Please help (closed eyes)

[lmichaels]

Cage Info:

* Cage Type - Reptarium (mesh) 30 x 30 x 71
* Lighting - 1x 100 watt UVB light, 1x 25 watt UVA light, I run the lights in his cage from 8:30 am to 8:30 pm
* Temperature - 75 to 80 degrees in the cage, 80 - 85 degree basking spot.
* Humidity - 50 - 75% I have a mister setup to go off for 1 minute every hour., hand mist twice a day for approx 5 minutes, I also have a dripper.
* Plants - I have 3 live plants, a hibiscus, a ficus, and a arboricola. The Arboricola stays in at all times and i sub the hibiscus and ficus in and out. Lately my Hibiscus hasn't been looking good so I've been leaving the ficus in all the time, also he greatly prefers the ficus plant and will rarely go into the hibiscus when I put it in.
* Location - The cage is in my living room, I rarely get much traffic other than myself and my roomate. It's off to the side not really close to any vents.


Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Veiled, Male, don't know his exact age but my guess is around 5 or 6 months.
* Feeding - I substitute between crickets and superworms. I generally feed him 5 crickets or 4 superworms daily. I do gutload the crickets
* Supplements - Reptivite with D3 every time I feed him crickets.
* Watering - This has been a huge concern for me so I'm using three watering methods, a mister (1 min every hour) hand misting twice a day for around 5 mins, and a dripper.
* Fecal Description - I searched and searched but haven't gotten a good look at any of his fecal matter, i did see a small splotch that looked like it had some yellow in it (indicating dehydration) so that is what I believe the problem to be.
* History - Nothing stands out
* Current Problem - For the last few days it seems like he is sleeping a lot his eyes will open for short periods of time but then he closes them again. I believe this to be one of two things. Either the plant is irratating his eyes (ever since I bought him a ficus he has been lounging around in it) or he is dehydrated. I use 3 watering methods (and I'm showering him tonight so that may work) so I dont understand why he wouldn't be drinking. I have seen him drink a few times but that is rare (I think he is shy about people watching him drink)

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[summoner12]

OK first off, cut back on the D3. You only need to give him D3 once a week, if that often. Follow the supplements schedule on this Link. As for your lighting. You are using a Power sun? or Mega Ray? is that why the UVB is 100w? I am not a fan of those. I like to stick with the simple UVB linear tube and a basic daytime lamp for heat. what is the 25w UVB? is it a compact? If so, what brand, model and how close can your cham get to it when basking? To read up more on compact UVB lamps you should read through this Website.

I would concentrate on you UVB lighting. I think your output is too much for this little guy. He might be suffering from photo-kerato-conjunctivitis. If so it can be reversed if you give him enough time away from the high levels of UVB. I would order up some of these products:

Fixture.

UVB Lamp.

UVA Lamp.

I am advising you to get the Reptisun 10.0 due to the type of cage you have. The Reptariums do not allow as much UV though the plastic mesh as a metal screen cage does.

 

[lmichaels]

Thanks for the response

To answer your questions:

My UVA bulb:
http://www.petco.com/product/102885/Zoo-Med-Daylight-Blue-Reptile-Bulb.aspx
(the 100 watt version)

The UVB bulb is a 25 watt (pretty sure its a zoo med as well) oddly enough I can't find it anywhere online to link it. It's a lamp not a strip.

Both lights hang just about an inch from the top of the cage and I have basking spots about half a foot below them.

After reading about photo-kerato-conjunctivitis I think you've nailed my problem. I'm going to go by the pet store and get a UVB strip bulb (the 10.0) and I'll replace his 100 watt bulb with something lower in wattage. I may also try hanging the lights further above his cage.


*edited because I mixed the UVA and UVB bulbs around

 

[lmichaels]

I took some pictures but they're really bad because all I have right now is my crappy camera phone. They can be viewed here:

http://lookarounddesigns.com/cham1.jpg
http://lookarounddesigns.com/cham2.jpg

Not so sure that they will help do to the low quality.

 

[chamlover]

I also believe that it could be the lite you are using however a cham with closed eyes is always a problem that can't wait. There is usually an underlying problem. If you can't take him to the vets asap and are going to change the light first, immediately change it and only wait a couple of days to see if it gets better. If not call the vet right away. Chams as you know go down hill really fast and the longer you wait the worse the chances of survival. I;m sorry i don't remember what your supplementation schedule was. Closed eyes can also be a sign of hypovitaminosis, or shortage of vitamin A. My cham had the exact same problem, but i have the tube lighting. I did alot of research on vitamin A and i had never supplemented them with it so i went in that direction. After 1 tiny drop his eyes improved. CAUTION, do not give yourself unless you know exactly what to do. 1 drop too much can kill them!!!!! Keep us informed and good luck.

Debby

 

[summoner12]

OK it sounds like you have one of these:

GET RID OF IT! ASAP!!! (not yelling AT you... just trying to have a sense of urgency.)

I lost my 4 month old Ambanja Panther to the light you see in that picture. I didn't know about that UV Guide website until it was too late. Did you read through that site? If you did, by now you would have turned off that compact lamp. I didn't give my guy UV for about 4 days and he started to open his eyes. He was too far gone at that point to save him, BUT he did start to open his eyes. The compact lamps are not good for anything except sun burn and going blind. Just turn the thing off for a couple of days while you purchase a new lamp. Us the links I provided to you in my first post. Good luck!

Edit: sorry didn't read your post very closely. Glad to hear you are going to buy new stuff. Be sure to get the products that I had listed above. The zoomed lamps are great! If you are still going to use the Reptarium you can get away with the lamp resting on the cage or maybe an inch above. The plastic mesh really filters out a lot of the UV. If you go to Petsmart or Petco be ready to pay up the rear for those products. You could prolly order from LLL Reptile and save quite a bit of money. While your out you should buy a couple thermostats. You should place one in his basking area under the light and another lower in the care so you can see the temps. This will also help you to know what wattage lamp to use for his basking. I like to use these thermometer.

This is one of my cages (basking is a bit cool):

 

[lmichaels]

Hey guys sorry for not posting a follow up sooner. Thank you for all of your help. After getting rid of all of the lights (I did have the one in that picture) and replacing them, I put in a 60 watt UVA bulb and hung it further up off of the cage, and replaced the UVB lamp with a strip. My chameleon is doing much better now. He has opened his eyes and gone back to his normal active self. I have noticed he goes to sleep a little bit earlier than he use to (around 6 - 7 pm) but I also think he is getting up earlier in the morning.

Now if I could just get him to cup feed...

 

[summoner12]

Hey guys sorry for not posting a follow up sooner. Thank you for all of your help. After getting rid of all of the lights (I did have the one in that picture) and replacing them, I put in a 60 watt UVA bulb and hung it further up off of the cage, and replaced the UVB lamp with a strip. My chameleon is doing much better now. He has opened his eyes and gone back to his normal active self. I have noticed he goes to sleep a little bit earlier than he use to (around 6 - 7 pm) but I also think he is getting up earlier in the morning.

Now if I could just get him to cup feed...

Glad to hear it! When I hear about someone having eye issues I tend to lean on the ZooMed Compact lamps as my crutch. I have had bad experiences as you have read. I am very glad you were able to get your guy back on track.