possible eye infection and uri?

F

frisbee

New Member
HI,

I am new to the forums and new to owning a chameleon. I have had my male jacksons, "frisbee", for about 3 months now. everything that I have for him was recommended by the pet store, and I now realize, after looking at some of the post on here that a lot of that is wrong. I plan on fixing it as soon as possible. now on to my current problem. I noticed just yesterday that he has been keeping his left eye closed. It has gotten swollen, my fiance took a wet q-tip and wiped some, and a clear liquid came out a little bit later. The swelling went down some, but is back up today. Today I noticed him open his mouth a lot more than he used to and he hasn't been as active as normal. here is the list:


Cage Info:

* Cage Type - Exo-Terra glass 24"x24"x24" I now know this is not right!!!
* Lighting - Exo-Terra dual compact lighting lid, one 5.0 uvb bulb, one red heating bulb, on at 8am off by 9pm... I have heard the compact uvb bulbs are not good either...
* Temperature - High 70's during the day low 70's high 60's at night
* Humidity - 50% or higher usually, I was told that the humidity levels should be around 40% to 90% not told that it should dry out any. done by misting the cage with spray bottle one really good time before work and then when I get home then when I go to bed...
* Plants - plastic can't remember what they were supposed to be...
* Location - next to my desk not really a high traffic area, a/c on other end of desk blowing in across my desk sort of on the side of cage about 6 feet away.


Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Jackson's Chameleon, male, age unknown... pet store did not tell me the age. he is about 4 1/2 inches long not including tail, with tail 9-10 inches
* Feeding - Crickets and meal worms, 3-4 crickets and 3-4 meal worms, every other day in the morning, Fluker's high calcium cricket feed and r-zilla gut load cricket drink. I learned what little I know about gutloading after I had purchased him.
* Supplements - I do not currently dust them just the gut load as I said I am still learning, didn't know about dusting
* Watering - I have a water fall, I now know this is wrong also!!! yes quite often actually I have seen him drink from it.
* Fecal Description - brown not to sure what consistency is.
* History - he is basically in the same setup that he was in at the pet storejust a little less vegetation that they told me was not necessary.


Again I apologize, but I am new to this and had no clue that what the pet store recommended was wrong. So please take it easy on me. :( I am planning on making a vet appointment tomorrow. I have read on some of the websites that giving them a shower might help with the eye? also good for dehydration? and here are some pics of everything (sorry took them with cell phone)


frisbee
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b122/wackinator/07-06-08_2348.jpg
his eye swollen
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b122/wackinator/07-06-08_2349.jpg
his home
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b122/wackinator/07-06-08_2350.jpg
his lights
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b122/wackinator/07-06-08_2351.jpg
waterfall vines and feeding bowl for meal worms
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b122/wackinator/07-06-08_2352.jpg
 
OK, this is not good, as of right now there are now vets in there area that will except exotic pets. I have made some calls to other vets that they referred me to. But I don't know if they will even except him... Does anyone know of any remedies to an eye infection?


As for basking temp 81-84
 
frisbee said:
HI,

I am new to the forums and new to owning a chameleon. I have had my male jacksons, "frisbee", for about 3 months now. everything that I have for him was recommended by the pet store, and I now realize, after looking at some of the post on here that a lot of that is wrong. I plan on fixing it as soon as possible. now on to my current problem. I noticed just yesterday that he has been keeping his left eye closed. It has gotten swollen, my fiance took a wet q-tip and wiped some, and a clear liquid came out a little bit later. The swelling went down some, but is back up today. Today I noticed him open his mouth a lot more than he used to and he hasn't been as active as normal. here is the list:


Cage Info:

* Cage Type - Exo-Terra glass 24"x24"x24" I now know this is not right!!!
* Lighting - Exo-Terra dual compact lighting lid, one 5.0 uvb bulb, one red heating bulb, on at 8am off by 9pm... I have heard the compact uvb bulbs are not good either...
* Temperature - High 70's during the day low 70's high 60's at night
* Humidity - 50% or higher usually, I was told that the humidity levels should be around 40% to 90% not told that it should dry out any. done by misting the cage with spray bottle one really good time before work and then when I get home then when I go to bed...
* Plants - plastic can't remember what they were supposed to be...
* Location - next to my desk not really a high traffic area, a/c on other end of desk blowing in across my desk sort of on the side of cage about 6 feet away.


Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Jackson's Chameleon, male, age unknown... pet store did not tell me the age. he is about 4 1/2 inches long not including tail, with tail 9-10 inches
* Feeding - Crickets and meal worms, 3-4 crickets and 3-4 meal worms, every other day in the morning, Fluker's high calcium cricket feed and r-zilla gut load cricket drink. I learned what little I know about gutloading after I had purchased him.
* Supplements - I do not currently dust them just the gut load as I said I am still learning, didn't know about dusting
* Watering - I have a water fall, I now know this is wrong also!!! yes quite often actually I have seen him drink from it.
* Fecal Description - brown not to sure what consistency is.
* History - he is basically in the same setup that he was in at the pet storejust a little less vegetation that they told me was not necessary.


Again I apologize, but I am new to this and had no clue that what the pet store recommended was wrong. So please take it easy on me. :( I am planning on making a vet appointment tomorrow. I have read on some of the websites that giving them a shower might help with the eye? also good for dehydration? and here are some pics of everything (sorry took them with cell phone)

The shower will be good for him. make sure it is not a direct shower and that he is getting a light spray. so let the water hit the wall and then let the ricochet hit your cham. 10 to 30 min. one more thing to make sure of is that your cham doesn't have a URI....popping or whezzing noises from what I hear may be a good indication of this.

Also I noticed the floor of your cage is lined with what looks like wood chips...you will want to get rid of this too. if your cham accidentally eats this. it may result in impaction....

hope this helps

OPI
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
OK, thanks for the heads up on that wood chips. the sad part is that the bag they come in recommends and shows a pic of a cham on there. I just got an appointment, but it isn't till next monday... I still have other places that I have called that haven't called me back yet. I gave him a little shower last night. I am thinking that it might not be a uri, I am thinking that he has been opening his mouth due to pain or something cause he isn't breathe heavy and no crackling or wheezing yet. will give him another shower tonight then.
 
imo, he might be opening his mouth to cool down, hence the glass cage..(try to get him out of that QUICK)..temps can creep up very fast in a glass enclosure..sometimes chameleons will gape/open their mout to help regulate their body temp
 
your welcome..i have had sucess with my jacksons with this set up..

cage-18x18x36 (lllreptile.com)

lighting- reptisun 5.0/zoomed 75watt basking bulb basking temp 90-95 rest of the cage around 70-75..

water-dripper and misting by hand about 4-5 times a day for at least 2-3 mins long

humidity-60-90% they need more humidity then other species
 
theres alot more to go over but i have to go to work right now.. hopefully some of the other members will assist you..good luck.stick with it and youll get it;)
 
Lighting - Exo-Terra dual compact lighting lid, one 5.0 uvb bulb, one red heating bulb, on at 8am off by 9pm... I have heard the compact uvb bulbs are not good either...

I have heard many people say compact lights are very bad. Get a single tube (reptisun 5.0 or 10)

And personally I don't think cham's care much for those red heating lights. Try using a good old 5-1/2" Clamp Lamp with a ReptiSun Basking Spot Lamp (or whatever brand of basking light you can find).
 
I am just hoping that he doesn't die from this... my fiance paid 220 for him and I have, for lack of better terms at this time, fallen for the little fellow. Does anyone one know any home remedies or something that will help me get him through till monday? I haven't had any other vets return my calls... :(
 
one more thing I was thinking about...Your Compact uv light may also be causing some of the Sx you are talking about with respect to your Chams eye.

consider getting a screen cage and instead of using the compact light, consider placing cage in some indirect light out doors (No glass which will filter out the UVB).

Some where on this forum some one posted an eyewash solution that can be used recently...I ll go look for it and post it if I can find it. However the shower may help with this.

hope this helps...

good luck

OPI:D
 
first off, get rid of the entire cage. the lights, enclosure, bark, waterfall, are all wrong for chams. ..

cage- MUST be a screen enclosure
lights- reptisun 5.0, night lights are not necessary unless night temps are below 68degrees
substrate- not necessary, use live potted plants
water-no waterfall, they just produce bacteria. use a spray bottle or mister a few times a day, and a drip system.


... sorry to hear you fell victim to the pet store sales man and sorry if i come off mean, i just wanted to let you know some basics to help get you started in the right direction. if you have anything else to put your cham in that would work better do it now, a large bucket or storage tote even would work temporarily (ventilation is key). maybe even free roaming for exercise and fresh air may help.
 
Swollen arm...swollen eye....opening his mouth...this is a chameleon that needs to see the vet NOW!!!!!!

Although there are changes to the cage/lighting/husbandry needed if you don't get the problem with his medical situation fixed first, the rest will not matter IMHO.
 
It appears that the showers have been helping, the swelling has gone down some! I am still going to stick to the appointment. I have a few questions though. I am going to make him a cage. It there a certain wood that I should use? Is there a certain type of screen that is preferred?
 
frisbee said:
It appears that the showers have been helping, the swelling has gone down some! I am still going to stick to the appointment. I have a few questions though. I am going to make him a cage. It there a certain wood that I should use? Is there a certain type of screen that is preferred?
Click to expand...

Great....:D
And a good idea to keep that appt.

As far cages...the bigger the better. and from what I read height is more more important than getting more width...My new cage is 24x24x36...for my male 1 yr old jackson...it has aluminum screen on it (normal window screen), However the down side to this type of scree is their claws can get stuck in it.

the other option is the 1/4" hardware cloth ( see link below )

http://www.twpinc.com/twpinc/control/category/~category_id=TWPCAT_4

I am not sure about the Galvanized part...you may need to research this more...

As far as wood...absolutely untreated lumber...other than that I think that it is take your pick...the last cage I built was made from pine.

the one thing you need to make sure of is to seal the lumber well because the chams do require a lot of misting. after sealing the lumber let it sit for a couple weeks before you put the chams in due to the sealer curing and releasing vapors or fumes.

Hope that helps....

Hope your cham makes a full recovery

OPI:D
 
It's a sad day.

:( Well Frisbee died today. When I woke up this morning, he was sitting there with his mouth open. I noticed that there was some blood in his mouth. I started looking for the emergency vet number immediately. Then I got looking and there was his poop, an undigested wax worm on the leaves along with some blood on it. The entire way there he was pretty much knocking on death's door. He became a really light yellow color, and as we entered the vet's office he was dying. They brought him back out and said that it was too late. That he died from heart failure, and that was why there was blood in his mouth. He also said that they aren't quite sure as to what causes heart failure but it could be hereditary, nutrition, or environmental. I feel so bad that I couldn't get a vet to look at him sooner, that I didn't look into everything about caring from cham's, and that there was nothing I could do for him. He is buried at my dad's in the woods. It's a place that I am sure we would have loved during the summer.

I want to thank all of you for your advice in trying to correct the situation that I had.
 
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