Veiled Cham - One Eye Closed - Help Please.

[stumpy1992]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled , Female , Not sure of age as bought from shop about 3 weeks ago. She is about 2.5 to 3 inches from head to vent. Been in my care for about 3 weeks.
Handling - About twice per week and seems very happy with it - she always climbs onto my hand, i never force her out.
Feeding - Locusts mainly. Around 8 medium locusts per day. feeding locusts bug grub and carrot.
Supplements - Cal-stron phosphorous free calcium supplement 5 times a week. Pro-reptile pro-vit multi-vitamin 1 time per week.
Watering - I mist twice a day with a spray bottle and have a dripper dripping one drop per second for about 10 mins every day. I have seen her drink a few times since i have owned her.
Fecal Description - Brown with little white part usually but last time i see there was no white part. She has never been tested for parasites.
History - Other than having one eye closed for the past week she seems healthy, eating fine and very friendly.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Reptile One ReptEvo 60x45x61cm
Lighting - I did have Reptile One 15w UVB10.0 but yesterday changed it to a 5.0 bulb of the same make etc as i thought it could be too strong for her.
For basking i have a HOBBY Neodyminum Basking Spot Daylight bulb.
Temperature - 85.5 at basking spot, measured using digital reptile thermometer. Have not checked temperature at bottom as she is always at the top.
Humidity - Have not got a humidity gauge yet as store is out of stock and waiting for delivery - misting schedule described above.
Plants - Did have a live plant, unsure of type but now have taken it out 2 days ago as i thought this may be causing the issue,
Placement - On top of unit out of way of windows vents etc. Top of cage is eye level.
Location - Essex, England.

Current Problem - She was fine until a few days ago where she has her right eye shut but the left eye open all day and is fine. I thought it may be the UVB lighting too strong at 10.0 so i bought a 5.0 yesterday, additionally to this i changed the heat lamp bulb from a sunlight bulb to a basking day light bulb today. At the moment i currently have the UVB bulb off as i thought if the 10.0 has damaged her eye, let it have a couple of days to recover before i turn the new one on, she does seem better with the UVB off, being more active, eye closed a little less.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. Adam & karma.

 

[stumpy1992]

Pictures:

Also her basking lamp bulb is 40w

Sorry, here is a picture of both her bad eye:

Thanks.

 

[Hoj]

she may have some sort of debris in her eye, u could try a drop of saline soloution, also i would reccomend getting a good humidity meter to make sure that you havehigh enough humidty levels. i would also stick with the 5.0 uvb.

jmo hoj

 

[stumpy1992]

Thanks, how would you put the saline solution in her eye as when you go near it she keeps closing it? Also what saline solution should i use?

 

[DeviousMike]

Everything looks good in your husbandry. I guess you should wait a few days to see if it clears up. You could turn on the 5.0 now if you like, but if you want to wait, that's fine too.

On a side note, when I brought a jackson's cham home from a show he had one eye shot after they put him in a cup for transport. It cleared up by the next day. So perhaps your cham might have had some undue stress lately.

 

[stumpy1992]

Thanks mike, It has been closed for the last 3-4 days but the late yesterday and today she seems to be improving so fingers crossed then.

Oh, also, do you think that size viv will be large enough for her when she is fully grown?

Thanks!.

 

[stumpy1992]

Also forgot to mention, she has been climbing around the viv a lot more lately.. can females that haven't mated need to lay eggs still or??

Thanks.

 

[DeviousMike]

If my conversions to feet are right 2ftx1.5ftx2ft then you will need something at least twice as tall for an adult. For a female, maybe you can get away with slightly smaller.

As for eggs, yes they can lay eggs without mating. I've not experienced this since I have no females. Do a search about gravid females to see what the signs are and what needs to be done.

 

[carol5208]

yes, they can lay eggs so you need to get a laying bin in her cage just in case. A 12 X 12 container with moist washed play sand will be good. They can lay eggs as early as 6months so you want to be prepared if the time comes.

 

[carol5208]

Here is some great info from one of our members on how to prepare for egg laying before during and after. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html

 

[stumpy1992]

Thanks, She has moved around her cage more in the last couple of hours than she has the whole time i have had her so i think i better get some sand!!

Once the container is in there how long on average will it take and how will i know when she has laid them?

Thanks.

 

[stumpy1992]

UPDATE:

Have now placed a container with sand in viv but her eye has now got a little dark 'sack' beneath it?

Thanks.

 

[brandychams]

could you post apic of how it looks now?

 

[stumpy1992]

I cant get a pic on here right now as camera is somewhere else and cant get it until tomorrow. She keeps going really dark as well? Im worried.

 

[brandychams]

maybe a vet visit is in order. the first pic it was really poofed out and looked like her puffing it out to dislodge debris but a black sac does not sound good, it could be an abccess or an infection hard to tell without pic hopefully someone else will have an idea

 

[stumpy1992]

Another pic now

Tell a lie, i found a camera and took a pic:

 

[brandychams]

wow that doesnt look good do you have a vet in the area? i personally dont know what it is maybe an infection? hopefully someoone will take a look at the thread. good luck

 

[stumpy1992]

I have found some of her poo in the cage today, it was stuck in one of her trees and i think it may be old but it is only white and orange, no brown? however, also today she has been to a poo and it is back to normal?

The strange thing is, when i get he out of the cage and hold her, her eye is open much more than inside. I have used some saline solution to rinse her eye, put her back and its still closed..

Does anyone have any ideas? maybe a vitamin A deficiency or infection??

Thanks.

 

[kinyonga]

What kind of vitamin A do your vitamins have in them....beta carotene, palmitate, acetate, retinol, etc.?? Do they have D3 in them?

If its not the lights that are bothering her eye, given that the eye is seeming to be more irritated than at first, I would take it to a vet. It could be that something is in the eye.

Is your cage near a window?

Regarding her defecating...there should be a brown "sausage-like" (feces) part and a white (urate) part. If there is a lot of orange color to the urate part, it could be that your chameleon is in need of hydration. There can be times when it will defecate and only one part or the other is there...but normally both parts should be there. If it ever only produces the white part, then its might be constipated or impacted.

For veiled females...to slow/stop their egg production its important not to overfeed them once they are sexually mature....
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/keeping-female-veiled.html

Here's some other information that should be helpful.....

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.

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/

 

[stumpy1992]

Hi, thanks for the reply. I am not sure what type of vitamin A is in it.

on the container it says: Vitamin A,B1,B2,B3,B4,B5,B6,B12,C,D,E,F,H,K,FOLIC AND PANTOTHENIC ACID, BIOTIN, NIACIN,RUTIN.

Lately she is also a darker color than usual, she used to be a bright light green and now more of a darker color but again, when she is out, she is bright colored.

I dont know what to do with her as there are no vets anywhere remotely near here that specialise in reptiles. I have studied her eye closely and there is no crusty parts, gunk and doesn't look like there is anything in it either. Im puzzled.

Thanks.