need help please.

Marcuskb88

New Member
I have a 6 month old Veiled Cham who resides in a fairly large and densely planted screen enclosure. I am using a Zilla (tropical 25) 15w lamp with UVB. As of right now I am not using any type of heat source because it is fairly warm in my house. His temp. Gauges during the day stay pretty constant around 78-80 degress and do not drop below 60 at night. I mist him and his entire enclosure three or more times a day to be sure his humidity gauges always read above 70 but almost never drop that low. Mainly 80-90%. He is a regurlar eater I suppose consuming 2-5 properly dusted small crickets ( rep-cal phosphorus free calcium w/ vit.d) with his daily meal and rep-cal herptivite maybe every other day when I remember. But lately he has been keeping his right eye closed and not opening it for any reason. I do not see any sort of obstruction on the lid and it does not look swollen. He has been pressing it and scraping it on the vines and branches in his enclosure so hard in fact I have to turn away because it looks very painful almost to the point of "popping" his eye. I have tried to rinse it 3 times in the sink with a very slow and warm stream of water and like I said I mist him and his enclosure 3+ times a day. Any one seen this or could shed some light on what might be going on with my little guy?
 
It might be a small piece of shed stuck in his eye, but I doubt that would annoy him so much and it probably would have washed out by now.

It also might be a small scratch. Like the other user said.

Also I didn't see you mentioning you have a UVB light, you're gonna need one of those.
 
I do have a uvb light made by Zilla. Its a 15w (tropical 25). It does sorta look like on his face he might be trying to shed but there is no visible loose skin on his face or eye area. I figured either a small abrasion or loose shed I want to be sure these are not signs of infection. Or blindess. Normally he has been a very vibrant green sometimes changing to a little darker and striped but since I started seeing something upset with his eye he has been staying rather dark.
 
Welcome to the forum!
I'm sorry your cham is having some problems but you've found the right forum for reliable care info and help.
Many people are beginners but there are also some very experienced cham owners, as well.

Chams are not very hardy animals and their care must be as close to ideal as possible in order for them to stay healthy.

In looking over the few details you posted about your care, I see a few things that are bad for him and should be changed. There are other things that you're doing which are very good--like having plenty of plants and misting him well.

Chams need a basking lamp in order to absorb the nutrients from their foods.
When your house is hot, a regular 25 watt lightbulb might be enough to provide him with a basking spot that is 85 degrees--perfect for a young Veiled like yours.

Chameleons are very sensitive to getting too much of their supplements.
Rep-cal phosphorus free calcium w/ vit.d should only be used 2x a month
Rep-cal herptivite should also be used only 2x a month
Calcium without phosphorus and without vitamin D3 is the powder to use at most feedings.
Sadly, excessive vitamins and D3 actually are toxic to your cham.

A diet that has a variety of well-fed feeders is best for your cham.
This has more details:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/food/

Veiled chams require humidity of 40-70%.
It is important that the cage is allowed to dry out in between mistings to prevent bacteria and molds from growing.

This is an excellent caresheet for Veiled chams:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

Unfortunately, many of us have seen eye problems like you've described.
Eye problems are fairly common in chameleons and if they last more than 2-3 days, typically they need to be treated with antibiotic drops and often with an oral antibiotic medicine, too.
Why?
It's because what looks like an irritated eye can be an infection of both the eye and the sinuses.
A veterinarian who has experience with reptiles is an absolute necessity.

You can try rinsing his eye gently with a sterile saline contact lens rinse like this one:
http://www.bausch.com/en/Our-Produc...Lens-Care-Products/Sensitive-Eyes-Plus-Saline
OR
http://www.dogpile.com/info.dogpl.t...&fcop=topnav&fpid=27&q=cvs+sensitive+eyes&ql=

If you want to read more about various eye problems:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/eye-problems-76636/
 
Ok so the calcium with added vitamin d3 is not what I am supposed to be dusting with? And I have another question. Could sneezing be a sign of sinus infection because sometimes at night he wakes me up with his sneezing or what I presume to be a sneeze?
 
Calcium without D3 every day
Calcium with D3 2x a month
Multivitamin 2x a month

I am extremely surprised to hear that your cham has been making enough noise at nighttime to awaken you.
It sounds like it's time for him to visit to a good, reptile knowledgeable vet .
 
Today will be the fifth day with his eye closed and I started noticing maybe just a little bit of swelling in said eye. I am extremely concerned and have made a vet appt. Because I also noticed the same side ( left side) nostril may look to be a little swollen. For maybe 10 hrs out of the day today 4/30 his right side has been a noticeably different colour then his other side.
Also I thankyou very much for the advice on the proper supplement plan. I am only going off what I read on repcals website and also what it said on the bottle of calcium add vit.d3 I bought. Do you this could be part of the problem? Also would like you to know I set up a basking light with a normal 65w household bulb and purchased another temp gauge to monitor the specific area. HE LOVES IT!! So thankyou for that also!!
 
You're very welcome.
Eye infections commonly involve the sinuses as well as the eyes.
I don't know for certain if the excessive D3 supplements are the cause of the problems or part of the cause.
You can ask the vet for his opinion on that.

It's excellent that you will have him checked by a vet.
It really is necessary to use a vet who regularly treats reptiles, otherwise they may be unfamiliar with newer treatments and medications for chams--or just may not really know much about chams, in general.

Here is one site to locate a vet with a special interest in reptiles:
http://www.arav.org/find-a-vet/
 
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