New Cham mom worried about his eye

[ChamMomtoJack]

We just received our first Cham (a Flap Neck). My daughter noticed his left eye wasn't opening. This forum has been such a great resource (probably should have read things here before setting everything up) but I would just like your opinion on these pics. I've been flushing the eye with saline solution. He will open it, but when I get a chance to see inside, I'm worried he has permanent damage.

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Male flap neck, unsure on age (probably 4 inches snout to vent), he has been with us 3 days
• Handling - We have offered our hands and he will put out one foot, but has never been fully handled
• Feeding - Small/medium crickets, dusted with calcium powder every other day's feedings, crickets eat cricket food from pet store (sorry, not at home at the moment to get specifics)
• Supplements - see above
• Watering - Mist in the morning, at lunch time, after school and once more before "lights out". We HAVE seen him drinking. I have also been "dripping water" near him in an attempt to help with the eye flush and he will drink then.
• Fecal Description - Dark and soft
• History - Looking back at our videos from the first day, I can now tell the eye was beginning to have issues before he got to us. Possibly during shipment.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Medium sized, screened all around, 16x16x30
• Lighting - Zoo Med, mini combo deep dome,
  Zoo Med 25157 Reprising 10.0 UVB Compact 13W Fluorescent Lamp, Mini
• Temperature - I have only measured the basking spot with a digital thermometer that came with the ZooMed kit. It was 82 degrees
• Humidity - I have not measured humidity. We mist 3-4 times during "daytime" hours by hand
• Plants - No live plants. Yet. Reading on here has me changing my mind about our set up.
• Placement - The enclosure is in my daughter's bedroom; very low traffic, no vents or fans. Top of cage is approximately 4 feet from the floor.
• Location - Central Illinois, USA

Current Problem - Pics of left eye after 2 flushing sessions (it wouldn't open prior to the treatments) and other pic has both eyes for comparison. These were taken last night. After two more flushing sessions today, the eye seems better, but I am concerned about permanent damage.

 

[Matt Vanilla Gorilla]

Please look over the thread for the link I posted below. A lot of your questions is answered in it. In my experience the most common cause of eye problems are shed skin or other junk in the eye or a vitamin A (Retinyl palmitate specifically) deficiency! Hope this helps!

https://www.chameleonforums.com/thr...nced-keepers-please-share-your-wisdom.152159/

 

[animjason]

I would definitely try to get humidity readings. When I got my Chameleon from Kammerflage, Ed let me know the moisture has a three-fold purpose.

"1. Drinking water – One of the primary health issues with panthers in captivity is kidney failure due to dehydration. The main reason this occurs is the keeper not providing enough water to accumulate for the chameleon to get a good drink.
2. Humidity – Your gauge will indicate whether this is enough.
3. Eye cleaning."

Maybe a higher humidity level will allow the eye to open and your Chameleon can keep it cleaned?

 

[susheia]

Hello I am new here too...Still can't figure out how to post my own thread
Anyway, I have a new veiled cham too! My husband surprised me with him last month, day before christmas,
and I have noticed that he has been keeping his right eye closed a lot lately. I am new to the cham family he is my first one, and I have been going crazy educating myself since I know nothing much about these cute lil guys.

I am a known pet owner except that they are mostly cats and dogs and fishes.

I am glad a lot of people here helps newbies like me!

 

[ChamMomtoJack]

After reading the posted thread, and the above response, I am already on the hunt for a misting system. The initial high prices deterred me and I thought hand misting would be sufficient. I realize now I was wrong. I am also going to remove the bark substrate recommended to me at the pet store and keep a clean cage bottom. Live plants also need to be added.

SO appreciative for the responses and this site! We already love the little guy and he is all I can think about while I am at work! I even went home over lunch to do a flush and mist! We would be devastated if anything happened to him because of our negligence or lack of experience!

 

[ChamMomtoJack]

Please look over the thread for the link I posted below. A lot of your questions is answered in it. In my experience the most common cause of eye problems are shed skin or other junk in the eye or a vitamin A (Retinyl palmitate specifically) deficiency! Hope this helps!

https://www.chameleonforums.com/thr...nced-keepers-please-share-your-wisdom.152159/

Thank you! Seems to be all about vitamins with these little guys! Will invest in a misting system and vit A tonight!

 

[ChamMomtoJack]

Hello I am new here too...Still can't figure out how to post my own thread
Anyway, I have a new veiled cham too! My husband surprised me with him last month, day before christmas,
and I have noticed that he has been keeping his right eye closed a lot lately. I am new to the cham family he is my first one, and I have been going crazy educating myself since I know nothing much about these cute lil guys.

I am a known pet owner except that they are mostly cats and dogs and fishes.

I am glad a lot of people here helps newbies like me!

Posting a new thread: you had to be "confirmed" first and then click on "Forums" and then the appropriate subject of your post. Should be a button at the top that says Start Thread. Took me a while to figure it out too!

 

[animjason]

After reading the posted thread, and the above response, I am already on the hunt for a misting system. The initial high prices deterred me and I thought hand misting would be sufficient. I realize now I was wrong. I am also going to remove the bark substrate recommended to me at the pet store and keep a clean cage bottom. Live plants also need to be added.

Good idea with getting a Mister, I use the Zoo Med ReptiRain Auto Mister. I like it because I can set two locations to be misted and also how long it mists and how often. 15/30/45/60 seconds every 1/3/6/12 hours. I too thought a gravity drip and hand spray would be good, but got paranoid and just went automatic. I am going to plug it into a timer so the misting stops when the lights are out so he can get a good night's sleep. Live plants are also GREAT for helping keep the humidity levels up, and make the enclosure look nicer. I bought a Rubber plant for mine (schefflera) at Home Depot.