Reoccurring eye issue-PLEASE HAYYULLPPP!!!

Kamikaze Chameleon

Avid Member
Your Chameleon -?Flexx
The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. Fucier paradalis Male 2 years 3 months old. How long has it been in your care? I've had him for 2 years

Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? Often, i will handle him to take him out to bask in natural sun [weather permiting/late spring n summer] and to administer meds. I've had him since he was a baby and he doesnt seem to mind being handled at all. He has never hissed or bit, or even puffed up at me. Hes got SUCH a great temprament i just ❤ how lax he is!?

Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? My staples are, in order, silkworms, phoenix worms,hornworms, and i'll keep supers and waxworms as treats. Ive also fed him some mantis and bottle spikes he doesnt really like crickets dubias or flies...in general he doesnt "hunt" i think hes spoiled&quite picky but ill feed him pretty much anything i can get my hands on. I REALLY try to vary his diet often but stick to the nutritious staples. What amount? I offer food as often as he'll eat them. He usually has 5-10 worms every other day and maybe a treat if i take him outside. What is the schedule? Every morning/early afternoon i offer food. How are you gut-loading your feeders?chow for the worms, nice and easy. If i have to gut load i use bee pollen mustard greens carrots watercress or other greens, anything nutrious and handy.

Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I currently have zilla calcium repashshy lo D and repashy calcium +D repashy superpig ive been using this reptaid parisite remover/ dewormer and i also have been adminstering reptaid immune support and flukers reptile eyewash drops 2-3 times a day

I follow this schdule and will dust the meds on the Sundays

Week1
M- Cal T- Cal W- Cal Th- Cal F- Cal S- Cal S- Cal w/ D3
Week2
M- Cal T- Cal W- Cal Th- Cal F- Cal S- Cal S- Multivitamin

Repeat

Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use?Bigdripper &mistking system 2 nozzels in center. How often and how long to you mist? 3 times a day. 20 minutes half an hour aftet his lights turn on 5 minutes at 12 and then a 15 minute session, half hour b4 his lights out at 7 Do you see your chameleon drinking?Yes i love to see him drink, im guna get some new drip leaves when i get my dragonstrand.

Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Nothing out of the ordinary large solid waste and white urate Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? No

History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. He went through a weird stage where one eye was closed alot throughout the day, seemed lethargic and had low appetite. I changed my bulb, actually raised it from the cage[as it was sitting right on top before] managed to get some apetite stimulant and vitamin A directly into his system. Whatever he had cleared up and he retured to nornmal but then this is kinda the same issue he had before. However, I now notice one pupil is smaller than the other and he doesnt have 100% accuracy on his shots ?
The 1st picture is his bad eye. It doesnt look shruken no mucous or doesnt look like theres any obstruction and the 2nd picture is his good eye. It doesnt really affect him much he still eats[for the most part] fine, drinks, poops normal but i will catch him keeping the bad eye closed more often than i am comfortable with.

Cage Info:

Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Zoomed reptibreeze Large 36X18X18 moded it with clear acrylic sheets on the back&sides to hold in more humidity. Im upgrading to the large hybrid dragonstrand, orderd just awaiting.

Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? 7am-7pm Zoo med T8 tube lightings 24" 17w which i hear also arent the best so i will be upgrading to acadia bulb n fixture

Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? 60-90 Lowest overnight temp?65-70 How do you measure these temps? 2 gauges and one digital

Humidity - What are your humidity levels? 60-80 How are you creating and maintaining these levels?mistking mister. What do you use to measure humidity? Humidity gage on mistking and 2 other gauges

Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?i have an umbrella which is still recovering from him using it b4. I also have lots of philodendrum but im waiting for my dragonstrand to install in cage, so unfortunatly everything is artificial right now ? i get TERRIBLE lighting in that room too so its hard to keep plants alive.

Placement - Where is your cage located? Centered In a south facing window. Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? There is a fan on the ceiling above his cage so it keeps moving air and its not really a "high traffic" im not going in n out of the kitchen often and if i am i cover the cage once his light is off to be sure he sleeps soundly. At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? Cage height tops at 5&1/2' but i have the free range option outisde of his cage which has 4-7' artifical ficus trees.

Location - Where are you geographically located? Rochester, New York

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

1.Eye closing again
2.eating
3.spots
4.live plants
5.hufflepuff

1.It seems like he is reverting back to the original issue i had. I went ahead and replaced the bulb[it was getting older 7 er 8 months] i dont have a UV reader so i just replaced it. I take him outside to bask in the sun as often as i can for 30 minutes to an hour. When i look real close at his eye it looks as if the pupil[the black part] is much smaller than the other one. I wouldnt say it looks cloudy or "sunken in" maybe a little glossy? it DOES look somewhat different than his other eye though. Ive also increased his vitamin intake and administer the reptidrops 2-3 a day for the past few days.

2.So i maybe crazy but i feel like i coddled him ever since i 1st got him into hand feeding. He doesnt really seem to like to hunt. He has NEVER seemed to have an intrest in flies except for when he was a baby eating fruit flies. Doesnt ever have an intrest in ANY crickets or anything for that matter thats just existing in his cage, he pays NO mind. But maybe thats also bcuz i keep him so Fed? Does anyone else have this issue? Only when i bring it up to him will he show intrest and go for it. Sometimes hes SOO lazy he will just opens his mouth real wide for a long time and ill just put it in his mouth for him. Am i over feeding???

3.The spots are not a major concern but i was just wondering if anyone had any insight on what they could be. The 1st picture is what it used to look like. Theres also a weird spot on his tail hes had for a long time, maybe just a birth mark? His heat lamps are 8" to 10" away from the cage so idt its a burn. And i know its not a shed spot because he already shed and it looks the same.


4. So like i said before its very difficult for me to bring in live plants and keep them alive. I simply dont get enough sun, i would have to bring in some grow lights or something and thats money id rather put twoards his new cage. I dont mind letting him free range but than i feel he might not be getting enough UV cuz hes not under the bulb anymore. Also my other concern is mites and gnats? I get alot of those now & i just use beachwood and a sandblasted branch. There are these tiny termites, some fly[which i think are the gnats] could those be messing with his eye? I bake those Branches like every 3 months for 3 hours at 250° to kill anything living in there. Any help with this, its a big concern.

5.I promise this is the last thing ?
While he has never shown signs of aggression he does this little thing i call a hufflepuff. Its sounds as if you were to blow out your nose real hard for a sec. He does it sometimes when i come up to him or offer food. I never come up fast, I try to be slow, calm & cautious as i can be. Idk if its affecting his health but i really hope not, hes done it for as long as i can remember so idt its really a respritory issue but ive never had him looked at by a vet, im trying to get an appointment scheduled tomorrow.

I know this is a leangthy read and requires a lengthy response, i REALLY appreciate ANY help or input! ?
 

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Hi there and welcome to the forum. I do not have time to go through your whole form right now but right off the bat... Supplements are wrong... Your over supplementing him. Calcium with D3 and vitamin A are fat soluble. They store in the body and create issues like sluggishness, lack of appetite when they are overdosed. UVB lighting is also totally incorrect being lifted that high off the cage with a T8. He is getting no UVB from light. I need to know if the bulb is a 5.0 or 10.0 to give you distances for placement.

Repashy super pig should never be given to him. The repashy calcium plus loD formula should be the only supplement used. This is an all in one formula. Some chams do well on it and some have issues with gout and or edema.

So here is a crash course you can do. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/
and here is specific to your panther https://chameleonacademy.com/panther-chameleon-care/

Not sure what worms your using but yes your overfeeding and if your using superworms they are mostly fat and only a treat feeder.

Anyways start reading through the links. This will give you a ton of info that is accurate. If no one else goes through your form I will do so later when I get back.
 
Hi there and welcome to the forum. I do not have time to go through your whole form right now but right off the bat... Supplements are wrong... Your over supplementing him. Calcium with D3 and vitamin A are fat soluble. They store in the body and create issues like sluggishness, lack of appetite when they are overdosed. UVB lighting is also totally incorrect being lifted that high off the cage with a T8. He is getting no UVB from light. I need to know if the bulb is a 5.0 or 10.0 to give you distances for placement.

Repashy super pig should never be given to him. The repashy calcium plus loD formula should be the only supplement used. This is an all in one formula. Some chams do well on it and some have issues with gout and or edema.

So here is a crash course you can do. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/
and here is specific to your panther https://chameleonacademy.com/panther-chameleon-care/

Not sure what worms your using but yes your overfeeding and if your using superworms they are mostly fat and only a treat feeder.

Anyways start reading through the links. This will give you a ton of info that is accurate. If no one else goes through your form I will do so later when I get back.

So its a T10 and i had it right on top of the cage before and thats when his eye started closing it.once i raised it he started opening his eye and acting normal again but i said I'm switching to acadia so hopefully that solves that! As far as feeders i only give supers as treats i mainly use silkworms and black solider larva when they are black and hornworms. Thanks for the quick reply! I will definitely look into those links, they look like AWESOME resource so much appreciated! ???
 
Sorry all ?‍♂️ its a T8 10.0 uvb
So should i just set it back on top of the cage for now?
Yes, it needs to be sitting on the cage and then your basking branch should sit about 6 inches below it no closer. You need a horizontal branch below where the UVB bulb is so he can get UVB and can create his own D3.
T8's produce far less UVB then a T5HO. So you have to account for this. They do not push the UVB light as far and they do not produce huge UVI levels the way a T5 will. So we have to accommodate for this and have their basking closer then you would with a T5HO. With the Basking branch at 6 inches below the bottom of the screen this would put him in a UVI level of about a 2 as he rises up into the lighting he will be more in a 3 UVI level.

I do not believe the eye issues were from lighting at all. I think it has entirely everything to do with over supplementation.
 
do you mean 10.0 uvb? If so that could explain the eye issues. I would definitely change the supplement routine as @Beman said.
Yes, it needs to be sitting on the cage and then your basking branch should sit about 6 inches below it no closer. You need a horizontal branch below where the UVB bulb is so he can get UVB and can create his own D3.
T8's produce far less UVB then a T5HO. So you have to account for this. They do not push the UVB light as far and they do not produce huge UVI levels the way a T5 will. So we have to accommodate for this and have their basking closer then you would with a T5HO. With the Basking branch at 6 inches below the bottom of the screen this would put him in a UVI level of about a 2 as he rises up into the lighting he will be more in a 3 UVI level.

I do not believe the eye issues were from lighting at all. I think it has entirely everything to do with over supplementation.

Thank you! I've made the adjustments to the lighting. Now, should i just stop supplements altogether for like a week? Then start back up with just the repashy lo-d every other week? I don't need the multivitamin anymore?
 
Thank you! I've made the adjustments to the lighting. Now, should i just stop supplements altogether for like a week? Then start back up with just the repashy lo-d every other week? I don't need the multivitamin anymore?
If it were me... I would get plain calcium without D3 for every feeding and stop use of all your other supplements. Then get Reptivite with D3 and this is your multivitamin and your calcium with D3. You would give this one 2 times a month only. Every other week say on a Saturday.

With the UVB being correct and the supplements being changed you would see improvements in the next few weeks if it is an overdose issue. Calcium with D3 and Vitamin A are fat soluble so they take time for the levels to lower in the body.
 
Hi there and welcome to the forum. I do not have time to go through your whole form right now but right off the bat... Supplements are wrong... Your over supplementing him. Calcium with D3 and vitamin A are fat soluble. They store in the body and create issues like sluggishness, lack of appetite when they are overdosed. UVB lighting is also totally incorrect being lifted that high off the cage with a T8. He is getting no UVB from light. I need to know if the bulb is a 5.0 or 10.0 to give you distances for placement.

Repashy super pig should never be given to him. The repashy calcium plus loD formula should be the only supplement used. This is an all in one formula. Some chams do well on it and some have issues with gout and or edema.

So here is a crash course you can do. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/
and here is specific to your panther https://chameleonacademy.com/panther-chameleon-care/

Not sure what worms your using but yes your overfeeding and if your using superworms they are mostly fat and only a treat feeder.

Anyways start reading through the links. This will give you a ton of info that is accurate. If no one else goes through your form I will do so later when I get back.

Hey can you explain to me why i should not be using superpig? I've read DOZENS of threads with people using it with great sucess
 
Hey can you explain to me why i should not be using superpig? I've read DOZENS of threads with people using it with great sucess
It is not made for chameleons specifically. But regarding the supplement itself it has a specific ratio of use with the feed being given. I forget the exact amount but their website for repashy tells you. Since Chameleons are only fed insects figuring out the exact ratio would be difficult. Then there is the fact that it is still an additional supplement. We already know that Chams react to over supplementation and under supplementation. With what you were using in all IMO it was more of an over supplementation issue. Again this is my opinion. Since he is having health issues I would hesitate to give additional supplementation.
 
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