Please help, urgent.

[ReptileRampage]

As a few of you know from previous threads me and my girlfriend "rescued" a female jacksons chameleon from the petsmart. She had many patches on various parts of her body that I thought were burns but were advised on here to be old injuries/bruising. The main concern was her eye which was black/purple swollen and pink around where her actual eyeball is. We took her to a vet the day after we got her, and the vet examined her and took a look under a microscope and said he feels it is bruising and not infection. He gave me eye ointment and told me to use it daily. I have been doing so for 2 weeks now as well as watering her well since she was dehydrated, and i thought it was clearing up, the swelling went away and the bruising was fading. NOW I go to check her tonight i have no clue whats wrong with her eyes. Her eyes seem "popped" out, almost like a balloon. and it wasn't just her injured eye (although it was worse on that one) It was also on her other eye as well. I will definitely take her to the vet if needed but would like to know more "chameleon expert" Advice on what this is. Vitamin deficiencies? something worse? I also noted that after snapping pics her eyes returned to normal. i left her with me while i am typing this and she fell asleep on my shoulder. I notice she isn't very active during the day like my panther is, she kind of lounges around and only moves to pretty much drink, or moderate her body temp by moving into the heat lamp or away from it. Please help me and let me know what you think is wrong with her. If needed I'll be happy to return to the vet, it is free because I got her from petsmart and the guy said they pay for vet costs. Thanks for any and all help

 

[ReptileRampage]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Jackson chameleon, female, unknown age. been in my care for 2 weeks or so. (assuming wild caught, came from petsmart)
Handling - for 2 minutes a day to apply her eye ointment, and then she is put back.
Feeding - right now mixture of crickets/dubia roaches. about 10-15 a day, would say she eats about 10. Crickets and dubias get fruit/veggie pieces for gut load, as well as a dry food that came with the dubias, and i use gel water crystals for water.
Supplements - I have flakers calcium with d3 ( she has been given this 1 time so far) ReptiCalcium without d3 (every day) and Rep-cal Herpavite ( she's had it about twice because I am unsure if she is lacking any vitamins)
Watering - Her cage gets hand misted 4-5 times a day. I work from home and spray it once the cage has dried from the previous spray. I see her drinking a lot, she loves to get sprayed in the mouth. She came to me dehydrated so I've been spraying her cage down well to get her hydrated again.
Fecal Description - Brown solid poops, white urates ( previously yellow/orange from dehydration when first brought home) Not tested for parasites.
History - Purchased from petsmart, so I would assume she is wild caught. Been to vet once already for her eye and was given eye ointment to reduce swelling and bruising. which started to clear up until tonight.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - All screen cage, its a typical commercial cage, the 36 inch one
Lighting - 60 watt heat bulb for a heat lamp. Reptisun 5.0 uvb tube light
Temperature - floor is room temp (70) basking is 80-85. lights turn on at 9 and go off at 9
Humidity - ranges from 90% when first sprayed and drops down to 50-60% in-between sprays.
Plants - one live plant, i believe its called Yucca? Its on the FLCHAMS safe list
Placement - the cage is in my room, not near any vents.
Location - South Dakota

 

[ridgebax1]

I am by no means an expert but I think perhaps her eyes look a little more swollen because she is now adequately hydrated. I would also think she may just need some more time to settle in and recover from what must have been some horrible husbandry. I don't keep Jackson's but your care specifics seem to be OK.

 

[p1u5h13r4m24]

I had a chameleon who once had a similar eye problem. All I did was give her rept-aid everyday, and give her warm showers and kind of rub the infection, I did that everyday, it wouldn't hurt to try.

 

[ReptileRampage]

Well first off i do have a panther chameleon, and i am fully aware of what hydrated eyes should look like. Pictures 1-2 are the best because the swelling goes away when shes out of her cage, and by the end of taking those pictures the swelling already was going down. So i know its not hydration. I plan to try the showers for her and to flush her eyes out incase something got in them. Any other advice would be appreciated, and thank you both for suggestions!

 

[ReptileRampage]

Anyone else?

 

[laurie]

I would be careful with supplements for a jackson. They are much like the quads I keep and those get plain calcium twice a week and each of the others every other week. I dust VERY lightly. They are very easy to over supplement. Also jackson like a lot of humidity, but you may be doing a tad too much. That sounds odd, I know, but give her just a bit more time between misting her.

It looks to me like you are doing a great job. But if you can take her to the vet free, and you think the vets is chameleon knowledgeable, then go for it. If you doubt the knowledge of the vet I might wait a day or two and see if it gets better.

 

[spadefish]

Well first off i do have a panther chameleon, and i am fully aware of what hydrated eyes should look like. Pictures 1-2 are the best because the swelling goes away when shes out of her cage, and by the end of taking those pictures the swelling already was going down. So i know its not hydration. I plan to try the showers for her and to flush her eyes out incase something got in them. Any other advice would be appreciated, and thank you both for suggestions!

Is it possible that her eyes were irritated by something and she had been rubbing them? I had a tavetana once who seemed like she was very OCD and would constantly rub one eye. I had to rinse it with saline twice a week and it seemed to keep the rubbing to a minimum. I use the CVS plain saline nasal spray in the squeeze bottle (not the spray!) and squirt it in there gently. It can't hurt and may help rinse out any irritants.

 

[ReptileRampage]

I would be careful with supplements for a jackson. They are much like the quads I keep and those get plain calcium twice a week and each of the others every other week. I dust VERY lightly. They are very easy to over supplement. Also jackson like a lot of humidity, but you may be doing a tad too much. That sounds odd, I know, but give her just a bit more time between misting her.

It looks to me like you are doing a great job. But if you can take her to the vet free, and you think the vets is chameleon knowledgeable, then go for it. If you doubt the knowledge of the vet I might wait a day or two and see if it gets better.

Okay thanks! My girlfriend lives in california and the plan was to originally ship her when she got home. But we are waiting for her eye to clear up before shipping her. Her eyes seem okay today i think maybe something was in them. I am also worried because at least 4 members have asked if she is pregnant and im scared to ship her if she is. She is very thick and sometimes her neck looks slightly swollen. I really cant tell if she may be overweight or if she is pregnant. I will pass along your supplement schedule to my girlfriend and note humidity as well. Me and her both have panthers so we are unfamiliar with jacksons. She was a spur of the moment purchase so i didnt have time to reaearch care before hand :/

 

[Juliaf3]

I would be careful with supplements for a jackson. They are much like the quads I keep and those get plain calcium twice a week and each of the others every other week. I dust VERY lightly. They are very easy to over supplement. Also jackson like a lot of humidity, but you may be doing a tad too much. That sounds odd, I know, but give her just a bit more time between misting her.

It looks to me like you are doing a great job. But if you can take her to the vet free, and you think the vets is chameleon knowledgeable, then go for it. If you doubt the knowledge of the vet I might wait a day or two and see if it gets better.

I agree with Laurie. Jacksons are Easily over supplemented. She already looks way better then she did when you first got her. Keep up what you are doing, really watch that humidity, and back off on the supplements some. Definitely not everyday. Also, if possible, take her outside and let her get some real sun. We are pretty close so I know our weather isn't so great right now, but tomorrow is going to be nice. Ill be taking my Jackson and panther out. You will be amazed how happy it will make her. Not to mention the health benefits of real sun

oh, a little side note for your girlfriend when she receives her, if she can afford it, cruise over to toys r us. They sell ultrasonic cool mist humidifiers there. They are like $40 pick one up and attach some tubing to it. Run it into the cage. This will make keeping the humidity where it needs to be so much easier.

Also, what vet are you using? Dr. Williams is in Sioux Falls. Definitely knowledgeable. Is highly recommended where im from.

 

[ReptileRampage]

That is who we found online and ended up going too. He treated her very well and looked realy closely at her eye instead of just guessing. I might take her back and just see if he has any advice for why her eyes are doing this. We were ready to pay him and he said no petsmart covers the cost. He could of easily charged us cause we had no clue. Real nice man

 

[ReptileRampage]

And yes shes been outside 4-5 times this year already! Along wirh my panther chameleon. I also take my argentine tegu out. Hes 40 inches now and he likes to stretch out his legs and get sun too. The neighbors are deathly afriad of him though lol