Lucky’s eye

MissSkittles

Chameleon Enthusiast
Hey folks. Thought I'd share what’s going on with my fella Lucky’s left eye. Maybe someone has a similar experience and can offer up input or what the end result was. Maybe in the future, this can be of help to someone else who may have this issue.
As some of you know, Lucky was living wild before some kids found him crossing a street. He was sick with parasites when he came to me. He’s had a rough time adjusting to being held captive and poor guy should be named Eeyore. 😔 I feel so bad for him.
I looked back at older pics and confirmed my memory of him having always had his left eye smaller and flatter than his right. For a little while recently, I every now and then catch him squinting with his left eye. It started being just a second or two, and he’s seemed to have no other issue, so I’ve been monitoring. Yesterday morning, before the vet visit, he was rubbing his eye against a branch, which is the first time I’ve ever seen him do that. About a week or so ago, that whole eye was bulging out, which has been coming and going. The soonest I could get him to the vet was yesterday. Unfortunately, my go-to and trusted Dr Bogoslavsky has just retired, so we had to go to the other Orlando exotics vet. Aside from his eye looking wonky, he is a strong and healthy older looking guy. Kidney values were perfect and the rest of the labs were sent out, so no results for a few days. X ray showed something not bony behind the eye. It could be inflammation, an abscesss, tumor, super deep debris maybe? Nothing came out from his eye flush. So, he’s starting Meloxicam for possible pain and inflammation and antibiotic (ceftazidine) for possible infection/abscess, but of course, an abscess would need to be cleaned out, which won’t be very easy. The only other finding is that his vision in that eye is extremely poor. Follow up is in 3-4 weeks and we’ll go from there.
This is the story so far. I will update it as more is learned. I just hope that my sweet shy guy isn’t in pain.
IMG_0546.jpeg
IMG_8505.jpeg
 
Eye issues in chameleons seems to mystify everyone, even skilled keepers. I hope some answers are found, and that the medication helps!

I will say, in my absolute nose deep into the search results for eye issues on the forum, I've noticed the most threads are concerning the left eye. There's a 50/50 chance for that to be the case, but it is interesting anyway...
 
His cask is swole, his cheeks are swole, his eyes are starting to swole. i bet is neck is going to start to swole.

I think hes got edema from too much vitamins/minerals supplements. Id drop all (even calcium) for a week or two and see if it goes down.
I don’t think it’s from over-supplementation. He’s very shy and waits until he’s certain I’m gone before eating, by which time his feeders have probably shaken off most of the dust. I dust lightly. The only time he eats in front of me is when it’s irresistible wormy feeders. He loves the wormies so much that he’ll take them from my hand.
I did hear from the vet yesterday about his labs and he has a high white cell count, along with other markers for infection and/or inflammation. All of his organ functions and all other values are good and within norms. So she said the antibiotic and anti-inflammatory are the correct treatment and to continue. My poor guy. I hate having to inject his little arms with the antibiotic. 🥺
 
You said…”I hate having to inject his little arms with the antibiotic”…you are alternating arms when giving the shots I assume?
Yes. Front arms in the bicep, poking between scales and alternating left and right with every dose (he gets a shot every other day). I have no problem poking people with needles, but hate when I have to poke my animal bebes.
 
First needle I gave to a chameleon, the needle went in one side of the arm and out the other…so it got poked twice…cause I had to pull the needle out and reinsert it.poor chameleon. Bear in mind, I had no medical training and I couldn’t even practice giving needles on something else like an orange. Sad for the poor lizard…but it didn’t seem to even care.
 
Yes. Front arms in the bicep, poking between scales and alternating left and right with every dose (he gets a shot every other day). I have no problem poking people with needles, but hate when I have to poke my animal bebes.

Ah yes the good ole alternating front arms. Then they get the little black spots and you feel bad.

Buddy had a turtle. Had to do the same thing, with the wife being point man with a popsickle stick to keep the head from nom noming him. 2 months later the turtle is just having a good ole time basking on the rock, it sees him, annnnnnnd tucks in the leg...
 
Lucky went back to the vet today and unfortunately I don’t have the update that I’d like to have. For all of the antibiotic and anti inflammatory he’s had, it’s had zero effect on his eye. While his eye is no longer bulging out, he does still keep it partially closed and it does have that bulge at the inner aspect…like a big keratin plug is in there. The vet did a thorough eye flush and even numbed his eye a bit and tried to ‘scoop out’ the material, but it isn’t sitting on his eye, like a plug would. Instead it’s in the space of the tissues or possibly attached behind the eye. The treatment options at this point include surgery to see what is really there, get a biopsy and possibly remove the eyeball if needed or just keep him comfortable. I am opting for comfort for him. I suspect he is an older guy, which the vet also believes. Not only do I not want to put him through such a procedure, but not sure I can afford it. He’ll be staying on Meloxicam indefinitely and having his kidney function checked every 2 months or so. I think that will be stressful enough for the poor fella.
 
Back
Top Bottom