massive eye problem

reptyslick123

New Member
Help needed please, my 8 month old female chameleon that is about to lay has a massive eye problem one is not showing and you can see the shape of the eye ball moving under the eye lids like she is try to see but it is stuck and the other eye has a perturbing bulge at the front of the eye under the skin.

hope the pics help i am freaking out and so worried it is unbelievable.
Thanks Alex
 

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As far as the first 3 pictures go looks like A vet visit is over due.That 4th picture looks like A pluged tear duct to me.I would check your humidity, followed by warm showers to fix that problem..Any way get her to A vet!!
 
will do soon as it has only happened in the last 1/2 hour
do you think the her right eye could be due to MBD or not because she get multi vit and calcium supplements recommended by my vet has he keeps chameleons
also when you say check humidity do you mean more or less
thanks for responded so fast
Alex
 
what can i do in the mean time i have just given her a 5 min shower with tepid water
has anyone seen this before.:confused:
Alex:confused:
 
Hi Alex,

Like mentioned a vet is definitely in order, it could be multiple things. If she hasn't been getting proper supplements you could be in store for a lot more problems then just her eye especially if she is getting ready to lay.

Is the eye full of goop or is it dry? You could get a saline solution from a local pharmacy and flush the eye out, it may give her a small amount of relief.
Just shoot a light stream until her turret fills up and let her do the rest.

You really don't want to waste to much time when these guys have eye problems because there can be a serious underlying issue. Get her to the Vet.

Good luck


EDIT Just seen you said she is getting proper supplements.
 
I had the same problem... Turns out it was Vitamin A deficiency. Try extracted about half of a soft gel vitamin A tablet like 3000 iu and give it to her with an eye dropper or syringe orally for a few days. Fixed my cham right up
 
thanks i have spoke to mine vet before but vit and calcium and he has recommended the supplants that i use now, they have also been tested and researched and are the best on the market, so i will keep on giving her showers and cleaning her eye until monday as that is when the vets is open next
i have also sent a e-mail to the vets to see what there view is on the situation so i will update you lot on the situation so you can help other if they get into the same situation as me.
thanks Alex
 
I do the same as djfishygillz accept I put the vitamin A on a cricket or worm, and I use 8000 IU, I know of breeders that use 10,000 IU once a day for 10 days or until it clears up. Good. Luck, I hope all goes well
 
It's hard to see exactly what is going on from the picture. My panther was having eye issues last week that looked somewhat similar, although not as bad. It came on very suddenly as well. It looked kind of like there was a film over his eyeball, and his eyeball looked a little sunken in the turret. It looks like you may have a similar problem.

I went out and got a small ultrasonic humidifier for $20. I ran it on high for a day or two and the problem is solved. I still keep it running during the day on a lower setting. I also gave my panther warm showers (about 15 minutes) that really helped him.

What is the humidity in your cage?

I still think you should get her to the vet, but you may want to get a humidifier as well. If you can't get her to the vet immediately, see if a humidifier will help clear her up until you can take her. Rinsing it out with saline solution may also help.
 
When is she due to lay the eggs? (Was she mated?)
What specific supplements are you using and how often for each?
What are you gutloading/feeding the insects with?
 
@Alex: when he says "check the humidity" he means just that...how do we know if you need more or less? do you even have a guage? (those dial ones DONT work!) You need to measure his humidity. If it is low, it needs more (and thats probably the case here)
 
the supplements i use are nutrobal are Arkvits made by vet ark they are used every other day so nutrobal on Monday and arkvits on Tuesday and so on.
the humidity is about 50-60 before misting and 80 above when misted 2-3 times a day the eye has got better but there are still the lumps at the front of the turret.
i have contacted my reptiles vet friend and he says it may be a vit A overdose as a vit A overdose symptoms are very similar a lack a vit A.

Thanks everyone :)

almost forgot she i 7 months old and the eggs are not fertile i am planning on breeding her when she is a year old, she has been showing gravid signs for about 2 week now.

http://www.vetark.co.uk/pages/Arkvits.aspx link for my supplement products have a look please
 
I only asked about the eggs because if she is close to laying them you have a problem of deciding if it will cause her too much disruption to her getting ready to lay eggs to go to the vets.

Nutrobal seems to contain prEformed vitamin A and D3 but it doesn't say what the ratio of the D3 to A is. I can't see what the source of vitamin A is in the Arkvits....but it must have some D3 and prEformed vitamin A in it since it says it contains some nutrobal.

Here's some information that might help...
Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption. Temperatures needed can vary with the species and age. For hatchling panthers I keep the temperature in the warmest area in the low 80's. For older panthers I keep it in the mid to high 80's for the most part.

Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.

Since many of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).

If you also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).

Dusting twice a month as well with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite which has beta carotene.)

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.

Here are some good sites for you to read...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
If you can't access the sites above that have the word "archive" in you can do it through the WayBackMachine.
 
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