jpricewood
New Member
Hi,
I recently had a very healthy clutch of Oustalet's chameleons start hatching. Out of 35 eggs, eight have hatched so far. Up until this point there have been no complications. They had just started vigorously eating FF when I noticed that one-by-one they started closing their eyes. They weren't just closing their eyes, but they were heavily contracting them and rubbing them against the fake plants in the enclosure. Some of them have heavily swollen eyes. They stopped eating and drinking once they started closing their eyes.
Well, I couldn't figure it out until I went to wipe dust off the enclosure. Well...the dust started moving. I then noticed that my FF cultures were heavily covered in these mites despite efforts to prevent mites. I then noticed my entire living room was covered in these things. I started tossing cultures and washed down the chameleons plants and enclosure and moved it to a different room, because it was right next to the FF cultures.
I'm still noticing some mites around the chameleon enclosure. Some hatchlings have now opened their eyes back up but some haven't.
Is it possible that these mites are inside their eyes? If so, how do I remove them? I didn't think grain mites posed a threat to chameleons, but I could see how a high concentration could adversely affect hatchlings. Getting the mites out of my house will be an entirely different endeavor.
Jared
I recently had a very healthy clutch of Oustalet's chameleons start hatching. Out of 35 eggs, eight have hatched so far. Up until this point there have been no complications. They had just started vigorously eating FF when I noticed that one-by-one they started closing their eyes. They weren't just closing their eyes, but they were heavily contracting them and rubbing them against the fake plants in the enclosure. Some of them have heavily swollen eyes. They stopped eating and drinking once they started closing their eyes.
Well, I couldn't figure it out until I went to wipe dust off the enclosure. Well...the dust started moving. I then noticed that my FF cultures were heavily covered in these mites despite efforts to prevent mites. I then noticed my entire living room was covered in these things. I started tossing cultures and washed down the chameleons plants and enclosure and moved it to a different room, because it was right next to the FF cultures.
I'm still noticing some mites around the chameleon enclosure. Some hatchlings have now opened their eyes back up but some haven't.
Is it possible that these mites are inside their eyes? If so, how do I remove them? I didn't think grain mites posed a threat to chameleons, but I could see how a high concentration could adversely affect hatchlings. Getting the mites out of my house will be an entirely different endeavor.
Jared