Swollen Eye

[madic]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, female, We weren’t told the age of her but we think around 3-4 months. We have had her for a week.
• Handling - We handle her about every other day
• Feeding - We have been feeding her medium size crickets. We normally give her 4 each feeding. She eats at 8am and 5-6pm. We gut load the crickets with Fluckers Cricket Quencher (Calcium Fortified)
• Supplements - We only use Repti Calcium by Zoo Med to dust the crickets and we dust them every other feeding.
• Watering - We have a Monsoon Mister. It goes off every 2 hours for 20 seconds. I have not seen her drink.
• Fecal Description - Yellow about once a day. She has not been tested for parasites.
• History - We got her from petco... someone did own her before us and had taken her back but they did not mention any problems she had.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - We have a reptibreeze mesh screen cage. size medium (16 x 16 x 30)
• Lighting - Zoo Med. mini combo deep done lamp fixture. with 13 W Reptisun 5.0 UVB mini compact fluorescent lamp. and a 60W daylight blue lamp (both of those are Zoo Med brand)
• Temperature - The temperatures the basking spot is normal 80-90 and I am not sure the cage floor temp. Over night it will drop to 70-75. I have a Zoo Med thermometer.
• Humidity - The humidity level is around 40-50. I’m actually not 100% sure how to maintain this but it has not changed since we put it up. To measure it we use a Great Choice hygrometer.
• Plants - We have sticks and fake leaves in there. We did have an actual plant in there but we took it out.
• Placement - The cage is located in a window. It is located near an air vent. The top of the cage is about 5-6 feet off the ground.
• Location - Waco, Texas

Current Problem - Hi guys! So I have a female veiled chameleon (who i just got about a week ago). About two days ago i’ve noticed her eyes are getting huge and bulging. I have attached photos for y’all to see. What should I do? I’ve been told I can put all natural eye solution in her eyes.. which I am planning to do, but wanted y’alls input too!

Note: We did have an actual tree in her cage that we got from walmart. and that is when her eyes started looking like this... we took the tree out incase that had something to do with it.

 

[janjan20]

It looks like there is some kind of growth...I’m not an eye expert but she def needs a vet.
Fill out the help form, there could be something in your husbandry that may be the cause. Just copy and paste and then fill it out.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/

 

[Lennoncham]

Looks like it may be blocked nasolcrimal ducts or an infection Check out the swollen eyes part on the health page.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/health/head-neck/

 

[Gingero]

The Texas Avian and Exotic Hospital in Dallas is a great vet. They even share the building with a vet optometrist.

I provided feedback to your husbandry in red:

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, female, We weren’t told the age of her but we think around 3-4 months. We have had her for a week.
• Handling - We handle her about every other day
• Feeding - We have been feeding her medium size crickets. We normally give her 4 each feeding. She eats at 8am and 5-6pm. We gut load the crickets with Fluckers Cricket Quencher (Calcium Fortified) I would recommended feeding her all her bugs in the morning. This way she can have time to bask and digest her food. Typically fresh fruits and veggies are suggested over Flucker's. These are great: mustard greens, turnip greens, dandelion leaves, collard greens, escarole lettuce, papaya, watercress, alfalfa, sweet potato, carrots, oranges, mango, butternut squash, kale, apples, beet greens, blackberries, bok choy and green beans.
• Supplements - We only use Repti Calcium by Zoo Med to dust the crickets and we dust them every other feeding. Is it with or without D3? Do you have a multivitamin?
• Watering - We have a Monsoon Mister. It goes off every 2 hours for 20 seconds. I have not seen her drink. I would recommend decreasing the frequency of your sessions and increase the duration. Twice a day for 2-5 min would be a good place to start.
• Fecal Description - Yellow about once a day. She has not been tested for parasites. Yellow urates can be a sign of dehydration. You want her to have white urates especially at her age. You might want to consider getting/making her a dripper for during the day. I just took an empty, well-washed milk gallon and poked the bottom with a thumbtack. I fill this with water and place it on top of my cham's enclosure so that it will drop onto the leaves.
• History - We got her from petco... someone did own her before us and had taken her back but they did not mention any problems she had.

Cage Info:

Can you post a picture of what her enclosure looks like?

• Cage Type - We have a reptibreeze mesh screen cage. size medium (16 x 16 x 30)
• Lighting - Zoo Med. mini combo deep done lamp fixture. with 13 W Reptisun 5.0 UVB mini compact fluorescent lamp. and a 60W daylight blue lamp (both of those are Zoo Med brand) You'll want to switch her to a linear T5HO UVB bulb. The compact UVB bulb doesn't penetrate far enough for it to actually be beneficial for your chameleon. More info on prper lighting can be found here: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/lighting/
• Temperature - The temperatures the basking spot is normal 80-90 and I am not sure the cage floor temp. Over night it will drop to 70-75. I have a Zoo Med thermometer. You can move your thermometer down to the ground to get a sense of what the gradient is.
• Humidity - The humidity level is around 40-50. I’m actually not 100% sure how to maintain this but it has not changed since we put it up. To measure it we use a Great Choice hygrometer. Adding live plants, longer misting sessions, and wrapping the cage in plastic shower curtains are all great ways to increase humidity. 40-50 is good for during the day, but you also want those spikes up to 70%.
• Plants - We have sticks and fake leaves in there. We did have an actual plant in there but we took it out. Make sure you're scrubbing/cleaning any kind of plants or branches before you put them in her enclosure.
• Placement - The cage is located in a window. It is located near an air vent. The top of the cage is about 5-6 feet off the ground.
• Location - Waco, Texas

 

[Brodybreaux25]

It looks like there is some kind of growth...I’m not an eye expert but she def needs a vet.
Fill out the help form, there could be something in your husbandry that may be the cause. Just copy and paste and then fill it out.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/

It’s not a growth, it’s an infection or a blocked duct. It’s an internal issue because both eyes are affected. Both eyes are displaying the same symptoms....

 

[kinyonga]

I would suggest you move the cage away from the window and the vent. Drafts from the vent, especially if your house is airconditioned, could cause a chill and if the sun shines on the cage through the window it can push the heat up and gives no UVB benefit either.

For supplements I use a phos free calcium powder dusted on the insects lightly just before feeding them to the chameleon at almost every feeding. I use a phos free calcium/D3 powder twice a month lightly and a vitamin powder with a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A twice a month lightly. This leaves it up to you to decide if you want to give the chameleon a little prEformed vitamin A once in a while. PrEformed vitamin A and D3 from supplements can build up in the system and lead to health issues which is why undo the supplements this way. There is another method I don't use (just stick with what I know works for me) that people say works well....but I'll leave it up to them to tell you about it.

I agree with Brodybreaux25 that it's likely a blocked duct or infection....but you really need to see a vet no matter what it is.