Panther Chameleon Eye Check Video

davis

New Member
Hi,

Our Panther's left eye seems to close -- it just started, so I'm not concerned it could be a huge problem yet. I have read it could stem from a vitamin deficiency if it gets bad. We do dust his food regularly with Fluker's Repta Calcium (with D3). I also have Zoo Med's Reptivite (with D3), that I don't use as often. We were on vacation a while back and our sitter replenished our cricket supply (and I don't think she knew to have them dusted), so I will dust them myself, but I suspect maybe he hasn't been getting enough supplements, possibly.

We live in a Northern climate, so it has been getting colder now. House ambient temp at night gets to around 64 and goes up to around 70 during the day. His black heat lamp stays on all the time, and UV light is on from sunrise to sunset. I make sure to keep him hydrated. Lately I have been using more of a dropper from the top of the cage and watch him drink vs. just mass misting the cage (maybe this is a mistake, but I don't have a drainage system and try to keep the cage cleaned out to avoid bacteria growth).

I should note that he recently shedded, as well (last week about 4-5 days ago). He has been eating. I have tried a variety of crickets, mealworms, and waxworms, but he seems to prefer crickets, so that is what we feed more frequently.

Here are two videos that show the eyes up close



 
Hi! Welcome to the forum! First off i want to say do not give Calcium with D3 everyday that will cause issues! It should be without D3 everyday and calcium with D3 2x a month! Please attach a picture of his heat lamp also what wattage are you using? Temps seem fine but i like personally like it a bit higher... also a drainage system is simply mandatory! Chameleons need a lot of water so find a way to fix that urgent :) a automatic misting system will really save you so i suggest investing in that. I wouldn't touch him when he's shedding also. Waxworms are high and fat and mealworms and not a recommended feeder... crickets are a decent staple food but I recommend getting BSFL and dubia roaches :) as for his eye Hopefully he can help @SteveH
 
Hi,

Our Panther's left eye seems to close -- it just started, so I'm not concerned it could be a huge problem yet. I have read it could stem from a vitamin deficiency if it gets bad. We do dust his food regularly with Fluker's Repta Calcium (with D3). I also have Zoo Med's Reptivite (with D3), that I don't use as often. We were on vacation a while back and our sitter replenished our cricket supply (and I don't think she knew to have them dusted), so I will dust them myself, but I suspect maybe he hasn't been getting enough supplements, possibly.

We live in a Northern climate, so it has been getting colder now. House ambient temp at night gets to around 64 and goes up to around 70 during the day. His black heat lamp stays on all the time, and UV light is on from sunrise to sunset. I make sure to keep him hydrated. Lately I have been using more of a dropper from the top of the cage and watch him drink vs. just mass misting the cage (maybe this is a mistake, but I don't have a drainage system and try to keep the cage cleaned out to avoid bacteria growth).

I should note that he recently shedded, as well (last week about 4-5 days ago). He has been eating. I have tried a variety of crickets, mealworms, and waxworms, but he seems to prefer crickets, so that is what we feed more frequently.

Here are two videos that show the eyes up close




It sounds like you are overdosing him with D3. I would change your supplements to Reptical without D3 every feeding and RepashyLoD twice a month. What uvb bulb are you using ?
Also there's no need for the basking light at night, in fact I would change that bulb to a 65w indoor floodlight non LED (test temperature) and adjust your basking branch if needed to get the desired temperature.
 
Your ambient temps are fine... No heat required at night unless your dropping your house ambient extremely low.

You are overdosing with D3. How many times a month are you using the reptivite with D3? Buy a calcium without D3 for your every feeding then you would want to use the reptivite with D3 two times a month say the 1st and the 15th. This is important because the multivitamin also has vitamin A in it.

Like Steve I prefer repashy calcium plus LoD version. It has a jacksons chameleon on the label. I use this in place of reptivite.
 
Hi all,

Thanks for the helpful replies. I'm attaching some pics of the setup, and bulb info.

Good info on the vitamin / supplements. I am looking to go out and buy these additional products and will adjust our supplement schedule. Any other feedback is welcome! Thank you again!

Here's a general side-question: if I water this guy with drops, several times a day, and he is active and drinks the drops as I slowly feed them to him, is it still really necessary to keep the cage in a constantly moist environment? I get that they live naturally in a very humid jungle environment, but my understanding is that they do not absorb liquid through the skin at all. As long as they are getting fluids (and this guy is an active drinker of drops if you balance and place them in the right spot), do people feel it is still necessary to constantly have the environment be moist? FYI, I am doing both right now, just as a precaution.

FWIW: The plants in the cage are all artificial. I was told you have to be careful with just any old natural plants, and artificial plants are more repellent to bacteria and other parasite issues. If you want natural plants you have to order them from a provider that ensures they aren't grown / sprayed with pesticides, etc. I have a horrible green thumb anyway, so the artificial plants are easier to deal with.


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I have a few recommendations that might be helpful. Live plants are recommended over fake plants, I can share some of the most commonly used, most of mine come from home improvement stores like Lowes. With night time humidity at 80% or higher and daytime around 50 or lower you want your enclosure to have a drying out period during the day. Your lighting is T8 and subpar, I would get a T5HO fixture and bulb something like Arcadia's ProT5. Your basking light go with a indoor floodlight 65w non LED. Your enclosure looks on the small side and a 24x24x48 enclosure is recommended so your new lighting should be a 24in fixture. Here's one of my enclosures to give you some ideas on yours.
 

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Thanks @SteveH ! Super helpful. The enclosure is on the small side because when we got him, he was on the small side, and I always knew we would need to upgrade. I plan to upgrade. Can you recommend the vendor you use or recommend for enclosures?

I was told to be wary of any plants you buy at Lowe's or your local gardening supply because of pesticides. Is this not a concern?

So you up the humidity at night and reduce during the day? That's the opposite of what I have been doing, b/c at night he goes dormant and won't drink. During the day when he's active, I can actually feed the guy water, and watch him drink and do it several times a day. I was concerned that just hosing the thing down at night or early in the AM when he is not active is just a waste and just gathers a pool of water in the bottom (especially because I do not currently have a drainage system -- just a tray I pull out and clean regularly).

I'll look into upgrading the UV bulb -- thanks.

For the basking bulb, are you saying the 75W bulb is too high?
 
Thanks @SteveH ! Super helpful. The enclosure is on the small side because when we got him, he was on the small side, and I always knew we would need to upgrade. I plan to upgrade. Can you recommend the vendor you use or recommend for enclosures?

I was told to be wary of any plants you buy at Lowe's or your local gardening supply because of pesticides. Is this not a concern?

So you up the humidity at night and reduce during the day? That's the opposite of what I have been doing, b/c at night he goes dormant and won't drink. During the day when he's active, I can actually feed the guy water, and watch him drink and do it several times a day. I was concerned that just hosing the thing down at night or early in the AM when he is not active is just a waste and just gathers a pool of water in the bottom (especially because I do not currently have a drainage system -- just a tray I pull out and clean regularly).

I'll look into upgrading the UV bulb -- thanks.

For the basking bulb, are you saying the 75W bulb is too high?
I attached my plastic plants to the outside of the enclosure to provide additional privacy for my Cham. Upon advice from Cf- I added live plants, they help with water management and my Cham loves to eat the Money Tree leaves.
 
I use the zoo meds Reptibreeze xl, do to availability sometimes you just have to do a Google search.
For my live plants I just give them a good thorough rinsing in the shower or garden hose before use.
Using a fogger/humidifier at night the chameleon will actually breathe in the fog which helps with their hydration.
The basking light you have doesn't produce enough light for the Chameleon to recognize as a heat source.
 
Thanks @SteveH ! Super helpful. The enclosure is on the small side because when we got him, he was on the small side, and I always knew we would need to upgrade. I plan to upgrade. Can you recommend the vendor you use or recommend for enclosures?

I was told to be wary of any plants you buy at Lowe's or your local gardening supply because of pesticides. Is this not a concern?

So you up the humidity at night and reduce during the day? That's the opposite of what I have been doing, b/c at night he goes dormant and won't drink. During the day when he's active, I can actually feed the guy water, and watch him drink and do it several times a day. I was concerned that just hosing the thing down at night or early in the AM when he is not active is just a waste and just gathers a pool of water in the bottom (especially because I do not currently have a drainage system -- just a tray I pull out and clean regularly).

I'll look into upgrading the UV bulb -- thanks.

For the basking bulb, are you saying the 75W bulb is too high?
Hi! For a chameleon the minimum recommended would be 24x24x48 (2x2x4x) reptibreeze is a common enclosure that is purchased and you can get it right now for a good price at 112$: 2x2x4x enclosure

Pesticides is a issue but not related with plant's...basically everyone either gets their plants from lowes, home depot etc or a nursery just make sure to wash them well and you surely will run into no problems. As for water you want the cham to be healthy so high humidity at night is beneficial as for during the day a dripper works fine but you really want that morning and night session of misting (2-5 minutes) i bought my automatic mister for 40$ and its doing me miracles! Although the mist king is the best choice it can be a expensive investment. 75w is fine depending on how much inches the branch is from the heat usually most cham keepers use 60w but other will use up to 100w so it all depends on basking branch i would recommend getting a probe to check heat temps! :)
 
Hi! For a chameleon the minimum recommended would be 24x24x48 (2x2x4x) reptibreeze is a common enclosure that is purchased and you can get it right now for a good price at 112$: 2x2x4x enclosure

Pesticides is a issue but not related with plant's...basically everyone either gets their plants from lowes, home depot etc or a nursery just make sure to wash them well and you surely will run into no problems. As for water you want the cham to be healthy so high humidity at night is beneficial as for during the day a dripper works fine but you really want that morning and night session of misting (2-5 minutes) i bought my automatic mister for 40$ and its doing me miracles! Although the mist king is the best choice it can be a expensive investment. 75w is fine depending on how much inches the branch is from the heat usually most cham keepers use 60w but other will use up to 100w so it all depends on basking branch i would recommend getting a probe to check heat
Thanks @SteveH ! Super helpful. The enclosure is on the small side because when we got him, he was on the small side, and I always knew we would need to upgrade. I plan to upgrade. Can you recommend the vendor you use or recommend for enclosures?

I was told to be wary of any plants you buy at Lowe's or your local gardening supply because of pesticides. Is this not a concern?

So you up the humidity at night and reduce during the day? That's the opposite of what I have been doing, b/c at night he goes dormant and won't drink. During the day when he's active, I can actually feed the guy water, and watch him drink and do it several times a day. I was concerned that just hosing the thing down at night or early in the AM when he is not active is just a waste and just gathers a pool of water in the bottom (especially because I do not currently have a drainage system -- just a tray I pull out and clean regularly).

I'll look into upgrading the UV bulb -- thanks.

For the basking bulb, are you saying the 75W bulb is too high?
Switch to a incandescent light bulb it will be better overall.. figure out the distance of the basking bulb to the branch
 
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