Swollen Eye?

[Reptile13]

I'm doing this for a friend so I can't say much as far as the chameleons care unfortunately. The chameleons name is Rin, again, I don't know much. But the last time I saw him, I noticed this strange bump on his eye and when I pointed it out, my friend said that it has been there for a while. It worries me and I don't know much about chameleons as I don't own one myself. What can I tell my friend to do for him? She doesn't have internet so that's why I'm doing this. I doubt that she has the money to take him to the vet :/ what I do know: he is in a mesh/wire cage? I think that's what it's called. He has a water bowl and eats a mix of cricket and mealworms. Only one eye is like this.

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

I have seen this before, but I forget what it is called. First of all, he should not have a water bowl and should not be feeding him mealworms. I do not believe this is the cause of the problem, but they are still problems. If she can't afford to take him to the vet, then his life is at high risk since playing veterinarian is definitely not what you want to be doing. Did she know that chameleons are pricey, high-maintenance animals when she bought it?
There are many things it could be, from a parasite, to an infection, and even cancer. He needs a vet, period.

 

[Reptile13]

I have seen this before, but I forget what it is called. First of all, he should not have a water bowl and should not be feeding him mealworms. I do not believe this is the cause of the problem, but they are still problems. If she can't afford to take him to the vet, then his life is at high risk since playing veterinarian is definitely not what you want to be doing. Did she know that chameleons are pricey, high-maintenance animals when she bought it?
There are many things it could be, from a parasite, to an infection, and even cancer. He needs a vet, period.

I'll be honest, I don't approve of her some what impulsive style of buying pets. She has a bearded dragon, California king snake, and more recently a gecko. I actually corrected her on housing her bearded dragon in sand, because I have one of my own and know quite a bit about them. I think her issue is that she educates herself on the basics and not much more. Her king snake has always been in good health though. And her gecko is very new. I always nag her about research and such but she doesn't really listen to me so I go out of my way to figure things out for her and then tell her what to do. Once she rescued an iguana from an unfortunate situation and had to give her away a month later because she couldn't give it adequate space and attention. I'm not saying that she abuses her animals and she does love them however I don't think that she always goes above and beyond for their care. Now I 100% understand where you are coming from and I will tell her about the mealworms and water, is there anything else that she can do just to help with his health?

 

[Reptile13]

I'll be honest, I don't approve of her some what impulsive style of buying pets. She has a bearded dragon, California king snake, and more recently a gecko. I actually corrected her on housing her bearded dragon in sand, because I have one of my own and know quite a bit about them. I think her issue is that she educates herself on the basics and not much more. Her king snake has always been in good health though. And her gecko is very new. I always nag her about research and such but she doesn't really listen to me so I go out of my way to figure things out for her and then tell her what to do. Once she rescued an iguana from an unfortunate situation and had to give her away a month later because she couldn't give it adequate space and attention. I'm not saying that she abuses her animals and she does love them however I don't think that she always goes above and beyond for their care. Now I 100% understand where you are coming from and I will tell her about the mealworms and water, is there anything else that she can do just to help with his health?

Also, what should she do aside from a water bowl misting only? and why not mealworms?

 

[Syreptyon]

Hey, and welcome to the forums! It sounds like it's a really good thing that you found us, given the water bowl and the mealworms (two cardinal sins, as already mentioned above). We'd love to offer you more advice, but to do so comprehensively it would help out a lot if you could please fill out the following form so we can understand exactly how you are caring for him:

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.

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?

 

[Syreptyon]

Mealworms are bad for chameleons because they have no nutritional value whatsoever and are very difficult to digest. This leads to impaction in many chameleons, which sometimes leads to death. Basically, there are all risks and no rewards to mealworms. Instead consider a combination of the following: crickets, dubia roaches, black soldier fly larvae, blue bottle flies, silkworms, hornworms, and superworms.

As for the water, yes, misting should be the major source of water. You can also use a dripper on top of his cage to help out, too, to make sure there is always water available. The thing is, in the wild, chameleons are arboreal and almost never see standing water - accordingly, they don't recognize it as a hydration source. Not to mention that standing water is a breeding ground for bacteria, which can make your chameleon sick. What's generally recommended is several misting sessions every day for at least 2 minutes each time. I would personally highly recommend investing in a good automated misting system like MistKing to make your life easier

 

[Reptile13]

Hey, and welcome to the forums! It sounds like it's a really good thing that you found us, given the water bowl and the mealworms (two cardinal sins, as already mentioned above). We'd love to offer you more advice, but to do so comprehensively it would help out a lot if you could please fill out the following form so we can understand exactly how you are caring for him:

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.

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 - veiled chameleon, male, not sure, maybe a little over 6 months. Again, he isn't mine, he's a friends. She got him from a pet store when he was fairly small.

Handling - I think once a week, maybe more or less

Feeding - unfortunately I have no idea, all I know is that she uses crickets and mealworms

Supplements - I'm pretty sure she just uses calcium powder. Repti-calcium

Watering - water bowl and misting, I don't think that she mists for more than five minutes, not sure if she sees him drinking

Fecal Description - sorry, I haven't been around the animal enough to know this. No, it has not

History - he isn't mine, and I'm not around him often. I will be babysitting him (for the first time) for three weeks at some point soon while she is on vacation.


Cage Info:

Cage Type - it is screen, I think it's a medium but she's buying a large soon. Sorry, don't know the exact measurements.

Lighting - unfortunately unknown

Temperature - mostly unknown, she bought a thermometer from the pet store that's all I know.

Humidity - I don't believe that she is measuring humidity, she mists him and that's about it.

Plants - not at the moment

Placement - the cage is in her bedroom, in a corner way from the air vent. It's on a low sitting table. So, relatively far from the ceiling

Location - Arkansas, USA

 

[Syreptyon]

Well, unfortunately, there's not a lot of help I can offer from that! But I totally understand that you are not the primary caretaker and so it makes sense that you don't have all the information. The one thing I can definitely point out is in regard to supplements: just calcium is not enough to keep him alive and healthy.

Here is what they should be doing instead: phosphorous-free calcium powder without D3 at every feeding, phosphorous-free calcium powder WITH vitamin D3 twice a month, and a multivitamin once a month as well. Please be sure to communicate this to your friend! It is of the utmost importance to his longevity and he will develop MBD if he does not receive D3. You should also emphasize the importance not to over-use these supplements. A light dusting of the crickets will do. Don't make them look like little white ghosts. Over-supplementation can lead to edema, which may be contributing to that eye problem