases. Good luck with your new girl!!!

Kevin