Sinus Infection. Advice Needed!

Ringo3789

New Member
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon – Veiled , Male, and he is 1yr & 8 months old. I have had him for 1 year and 7 months. I got him from a friend of mine who bred his chameleons when Ringo was a month old.
Handling – 1-2 times per week?
Feeding – He mainly eats crickets, but I give him superworms and meal worms about once a month. 10/day. He cup feeds primarily, but there are always escapees that he enjoys chasing. He eats at 8am? I feed my crickets carrots, oranges, flukers dry food, flukers water crystals.
Supplements – I use Rep-Cal Calcium without D3 daily. I also use Herptivite multivitamin once a week, and ReptiCalcium with D3 once a month.
Watering – I use a misting machine for 1minute every 4 hours. I usually do see him drinking, but these past couple of days I have not seen him doing so, so I have increased the frequency to every 2 hours while he’s awake for a minute.
Fecal Description – His feces look normal, and his urate is white. He has not been tested for parasites.
History – Other than his current situation, the only other health issue he has had is frequent sperm plugs.

Cage Info:
Cage Type – 24 X 24 X 48 Screen
Lighting – Reptisun 10 UVB (3month old bulb), 60 watt heat lamp for day time. Both of these are on for 12 hours. I only use a night light when my house drops drastically in temperature, which is not often being that I am in Louisiana.
Temperature – The cage temperature stays around 75-80 degrees every day, and his basking spot is showing 94 degrees. The overnight temperature at his sleep spot is 65. I have three temperature/humidity gauges inside the cage under his basking spot, at the back of the cage closest to a window, and level with his sleep spot.
Humidity – His humidity level is at 85 right now. I live in a humid climate, so I have not had to do much else other than the misting system and his live plant to keep his humidity up. I have three temp/humidity gauges in his cage to measure.
Plants – Yes. He currently has a Camellia Japonica in his cage while his usual hibiscus is dormant.
Placement – His cage is located near my front door, in a corner of the room. We only use the backdoor of our house, so this is not a high traffic area. It is not near any fans, but it is in front of a window, so I have a temp gauge located at the back of the cage to make sure that it does not affect his environment. The bottom of his cage is resting on a table that stands two feet off the floor, putting the top of his cage around 6 feet.
Location – Shreveport, Louisiana

Current Problem – About 3 weeks ago, after he was finished shedding I noticed that his right eye was shut and there was some sort of dried pus. I immediately called the vet and took him there. She cleared out his eye, and I had told her that since that eye was the last part to finish shedding, the day before, that I thought a piece of skin had gotten in there and caused the irritation.
After that, he seemed normal. Active, eating and drinking normally, no signs of distress at all.
So 5 days ago, I heard him fall off his screen. I came over to the cage and he had landed in the tree, not on the bottom. I gave him his space, and about 2 hours later I got him out to inspect him. He seemed fine, except one of his eyes was a little wrinkly in the front. I took a mental note of it and put him back in his cage to try to not stress him out more than need be. Two days later I looked in and both eyes were swollen with a baggy area in the front portion, so I called the vet again and set up an appointment for the following morning (yesterday).
She said that it looks like a sinus infection and that he had a little bit of mucus in his nostrils as well. She gave me Gentamicin Sulfate to use one drop in each eye and each nostril three times a day for 7 days and then call her back if he isn’t better. He’s not as active, and I have not heard him eating today. There are less crickets in his bowl but I have yet to determine if he has eaten them or if they escaped and are hiding in the tree.
So my questions are has anyone had any experience with this and if so, what was the outcome? Also, in addition to the drops, is there anything else I can do to help him? I have always heard that if they are showing symptoms it’s an emergency, so I just want to make sure I am doing everything I can for him. I do want to mention though that I do have a wonderful vet who is a panther chameleon owner, and two of her assistants also own chameleons, I just want to be extra cautious (paranoid) about my Ringo's well-being. Ringo's eye.jpg
 
Sorry to hear your little man is having problems.

Your husbandry looks pretty much spot on to me - your basking temp seems a little high but I gather that adult Veileds can withstand higher temps.

I can't offer much advice apart from to say that you have done everything that any chameleon owner could have done, you have spotted a problem and taken him to an excellent, chameleon experienced vet, who has prescribed medication for him yesterday. Persevere with this for a couple of days and see if there is any improvement.

As far as him not eating is concerned, most animals go off their food when they're not well, so I wouldn't worry too much at the moment. See if the meds start to work and when they do, hopefully his appetite will come back.

Keep up with the misting and if you don't already have one, get a dripper going, so at least he can get a drink - if he shows signs of dehydration, give him a long warm shower to encourage him. If you are still concerned after the weekend, then my advice would be to have him back to the vet. Its what I would do anyway.

Good luck and I hope you see some improvement soon. Know you're worried, I am exactly the same when there is something not right with one of my chams. It shows that you love them and want them to be well. Nothing wrong with that.
 
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