sick cham..

[Clarebear]

I got a 4mth veiled about a few weeks ago and he stared to shed a couple of days ago and have noticed that he's been walking around with his eyes closed most of the time since he shed his skin. He opens his eyes when he is out of the cage and quickly when he's catching the locusts.
I have checked the light's and they are all the correct wattage, i am trying to keep the humidity up, dusting the locusts with cal, he has a nibble on his fresh veg...He is still active and have seen him eat some locusts (but nothing close to what he should be eating) and concerned as he is starting to lose weight and am not sure if he is dhydrated or if its a shedding thing.

 

[beeze]

What type uvb light do you have is it the tube style or compact, coil style? What supplements are you using?

 

[jojackson]

The UV light isnt a short coiled one? These can cause eye issues. If the poo is part brown part white, and the eyes arnt sunken or the skin wrinkled then its probly not dehydrated. (yellow urates (white part of poo, indicates its beginning to get dehydrated)
They will eat less or be less inclined to eat as much when they are shedding, ive found.
It could be something as simple as shedding skin around the eyes making it behave oddly (must be itchy/annoying), you could try lightly misting the lizard directly a few times a day (gently from some distance so find droplets fall over the head) he should do that odd eye turning/bulging thing they do to clean them and it should assist with shedding around the eyes if this is the issue.

can you provide further information about the lighting, temp cage and so on, any history of behaviour? This will help provide a clearer 'big picture'.

 

[Clarebear]

The UV light is a tube and I have been supplementing with calcium with vitamin D3

I have been gently misting him since he first shed, and have seen him doing the odd eye bulging thing, but he has stopped doing it recently.

When we first had him he had a good appetite - he was eating mealworms, fresh veg and was loving the locusts (think he was eating around 10 small ones) and was very active and observant. We haven’t changed the set-up of the cage or the temp since we first had him.
His cage is an AX vivarium (with 4 vents at the back), heatlamp and a UV tube at the top; the temp is on a thermostat and is on a timer. His average temperature is around 28 - 30 (this was all recommended when we brought him-the girl also has a cham and said this is the same set-up as what she has). He has branches and fake plants to climb.

Mum did mention that he slept close to the UV strip light one night (and wasn’t sure if this had something to do with it) the next day he started shutting his eyes during the day as he started to shed his skin. A few days after the shed, he's been squinting and very sleepy during the day and rarely opens his eyes (only for the occasional locust or if he’s out of he cage), he still moves around the cage whilst guiding himself with his hands out in front of him. I have been trying to drip water close to him to encourage him to drink, would you recommend starting force-feeding him? I'm not too sure about doing this in case it freaks him out too much. Do you know of anything else I could try him with to tempt him to eat? Its heartbreaking seeing him like this – I have read a number of books and they don’t seem to have anything of much help in them.

 

[kinyonga]

What brand is the UVB light?

 

[thealissa]

If you can, I'd get him to take in some Repta-Aid Critical Care Formula from Fluker's. It can be bought at Petsmart (not sure about Petco.) Its a powder formula that you mix with water and it comes with a little dropper to help feed it to them. It's completely safe, so you don't have to worry about harming him.

 

[chameleon97]

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-Steve

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."Mum did mention that he slept close to the UV strip light one night"...you're not leaving the lights on at night are you??