eye problems

[rookie]

My veiled chameleon hasn't been opening her eyes for about 2 weeks. It isn't eating or drinking on its own, so I have been hand feeding it 10-12 small gut loaded crickets and 4-8 cc of water in a syringe and sometimes i use gatorade. i have flushed out the eyes with water in a syringe. it only has a small slit for the opening and it looks like there is something covering it. Is there anything more I can do?????

I think she is about 3 months old. She has a strong grip with her feet and moves quickly and swiftly when i get her out to feed her. her eyes don't look sunk in either. She is in a screened cage i bought from the pet store and i have plastic plants hanging in the cage. i had a dripper system for water, but since it cant see i have been misting the cage and giving water in a syringe. i have a basking lamp on one side of the cage with the temp between 94-96 and a uvb light on the other side with the temp on that side at 84. I also put her in the shower on a plastic vine with luke warm water for about 10 minutes once per week.

Please help, it's getting very time consuming hand feeding her.

 

[Solid Snake]

Hello!
Welcome to CF!
You have came to the right place for help.

It sounds like your chameleon has a serious issue

In order for anyone to give any kind of sound advice, we need to know a lot about your setup and care.

To make this simple, we use a form
Please fill it all out, and be as specific and detailed as you can.(brand names of supplements, what watt bulbs ect)

Here is the form, you can just copy and paste it into your reply, and edit in the answers


Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.


Cage Info:

Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
Location - Where are you geographically located?


Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.


Pictures are helpful

I hope we can help you out!

Again, welcome to the forum...

 

[rookie]

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? veiled chameleon, female, im not sure how old it is, ive owned it for 2 months (its about 4 inches long - not including the tail)
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? once daily for feeding
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? i feed it once a day about 2 hours before bed and before i turn off it's lights, 10-12 small crickets, gut loaded with apples and potatoes
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? flukers repta-calciium and rep-cal hertivite multivitamin ....i just started using the multivitamin yesterday
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? currently watering with a syringe as it can't see....i give it 8 cc per night and have given it gatorade 3 times, misting 2 x daily
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. brown and white droppings, it isn't runny
Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? no, i live in the country and our vet doesn't deal with "exotic pets"
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.


Cage Info:

Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? sreened cage that is sold at the pet shops 20 inches tall and 18 inches wide and 1 foot deep
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? repti glo 10.0 uvb, zoo med repti basking spot lamp 75 watts
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? i have a thermometer on each side of the cage......the basking spot is 94 degrees and the other side of the cage is 84 degrees.....i don't put a light on it at night and the temperature drops to 72 degrees
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? im not measuring the humidity at this point...i have checked it using the humidity gauge included with a humidifier and it shows a normal level
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? not usinglive plants
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? it isn't near any heat vents or fans, not much traffic in that room, the cage is sitting on a table that is 3 feet high
Location - Where are you geographically located? eastern kentucky

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about. chameleon can't see

 

[chameleonfan101]

hey welcome to the forums!!! the repti glow 10.0 might be to strong for him!! how far is it from the cage?? i would switch to a 5.0. 10.0 are too strong for veiled chameleons if they are too close to the cage. second, i would stop giving him gatorade. hope her gets better.

 

[chameleonfan101]

i just realized your cage is 20 inches tall. your 10.0 is too strong for that cage if u have it sitting right on top.

 

[Solid Snake]

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? veiled chameleon, female, im not sure how old it is, ive owned it for 2 months (its about 4 inches long - not including the tail)
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? once daily for feeding
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? i feed it once a day about 2 hours before bed and before i turn off it's lights, 10-12 small crickets, gut loaded with apples and potatoesFeeding should be done early in the day, giving the animal the rest of the day to bask and digest the food.
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? flukers repta-calciium and rep-cal hertivite multivitamin ....i just started using the multivitamin yesterdayDoes the calcium contain D3? What schedule are you using these?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? currently watering with a syringe as it can't see....i give it 8 cc per night and have given it gatorade 3 times, misting 2 x dailyGatorade is bad IMO. Water is just fine. Be very careful giving water with a syringe, if you shoot in into her throat, she can aspirate, and die.
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. brown and white droppings, it isn't runny
Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? no, i live in the country and our vet doesn't deal with "exotic pets"
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.


Cage Info:

Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? sreened cage that is sold at the pet shops 20 inches tall and 18 inches wide and 1 foot deep
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? repti glo 10.0 uvb, zoo med repti basking spot lamp 75 wattsThe 10.0 is for desert reptiles. Your chameleon being fairly young, in combination with the small enclosure, this could definitely blind her, and cause eye problems.
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? i have a thermometer on each side of the cage......the basking spot is 94 degrees and the other side of the cage is 84 degrees.....i don't put a light on it at night and the temperature drops to 72 degrees
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? im not measuring the humidity at this point...i have checked it using the humidity gauge included with a humidifier and it shows a normal levelThis is important. What is "normal level"?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? not usinglive plants
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? it isn't near any heat vents or fans, not much traffic in that room, the cage is sitting on a table that is 3 feet high
Location - Where are you geographically located? eastern kentucky

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about. chameleon can't see

You will need to mist the animals enclosure 2-3 times a day. This is for humidity, and it also provides drinking opportunities. She can still drink from a misting session, even if she is blind.

I do not know if her eyes can be fixed, if they have been burned by the bulb.

Its also possible that they are swollen with infection.

I would raise the 10.0 bulb 12" above the enclosure for now, and look into getting a 5.0.

You will need to find a vet that will see her.

That is all the info I can give at this point, as my experience is limited with these issues.

Please answer the questions though, and maybe we can figure something out. Post pictures as soon as you can, if you can.

 

[ataraxia]

What type of uvb bulb is it? Coil, CFL or florescent..

 

[rookie]

In response to some of the questions, I am using a coiled UVB bulb and I am dusting the crickets at each feeding. The calcium does have vitamin D3. I have tried so hard and thought I was doing everything right. I know it isn't ideal to feed it later in the day, but it takes me 30 minutes or longer and that's the only opportunity i have. I do leave the lights on for about 2 hours after the feeding. My son is going to upload a photo for me. Thanks for all of the help.

 

[rookie]

I left out one question. The humidity is close to 50% also.

 

[fluxlizard]

It is far more likely the problem is the lack of multivitamin prior to yesterday, rather than the lamp.

Go buy some vit a gel capsules (for humans). Take a pin, and poke a hole in one end. Put one tiny drop in your chameleon's mouth. Repeat every couple of days no more than 2 or 3 times and see if there is an improvement.

I'll bet there will be.

Once the eyes are open, use a multivitamin regularly (I prefer one with actual vit a (reptivite by zoo med) rather than beta carotene) (say 2x per month).

I use 10.0 lights over my chams and no problems.

But it won't hurt to switch out your light to something else either if you would like to try that as well.

For the record though- veileds *are* desert lizards. They are found in pretty arid areas, not only agricultural areas, but areas which sometimes do not rain for years and are sometimes found in areas miles from any serious foliage. See Scmidt's Yemen Chameleon book for a description of where they found some of these lizards in nature and what the conditions were like...

Really though- if the eyes are like this- you should probably be taking it to the vet...

 

[benpaul]

m

coiled is a no no last i checked. Last i checked thats prolly the cause of your eye issues.

 

[fluxlizard]

coiled is a no no last i checked. Last i checked thats prolly the cause of your eye issues.

That was a single batch of bulbs manufactured several years ago.
The problem was corrected long time ago.

FWIW I used brand new 10.0 CFL over a few cages of babies just a few months ago to raise them (nearly 40 babies). The cages were only about 12" high. The lamp fixtures were laid directly on the top of the enclosures. Not a single eye problem.

My adults have the same but linear tubes.

Not a single eye problem.

I mean, maybe I'm lucky and it is the bulb here, but I really doubt it.

On the other hand, if a young chameleon does not recieve adequate vitamin supplementation, the eyes will have problems in time. I know this from 20 years breeding them.

This chameleon had no vitamin supplementation for at least 2 months and is prehaps 3 months old. It is very lucky it has not had eye problems before now IMO...
OP do what you want about the light, but do not overlook the fact that you have not used a multivitamin for so long...

 

[ataraxia]

I asked for the bulb type for a reason At 3-4 months old eyes closing is typically from lack in hydration, improper humidity, incorrect temps or lighting issues.

This chameleon had no vitamin supplementation for at least 2 months and is prehaps 3 months old. It is very lucky it has not had eye problems before now IMO...

From my experiences which is not even close to yours. I have not found any eye issues at 3 months old related to vitA.

That was a single batch of bulbs manufactured several years ago.
The problem was corrected long time ago.

True statement but i believe the QC of this product is not 100% I venture to say it is probably not even 90%. Some get lucky while other do not.

suggestions to help with issue:
Change bulb
Do as flux has said on the fish oil supplement. Be very careful, lightly smear the oil on the back of one cricket. I would not do this more than 3 days in a row.
Make sure humidity is 50-80 for the time being.
Make sure you are misting 3 times a day. A couple shower treatments a day will help. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/ataraxia/594-shower-chamber-treatment.html

Above all..I would take your chameleon to the vet for examination. Do as much research on veiled chameleon husbandry as you can and fix in your situation what needs to be.

I would like to see pics of this chameleon to verify age.