Eye worries

HarryTaylor

New Member
Care sheet

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Frank the male veiled chameleon, 2 years old
Handling - 4-5 times a week
Feeding - gut loaded (fresh greens) Locusts mainly and Morio worms, wax worms once a week. Usually feed him every other day/ every 3 days as he is super fussy and not a big eater. The last few weeks his appetite has really dropped due to the eye issue.
Supplements - Calcium- Arcadia Earth pro CA
Multi Vit- Arcadia revitalise D3 full spectrum minerals with added Vits A,D3 and E. Calcium every feed and multis ever 2 weeks
Watering - hand sprayed 2/3 times a day for a minute. Everytime I must Frank will approach the nozzle and open his mouth (very handy)
Fecal Description - Brown to dark brown with white Uric acid. never been tested for parasites

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Exo Terra Paludarium Med/X-Tall 60x45x90cm

Lighting - Arcadia D3 12%uvb 550mm fixed on top of mesh screen. Lights on 7:30am off at 18:30
Temperature - Basking temp 38c. Middle of the viv temp 21c bottom of viv temp 17c. Overnight temp to 15-18c all measured with inferred electronic temp gun.
Humidity - day time humidity levels 50-70 with night time never falling below day time temps. I am creating these with the daily spray and also with 3 real plants inside which are 2 Monstera deliciosas and a ficcus. All levels are taken with a hygrometer, one placed at the top and one mid range in the viv.
Placement - we live in a tiny home so Frank almost has the most space haha his tank is in the middle of our tiny home, away from windows. Place of his Viv is around 600mm off the floor.
Location - I live in Cornwall which is south/south west of England, UK.

Current Problem - so for the last couple of months Frank has had a problem with his eyes, more so the right eye. So every so often, I’d say at least once a day for a few minutes I have noticed frank right eye is bulging (see photos) this has been going on for a couple of months as I said. I have been researching on here for a similar problem and maybe a diagnosis to which I haven’t found. Most of the eye problems I have read about seem to have different symptoms. For instance I never see him with his eyes closed in the day and there’s never any visible weeping or mucus around the eyes or nose. Apart from going off his food a little, in every other way he seems fine! Still moving around his cage and still vibrant in his colouring. The only thing is that he has gone off his food, never really bothered about the usual treats.. when I get him out he still seems super strong and alert.

I would love for someone to help me out as I’ve been getting worried about him. I tried to call a few local vets last week and out of 5 of the vets I called not one had a specific reptile vet. I have kept many different species of reptiles for the last 20 years and only ever visited the vets once for my uromastyx (Dabb lizard) and that didn’t end well ( I was wrongly prescribed for a skin condition) what I’m saying is that I have little trusts in the vets around my region.

Anyway I have attached a few photos, both of Frank, his eye problem and also his enclosure.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Also this is my first post on here so be kind ☺️
 

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Hi there welcome to the forum! Happy to have you here. I agree with Steve. Your supplements would not cause this. More than likely infection which would need an exotic vet.

Only thing to double check in your husbandry is the UVB. Is this the T5HO 12%? If so you would need 11-12 inches to the basking branch to put the cham in the correct UVI level. With a 6% T5HO bulb in a single bulb fixture you can do 8-9 inches to the basking branch for the correct UVI level.

Also little man is a bit chunky. So I would feed him less and cut out the waxworms as they are higher in fat. 3 times a week 3 feeders. See if he starts reducing in weight. But wait until you get the eye issue sorted especially since his appetite has declined.
 
Thanks guys,

I have found an exotic vets to take him to, booking an appointment in the morning.

In regards to my lamp it’s the: Arcadia D3+ T5 12% UVB 22inch

 
Thanks guys,

I have found an exotic vets to take him to, booking an appointment in the morning.

In regards to my lamp it’s the: Arcadia D3+ T5 12% UVB 22inch

So just double check your total distance from the bottom of the fixture to the branch below it. You want 11-12 inches for him to be in the right UVI level.

This would not cause the eye issue but a good thing to correct so he is not in over exposure levels.
 
Thanks again for your advice. I’ve moved my lighting up a tad so it’s now 11-12 inches away from the highest branch. Go an appointment booked for tomorrow for the suspected infection.
 
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