Sight

[kissarose]

So I was hand feeding our male panther today and noticed that when he was going to grab his food, his aim was off every time. I ended up having to put it right up to his mouth for him to grab it. I also noticed that he usually keeps his one of his eyes shut for long periods of time. Do you think he could be blind in one eye? He is 13 months old and we have had him since he was 2 months. He eats and drinks normally. The other thing is we can't get him to mate with our receptive female. Could it be, because he can't see her? She never darkens when we put them together and kind of seems to but he goes to the opposite side of the enclosure and wants nothing to do with her. Any thoughts?

 

[Carlton]

So I was hand feeding our male panther today and noticed that when he was going to grab his food, his aim was off every time. I ended up having to put it right up to his mouth for him to grab it. I also noticed that he usually keeps his one of his eyes shut for long periods of time. Do you think he could be blind in one eye? He is 13 months old and we have had him since he was 2 months. He eats and drinks normally. The other thing is we can't get him to mate with our receptive female. Could it be, because he can't see her? She never darkens when we put them together and kind of seems to but he goes to the opposite side of the enclosure and wants nothing to do with her. Any thoughts?

Chams keep an eye closed for several reasons and not often because they are blind. A cham who is blind in one eye can still see quite well (or they learn to overcome the loss of an eye pretty quickly). They can judge distance and depth with just one eye because of the double lens in each. The visual center of their brain is very sophisticated. Most likely there is another reason for poor shooting aim and lack of interest in your female. It is most likely nutritional. A cham with some deficiencies can have eye trouble but it can also be due to dehydration. A dehydrated cham has trouble snagging prey on its tongue too as the mucus glands in the tip are not working normally. Please describe your feeding, dusting, gutload, and lighting in detail. If he's preoccupied by a health problem he won't be very interested in breeding either (and this is not their most active season anyway)

 

[ataraxia]

you are at the age where your husbandry needs to be as close to good as it gets. please fill out the how to ask form.

 

[kissarose]

He is eating gut loaded crickets, super worms, and horned worms. He seems to prefer the super worms the most. We use a dripper, have a fogger in his cage because it is pretty dry here. And we also mist often. We use reptivite to coat our feeders with. Someone suggested getting Vitamin A capsules and feeding it to him. He has a 75 watt basking bulb, 5.0 UVB bulbs. It stays right around 82 degrees with about 60-70& humidity in his cage. Everything else about him seems normal.

 

[carol5208]

He is eating gut loaded crickets, super worms, and horned worms. He seems to prefer the super worms the most. We use a dripper, have a fogger in his cage because it is pretty dry here. And we also mist often. We use reptivite to coat our feeders with. Someone suggested getting Vitamin A capsules and feeding it to him. He has a 75 watt basking bulb, 5.0 UVB bulbs. It stays right around 82 degrees with about 60-70& humidity in his cage. Everything else about him seems normal.

Is Reptivite the only supplement you have been using? Is that with or without d3? How often have you been using it???? What about a multivitamin?

 

[kissarose]

it is with d3. We used to use a liquid vitamin spray, but then we read that to much d3 is bad and they both had d3 in it. we use the the dusting stuff everyday yes. Any suggestions on multivitamins/or anything else we should use?

 

[kinyonga]

Please fill out the questions in the "how to ask for help" thread in the health section. We need more information.

 

[kissarose]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male Ambanja, 14 months old, we have had him for almost 13 months
Handling - frequently, he is very social and like to be handled
Feeding - he eats about 3 -4 crickets a day 1-3 super worms every other day, and horned worms every now and then. Our local reptile store give us the the gut loader for the feeders. We also use a calcium fortified quencher for them.
Supplements - Have been using zoo meds reptivite but we are switching to repashy superfoods chameleon calcium plus. We used to use flukers liquid vitamin spray as well but was old to stop using that.
Watering - We using a dripper throughout the day, we also have a fogger in the cage because it is dry here, and we hand mist several times througout the day. He seems to be drinking regularly.
Fecal Description - brown and white seems normal
History -

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Started out in a glass went to a much larger screened cage, and he didn't seem happy. Barely moved, and just seemed to lose his luster, moved him back to his old one and is now becoming his old self.
Lighting - 75 watt basking bulb, 5.0 26 watt UVB bulbs
Temperature - Temperature during the day stays about 80-82 at night about 72-76 degrees.
Humidity -Humidity levels range from about 60-70%
Plants - Live umbrella plant
Placement - Off the floor, low traffic area
Location - Minneapolis, MN

Current Problem - Not aiming for his food right

 

[kinyonga]

What brand and type (spiral, compact, long tube) is the UVB light?

 

[kissarose]

I am sorry there are 2 spiral 5.0 13 watt UVB

 

[kinyonga]

Some spiral UVB lights have been know to cause eye or health issues.
Here's a site that talks about it...
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/

 

[kissarose]

I am not so sure he is blind anymore. He seems to be able to follow the feeders with both eyes just fine. But when he goes to grab them his aim is way off. I had to wait for him to open and put the food in his mouth with the tongs.

 

[kissarose]

This is the eye we were questioning. He is starting a shed so I am assuming he is properly hydrated. Kind of lost?!

 

[Hugh Wahl]

Physically he looks good. I would change to a linear fluorescent bulb. Glass cages aren't recommended. And i would definitely get him some multivitamins.

 

[kissarose]

I know glass cages aren't recommended but we moved him to a screened one and he didn't seem like himself in there. We moved him back and now he is moving around again and just seems happier. We have screened cages for our others he is the only ones that seems to prefer this type. I am home all day with these guys so I monitor pretty closely. What kind of multivitamins do you recommend? I didn't know know about the spiral bulbs thing, we will look into getting the linear ones.

 

[Hugh Wahl]

Rep-cal make herptivite I use it twice a month on all my chameleons until they reach adult size and/or age. Then I cut back to once a month. Hope this helps

 

[kinyonga]

Here's some information about chameleon husbandry and supplements with some links at the bottom...

Exposure to proper UVB, appropriate temperatures, supplements, a supply of well-fed/gutloaded insects, water and an appropriate cage set-up are all important for the well-being of your chameleon.

Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption. For a hatchling veiled I keep the cage temperatures more even in the low to mid 80'sF...but for male veileds that are about 5 months old the basking temperature can be in the mid to high 80'sF during the day.

Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.

Since many of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).

If you also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).

Dusting twice a month as well with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite.)

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.

Here are some good sites for you to read...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/