Panther Chameleon Eye Problems!

mattmore100

New Member
+CHAMELEON INFO

My chameleons name is Rico

I have a male Ambilobe Red & Blue Panther Chameleon. I got him when he was 4 months old so right now he is about 2 years old.
I handle my chameleon about 1-2 times per week, and that normally is a 1-2 minute period and he is perfectly fine (as i could see). Seeming as he doesnt puff up as if hes gonna scare a predator away or hiss or ready his tounge. I am mixing the right amount (as said on the back of the container) of the brand Rep-Cal. Herpvite (multivitamin supplement) and Calcium with VIT.D3 (ultrafine powder) once I mix the supplement in a container I drop the mealworms and or crickets in and then place them in the cage. Recently I have been trying a bowl though because he hasn't been eating anything that I put in the cage. He also used to eat off my hand but now he isn't doing much of eating at all. I mist the cage with warm water in a reptile water purifying solution called reptisafe all over the plants and a few sticks. I turn on the dripper daily and he goes to it or if hes near it that means he would like water and I do see him drink. The humidity tends to drop if the humidifier is not on although it runs out fast. He doesn't like to be "inside" the mist but it doesn't anger him because hes been close to it, just not in it. And the water that I put in the humidifier is treated with Repti-Safe too.
Recently one of his droppings of water was a bit reddish orangish colored but that may have been cause he didn't get water cause it was fine the next time.
There have never been any other problems with him that I know of.

CAGE INFO

I have a screen cage which has a height of 2 feet and a length of 20inches but it sits ontop of a plastic bucket so I can easily remove the bowl at the bottom that catches the water that the plant doesn't soak up (the dripper drips into the plant) also there is no dirt because its a pain to clean and is a breeding ground for bacteria and other harmful things to chameleons. But there is some moss near the bowl for now.
I keep the UVB(I do not have the box of it so I am not sure the exact specs of it but I do know that it is the correct light) light on from 7:00AM all the way to 8:00PM but the cage is also in range of natural sunlight.
I have a basking light which is a 75 WATT blacklight which is a safe distance away from a reachable place.
I do have a temeperature gauge that is reading the right temperature near the basking light and near the bottom. The temeperature also drops to a healthy level at night.
As I sort of said earlier the humidity is kinda low (30-40) when I don't keep the humidifier on because I can't be home all day and the tank is not that big so it runs out fast.
The live plant that I have inside my chameleon cage is a Ficus Benjamina (do not quote me on that because I am 85% sure that, that is the plant I have) but I have researched it awhile ago and I know its safe for the chameleon along with the potting soil. Although I haven't seen him ever eat the plant, as some websites said that chameleons may sometimes try to eat the plant.
My chameleons cage is about 1 foot above the floor but it is under the upstairs hallway so the celing is 2 feet away from the cage top although behind the cage a few inches is the family room which has a very very high celing. No vents are near my cage, or fans in range, or high traffic areas.....
I am located in the U.S. in New England

What I am concerned about is recently he hasn't been eating and his right eye has been shut often and sometimes it will do this weird thing where the whole eyelid (not just the actual eye) will push in at some spots and then a second or 2 later he will discharge an almost clear liquid and then open his eye, sometimes it will sit there and others is will be gone by the next time I look at him. Other times his eye is still shut and he doesn't discharge anything out of it but when I put drops of warm (chemical free, solution of water) on his eye he blinks a bit and then opens his eye as if something was cleared out. He wasn't under going his shedding session so the problem cannot be that there is some shedded skin in his eye. In total I have flushed his eye out 2-3 times now. Almost once a day! Although he is ok with me doing it, no signs of anger or distress shown. The way that I "wash" his eye is taking him out of the cage. Getting a paper towel wet with warm water, have it wet enough so that it drips slowly. I have it drip a few times on his eye and then wipe it when he closes it and then wipe around it. I thought I was seeing a small area on the corner of his eyelid on both sides where it was a bit dark and looked like it was bulging out a tiney tiny bit. There have never been signs of crust that I have seen on his eye. I have never actually seen him try to.... help out his own eye (ex going under the dripper) except for recently today he let the water drip (1 drip almost every 20 seconds because it wasn't opened) on his head not necisarilly on his eye more like on his head all night long while he was asleep, but maybe it just happened to be because he was just walking by and the water happened to drip on his head even though he was staying in the same spot. It seems every morning he can open his left eye and is ok but on his right eye he never opens it and it looks like some substance almost is gluing it shut! Sometimes he opens it halfway (as if hes squinting) and you can see a thin layer of something on his eye (as seen in the pictures) But once I put some warm water over it he opens it and is all good.

Also he sometimes makes a noise as if hes blowing air out his noise quickly.

Also there is a vet near me that treats reptiles, including Chameleons

The picture of him near the plants is when his eye has something in it in the mornings. And the second picture is after its
flushed/washed out.
 

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I think the first thing to try is up the cage humidity levels. I know you said your humidifier is small and won't last the work day, but if you control the length of it's run cycle with a plug in timer you can still use it when you aren't home. First, test how long it can run until its just about empty. Program the timer for a cycle a bit shorter than this. Next, do your morning misting as usual, fill the humidifier and program your timer to cycle on and off once in the middle of the workday, and if you need to, mist again after you get home. This might help. Dry air can create chronic eye irritation that could eventually end up in an infection. You may be on the edge of this...which is why you are seeing stuck eyelids in the morning. But, if you are seeing his eyelid stuck shut with a colored discharge especially from only one eye, he could have a low grade infection going on. There are optical antibiotics available from a vet.
 
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