please HELP!!! eye problems!?

[armando]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - female veiled chameleon, no more than 3 months old
Handling - once every three days or so
Feeding - Cup feeding Crickets, gutloaded with sandrachameleon´s dry gutload recipe. She usually only eats 3 a day... (Im trying to make her eat more, but she seems not interested at all)...
Supplements - Im using zoomed calcium everyday, and vitamins and calcium with d3 two times monthly.. (I alternate them)
Watering - I used to have the dripper dripping all day long, and didnt mist daily, until I found that i was necesary to mist 3 times at day. So I have been misting them 2 to 3 times a day with hot water.
Fecal Description - it looks just black and white

Cage Info:
Cage Type - big reptibreeze cage, divided in half (because it was too big for her)
Lighting - Im using linear uv 5.0 all day long. They also are next to a window and I open it, so they can also get natural sun light.
Temperature - cage is around 20 Celsius, and the basking spot its usually around 24
Humidity - usually around 50%, but it increases when I mist them
Plants - sheffera
Placement - its in my living room.
Location - Sonora, Mexico. (close to Tucson Arizona) ...
(just as an additional information... She is currently sharing cage with a male same age as her.... I was told that they would be fine togheter until they reach 5 or 6 months old).... is that ok?

Current Problem -
About 3 days ago, she started to close one eye... couple of times at day.
It increased, and now she has it closed almost all day long. I tought it could be because I didnt used to mist enough. So I started to mist much more, and use hot water aswell... (I have just ordered mistking, and should be here this week)...
Today I came to dropp some crickets in the feeding cup, and she has both eyes closed now!!!
Im getting nervious what should I do??????

Thanks SOO much everyone!!!!

 

[ataraxia]

a 3 month old eating 3 crickets a day is alarming and having both eyes closed is not a good sign.

What size feeders are you feeding?

From 0-3 months i keep them in fairly small cages with lots of foliage. They can hunt food efficiently in a small cage and feel secure with all the foliage.

Humidity....I would add a ultrasonic humidifier for the young. You live in a fairly dry state and im sure in between misting it gets very low.

I would recommend you taking the chameleon to a qualified vet as soon as you can. Possible parasites>?

My two guesses that came to mind right off the bat were shot down.
At this age i dont think a lack in vit A is the issues with using a good gut load along with proper supplementation. I also dont think it would be hydration with her having white urates.

 

[armando]

the thing is that theres no good vets around here..
there are actually no reptile vets at all...
they have avaidable food all day long... but still they dont seem to be that hungry ...
could it be because of the winter time??
I started to cup feed because all the crickets where scaping from the cage, and they would just caught one or two...
I placed a cup right down the basking spot, and they go down... eat one... and get up back again....
I was told in this forum to keep the basking spot with a regular house bulb... (I even uploaded a picture of it, and everyone said it was good)...
but to be honest, I dont feel that it gets warm at all....
crickets are not that small.. they are 3/8... and seomtimes a little bit bigger...
its really hard to find small crickets down here...

 

[Elizadolots]

Okay, first...it's almost certainly not a problem with her eyes. It's a more general health problem.

Keep misting. Hydration is such a huge thing for these animals.

(just as an additional information... She is currently sharing cage with a male same age as her.... I was told that they would be fine togheter until they reach 5 or 6 months old).... is that ok?

I would suggest separating them now. We've seen cases of females developing eggs at young ages (under 6 months). You should also put a laying bin in with her, especially as she's been sharing space with a male. I'm not suggesting they've done the deed, but if she's maturing early he might be stimulating her hormones.

What size crickets are you feeding?

 

[whereswaldo]

that sounds a little to large can you order online? maybe thats why they arent eating much parasite test would be a good thing to have done.

 

[armando]

I did order some, and they will be arriving in couple of days..
they seem to be about 1/4 ...
Do you think they might be eating that ammount because of the big sizes of the crickets?
I mean... they have food avaidable all day long!...

 

[armando]

Ok, I will keep misting a lot..
And will separate the asap!
I dont think shes gravid.. she is not fat... and I think she is tooooo small and young to be gravid...
I will try to get them separated tomorrow.

 

[Elizadolots]

It could just be stress. She might be approaching fertility and the presence of a male is freaking her out (put yourself in that position: caged with a male while coming into womanhood).