Hi im new

Koilover512

New Member
Hi I was recently given my friends panther chameleon. His name is Leroy Jenkins. I have a concern about him, he has been keeping his left eye closed and sucking it in off and on. Right now he is looking ok I am just wondering why he may be doing this and how I can fix it. Any suggestions would help. Thanks! I am also attaching some photos of him :D.

leroy 2.jpg

leroy.jpg

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Welcome to the forum! I hope you find it as informative and interesting as I do.

Occassionally sucking in or buldging out an eye is relatively normal; they do it to help clean the eye.

However keeping an eye closed for an extended period of time (more than a minute) is not normal. There could be an infection, something in the eye irritating it, a problem related to lighting or vitamin deficiency, etc. If possible to provide more details about the chameleon and how he is housed, as per the questionaire Carol pointed you to, that will help us help you narrow down the possibilities.

He's a nice looking cham!
 
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Panther Chameleon; Male, over a year but not two yet, around 5 days. Handling - Just got him. I handled him today for a bit.

Feeding - Med/Lrg Crickets covered in Calcium and vit. D Powder. I made sure to find one withough vit. A. I am thinkabout about feeding him twice a week and about 24 crickets each time. Im not gut-loading but the store I am getting the crickets from feeds them the calcium filled cricket food.

Supplements - Right now I am using Rep-Cal everytime. Next time I go buy crickets I am going to buy the multi vitamin powder.

Watering - I am misting three to two times a day and have a dripper. I havent seen him drink anything in a day or two. I also have a fogger to keep the humidity up.

Fecal Description - Umm he pooped a huge amount today. It was kind of loose, brown, greenish and small white end.

History - The previous owner only fed Leroy once a week about 24 crickets. No suppliments. He never really misted him or took him out of the cage. Leroy also had a mulch dirt stuff on the bottome of the cage. I removed that and replaced it with news paper.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Glass W18XL24XH24. IT has a screen top. I am moving this week and once moved I plan on buying him a all screen cage that is W24XL24XH48.

Lighting - I am using a double dome light. The bulbs are a 100w powersun and a infared heat lamp. I turn on the power sun for about 18hrs a day and at night we turn on the red light. The reason we have the red light is that our house at night gets below 70 because we like sleeping in the cold.

Temperature - Im not sure.

Humidity - the humidity is usuall from 50 to 80. the average is around 60. I am trying to keep it up with a humidifier.

Plants - Silk leefy vines. wood branches.

Placement - In the living room. the top of the cage is about 6 feet from the floor.

Location - Central TX.

Current Problem - Leroy is closing his eye for a long period of time.
 
Welcome to the forums! Leroy Jenkins as a name made me giggle a lot :)

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Panther Chameleon; Male, over a year but not two yet, around 5 days. Handling - Just got him. I handled him today for a bit.

Feeding - Med/Lrg Crickets covered in Calcium and vit. D Powder. I made sure to find one withough vit. A. I am thinkabout about feeding him twice a week and about 24 crickets each time. Im not gut-loading but the store I am getting the crickets from feeds them the calcium filled cricket food.
-> Pet store "gutloading" is never adequate. If you do some searches on here for gutloading advice you'll find all kinds of mixtures of fresh dark greens, fruits, veggies, grains, and other materials you need to feed the crickets first. This is very important to the health of your cham and he can develop metabolic bone disease, among other disorders, without it. We can answer more questions about this if you have them.

Supplements - Right now I am using Rep-Cal everytime. Next time I go buy crickets I am going to buy the multi vitamin powder.
->You need to check if it has D3 in the mix, if so it should not be used every day. You can dust with a calcium only powder every day but with D3 should only be used every 2 weeks or so. Multivitamin should be used only every 2 weeks as well.

Watering - I am misting three to two times a day and have a dripper. I havent seen him drink anything in a day or two. I also have a fogger to keep the humidity up.

Fecal Description - Umm he pooped a huge amount today. It was kind of loose, brown, greenish and small white end.

History - The previous owner only fed Leroy once a week about 24 crickets. No suppliments. He never really misted him or took him out of the cage. Leroy also had a mulch dirt stuff on the bottome of the cage. I removed that and replaced it with news paper.
->Good, it was just harboring bacteria!

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Glass W18XL24XH24. IT has a screen top. I am moving this week and once moved I plan on buying him a all screen cage that is W24XL24XH48.
->Yes, a screen cage of that size will be much better for him!

Lighting - I am using a double dome light. The bulbs are a 100w powersun and a infared heat lamp. I turn on the power sun for about 18hrs a day and at night we turn on the red light. The reason we have the red light is that our house at night gets below 70 because we like sleeping in the cold.
->There shouldn't be any light on at night because it can disturb them sleeping, even red lights. Dropping below 70 shouldn't be a problem, dropping below 60 might. If that's the case use a space heater or ceramic light at night. You need a source of UVB light! Your cham will not do well without one. The forums recommend the linear (not coil) 5.0 UVB lights or natural sunlight. UVB rays will not penetrate glass or plastic.

Temperature - Im not sure.
->It is important to know the temps in his basking spot as well as lower down in the cage. If it's not warm enough he will not be able to digest his food properly, too hot and he could be burned or basically cook. They need higher temps to bask under (around 90 degrees) and a gradient further down so they don't overheat.

Humidity - the humidity is usuall from 50 to 80. the average is around 60. I am trying to keep it up with a humidifier.

Plants - Silk leefy vines. wood branches.

Placement - In the living room. the top of the cage is about 6 feet from the floor.

Location - Central TX.
I'm just a stone's throw away in Aggieland :)

Current Problem - Leroy is closing his eye for a long period of time.

The things I mentioned are basic husbandry needs that should be addressed asap! Someone else might have more advice about the eye issue, but I thought I could at least point you in the right direction for getting everything else started. Sounds like your friend made the right choice giving him to you! He's a really nice looking cham too, pretty colors!
 
Thank you for your help. This is my first cham and I want to provide a good home for him. The calcium supplements does have d3 in it so I will chang how I use it. I was a bit worried about the red light. I dont feel like he slept at all last night. The powersun bulb provides uva and uvb. I will have to start gut loading my crickets. Thanks for your advice. Oh and I am located over in UT land lol Austin.
 
Ferritinmyshoes gave you some great advice! The only other thing I would be concerned with is the feeding and schedule. A cham that age should be fed about every other day about 6 feeders or so. Feeding twice a week 24 crickets is overfeeding! I doubt he would even consume 48 crickets. They slow down their eating as they get older. Be sure and get your three supplements. So when you feed every other day, dust your feeders with the calcium without d3 then.
 
Unfortunately the power sun only provides a very minimal amount of UVB, which is not enough to keep your cham healthy. You'll need a dedicated UVB bulb as well, like the reptiglo 5.0 UVB. You're doing a great job getting him on the right track so far it seems. Do you go to UT (or t.u. as we call it here ;))?
 
Thank you for your help. This is my first cham and I want to provide a good home for him. The calcium supplements does have d3 in it so I will chang how I use it. I was a bit worried about the red light. I dont feel like he slept at all last night. The powersun bulb provides uva and uvb. I will have to start gut loading my crickets. Thanks for your advice. Oh and I am located over in UT land lol Austin.

I would get a regular housebulb about a 40 watt for basking and a Reptisun 5.0 tube for UVB. Maybe the 100w powersun is too powerful and bothering his eye.
 
Ferritinmyshoes gave you some great advice! The only other thing I would be concerned with is the feeding and schedule. A cham that age should be fed about every other day about 6 feeders or so. Feeding twice a week 24 crickets is overfeeding! I doubt he would even consume 48 crickets. They slow down their eating as they get older. Be sure and get your three supplements. So when you feed every other day, dust your feeders with the calcium without d3 then.

Ah yes, I meant to comment on that as well! Thanks :)
 
ok I will have to go to the store tomorrow when I get off work and buy him new supplies. Thank you for all your help!

No, I do not go to U.T. but my sister did.
 
wel take a good look at this cham according to me i am seeing some signs of mbd at the front leg maybe the eye is suffering from mbd too.

So provide the good uvb in combination with good calcium and drip him tapwater with a dripper by hand.

The uvb cant be higher than 6% otherwise he wil get sunburns.
 
Quote:Ferretinmyshoes.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Glass W18XL24XH24. IT has a screen top. I am moving this week and once moved I plan on buying him a all screen cage that is W24XL24XH48.
->Yes, a screen cage of that size will be much better for him!



Why is a screen cage much better?
Al my vivs are build out of wood and it works fine panthers arent montane species wich need allot of frexh air.
Panthers need good ventilation thats all.

here's my viv's.
Complete pic and separate (More plants are in now!).
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Quote:Ferretinmyshoes.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Glass W18XL24XH24. IT has a screen top. I am moving this week and once moved I plan on buying him a all screen cage that is W24XL24XH48.
->Yes, a screen cage of that size will be much better for him!

Why is a screen cage much better?
Al my vivs are build out of wood and it works fine panthers arent montane species wich need allot of frexh air.
Panthers need good ventilation thats all.

It's the ventilation that is the important part I was referring to. It's great that you have custom cages that you've built to incorporate more ventilation but for someone just starting out that's usually not an option so a screen cage is easy to get and much preferable to the glass aquarium it is in now. That's all I was saying.
 
well its ok what you say nut if you have a screen viv its also a problam if its in a windy corner or something you could have lung isseus. in Holland we are saying that if you have a viv for a cham you need to have minimum of two airstroke's one at the lowerfront and on at the top over the whole length
 
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