Help please!

[jmartin19]

I don't know where to post any questions I have to get feedback.. hopefully this is it?
But I have a veiled chameleon who won't open his left eye. He's been like this for at least week. He'll only open it when he's focusing on a cricket but then immediately shuts it and squeezes it like that hurt him.
What's wrong? How do I help?

 

[ReptileLove18]

hi, im sorry to hear your cham is having issues. please copy and paste this form into your reply filling in the answering. this will help us determine what may be wrong. eye problems can be caused by something being stuck in the eye, infection, or husbandtry problems. the answers u put in the form will help us determine which it may be. pictures would really help as well!
and yes, this was the right place to put a question about a health problem

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

 

[jmartin19]

does this help?

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, male, I got him at the reptile expo last August
Handling - I don't handle him much but when I do he's okay.
Feeding - I'm just feeding him crickets. About 4/5 at a time every other day or two. I do coat them in the calcium. And I feed the crickets Fluker's orange cube complete cricket diet.
Supplements - Repti calcium
Watering - I read that you should give them water up to 4 times a day so I try to do that. I've always spray one side of the cage so he knows where to go for water. I spray so the some of the leaves are wet and theres water droplets hanging off the screen. Yes, i see him drink
Fecal Description - Brown and white I believe? And no he hasn't been tested
History - When I bought him, I bought a male and a female. My female died from what I was told was metabolic bone diease.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - 10 gal tank with screen lid
Lighting - I have a double lamp fixture. One bulb is a regular heating bulb and the other, I dont remember off the top of my head but its spiral shaped.
Temperature - Temps I'm not sure, i dont have a thermastat in there. I just turn off his lights when I go to bed and back on when I wake up
Humidity - Same thing, I'm sure about humidity
Plants - No, I have fake plants (bought at exotic pet stores or the reptile expo)
Placement - Cage is in my room. By a fan but the fan is never on. Cage is on a stand 2/3 feet tall?
Location - Where are you geographically located?

 

[ReptileLove18]

can you post some pics of his eye? what you do is when you go to reply, clicked go advanced, type your message, then scroll down to a button that says manage attachments, upload the photos, then post the reply and they will be there. or if you have a photobucket account you can put them on there and paste the url to the pages the photos are on in your reply and we can go look at them.

how long has it been since he last shed? are you hearing any sounds when he breathes? is he holding his mouth open and breathing often?

does the Repti calcium have d3 in it?

you arent sure about the temp or humidity because you dont have gauges?

about how many hours a day do the lights stay on?

sorry for all the questions!!

 

[jmartin19]

I dont remember his last shed. Hasnt been recent. I don't hear anything when he breathes but I have noticed him holding his mouth open or yawning or something???
the calcium does have D3 in it
no, I do not have gauges to tell
and the light stays on more than needed, some times I'm not home

questions are good!! no worries

 

[jmartin19]

I'd also like to note that when I took him out to get a good pic of his eye, he started rubbing it on me. I've noticed him do this to branches in his cage as well

 

[ReptileLove18]

it looks to me like he may have something in it, but i am no expert. ive asked on of the vets here on the forum to take a look and im sure she will have some great advice my advice in the meantime is to up his mistings with warm water several times more a day directly to help him flush his eye in case something is in it. you can also place a plant in the shower, direct the showerhead at the wall so that the water will hit the wall and the indirect spray will hit the plant and him, make sure the water is lukewarm, not hot. watch him in there for 5 to 10 minutes, supervise carefully. this will give him a good chance to drink and flush his eye out.

 

[ReptileLove18]

also, you need to get plain calcium without d3 in it. the schedule you should be using is plain calcium without d3 every feeding, calcium with d3 twice a month, and a multivitamin twice a month. too much d3 can lead to over supplementation issues! if you cant find a plain calcium or multivitmin locally, they can be found online, many of our sponsors carry them. our sponsors are listed if you go to the top right hand corner of this screen.
you also need to get 2 thermometers and hyrometer to measure temp and humidity. its really importatnt to know what those are in his enclosure as these are vital to his care! this is a caresheet for veileds, it goes more deeply into what they need https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/
one thing i noticed is you are only misting to provide water for him. while this is fine for keeping humidity up, he needs more opportunities to drink. you can make a dripper for him by taking a plastic cup, piercing a couple holes in it with a thumb tack, putting warm water in it and placing it on top of the cage over some of the foliage so that it drips of the leaves that way he can drink when he wants. you want to make sure the cage drys out between misting and refilling the dripper so you may need to make a few holes in the bottom of the cage but this will be great for him

 

[jmartin19]

okay thank you so much!! i was getting so worried. at first i thought he maybe poked it on a branch or something. but then i realized how long its been since hes opened it and i was like s**t.... lol

 

[ReptileLove18]

he may have poked it on one of the fake leaves or branches and it is now irrated, its definitely a possibility. try the extra mistings directly on him with warm water and see how that does and let us know

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Reptilelove has given you great advice so far. Increased mistings and showering will help flush out any debris and irritation that might be in his eye. In addition you can get some plain saline drops for people and use those on the eye 2 or 3 times a day. If the eye hasn't improved or gets worse in the next 5-7 days then you should find a good reptile vet to take him to.