Swollen Eye on my veiled

froggysan

New Member
Just today I woke up and found all around my female Veiled's eye is swollen.

What is wrong do you think?

I'm totally freaked out right now!
 
I notice people get more detailed responses when they fill this out.

Here is some recommended information to include when asking for help in the health clinic forum. By providing this information, you will receive more accurate and beneficial responses. It might not be necessary to answer all these questions, but the more you provide the better. Please remember that even the most knowledgeable person can only guess at what your problem may be. Only an experienced reptile veterinarian who can directly examine your animal can give a true diagnosis of your chameleon's health.


Cage Info:

* Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
* Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
* Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
* Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
* Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
* Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
* Location - Where are you geographically located?


Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
* Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
* Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
* Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
* Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
* Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
* History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
* Current Problem - The current problem that you are concerned about.


Pictures are helpful
 
Okay... here goes.

Exo-Terra Flexarium setup, 18 x 18 x 30
Two Exo-Terra 5.0 UVB Tubes on top, one daylight spot, and one infrared.
Humidity ranges from 40 to 60%
Temperatures generally from 21 to 34 in a basking spot.
She's about two years old, interior is all fake plants.
No vents or fans near by, airflow is general room airflow.

Diet includes crickets and superworms. Calcium powder and reptivitamins twice a week.
No previous health problems. She is just finishing a full shedding.
Feces seems normal.
I rarely handle her.

She has a drip setup that's refilled daily. I mist once or twice a day for several minutes.

Her eye wasn't swollen on Saturday for sure, and I didn't see anything odd on Sunday.


All around where her eye meets her head is swollen and puffy.
 
Here are some pics

artemis_eye_1.jpg


artemis_eye_2.jpg
 
It could be something as simple as having something in her eye. Give it some time - it may flush out.
 
It just happened over night. And I'm very sure she's a she -- no tarsal spur whatsoever. And she's almost two years old.

I just soaked her down and flushed her eye area gently with water.

I can't get to a vet until tomorrow -- they're all closed due to our holiday Monday (Canada).



Any ideas as to what it might be?
 
It could be a number of things, perhaps dead skin in her eye. My veiled has had the same problem... I keep a bottle of saline and a syringe nearby for flushing, if neccessary. I really wouldn't panic. Give it at least a week.
 
Vet IS Necessary.....

That is not going to go away on it's own. Chameleon eyes are connected to the sinuses. It could be a sinus infection. Or a lubricating sort of duct could be blocked internally. Flushing will not help those situations. In fact, I would not try to flush this out yourself. Any more pressure in there (saline) could actually rupture something. What you are seeing is a lot of pressure building up. This situation is coming from something behind the eye, not on the surface of the eye or under the turret. An experienced vet is needed to determine the source of the pressure swelling. Do not let her rub her eye either if at all possible. Please let us know what happens. I'll be wishing the best for your girl!
 
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I've seen this before on a WC panther. I believe it started with an abscess around the sinus which spread and filled the tissue around the eye with fluid. I don't know the cause of the abscess, but it could have been a sinus infection. Trying to work it out of the eyelid will not work, it's not in the eye itself. I would not recommend a novice do this, but I got a large syringe and lanced through the inside of the mouth between the lip and the gum and drained the abscess through its origin. Then I treated with Fortaz. It took about a week and a half for the eye to go down, but the skin around the eye stayed wrinkly and droopy forever. About a month later the other side started to show swelling around the nostril/sinus area, I treated with Fortaz again and it never spread to that eye.

Do you notice any swelling around the nosril, or on the top of the head above the eye?
 
It doesn't look like something simple to me. I would not wait, one died today that's eyes looked like that. Check out post #11 of this thread: https://www.chameleonforums.com/too-much-too-late-25008/#post224789

I was the unfortunate one who had similar problems with my veiled cham. How is you cham behaving now? I only had mine for i think about 35 hours in total but i just put the behavior down to settling in but all he done was sleep and rest on the branches. I cant believe how obvious it is now that something was seriously wrong. I was going to take him to the vet on friday but he didnt even make it past monday night. I really hope your veiled will be ok, and you get the vet soon
 
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