Veiled cham with one eye closed (with pics)

[samthechamman]

Hi guys, I created an account to post this here. I have a male veiled chameleon, roughly 8 months old, named Chameleo (original, i know) and lately (last 2 days) his left eye has seemed to be acting up.
He has been keeping it closed a lot of the time, and seems to forcefully "bulge" it out frequently. The other day he also woke up with a bit of a crust on the eye and couldn't seem to open it so I took a bit of saline solution on a Q-tip and very, very lightly swabbed the crust off his eye. He has recently been waking up very late and going to sleep very early, and today I caught him trying to rub the eye on a branch. He does not seem to be stressed, and his colors are normal. He has been eating too, which I figure is a good sign. Also he just completed a shed, and whenever he does have his left eye open there does not appear to be any debris inside and his pupil looks fine.

I uploaded a few pictures of the affected eye, as well as a picture of him from roughly a week ago to show how he looks normally.

I took him to the vet a few months ago for a regular check up and was told he is in great shape. I showed the vet all the supplements I feed him and the variety of bugs, as well as the lighting set up I use, and she said I am doing everything correctly. I mist the cage several times a day to keep the humidity up and fill up my drip system two to three times a day.

I am going to take him to the vet sometime this week, but I have final exams and the vet is over an hour away so it likely would be a day or two before I have time to get him in so I wanted to see if anyone here has input. I am really worried and do not want him to potentially go blind or lose an eye.


Here is a list of the supplements I use and when I use them:

- Rep-Cal Herptivite Multivitamins with beta carotene (used once a month)
- EXO TERRA calcium powder supplement (used every 2 days)

I mainly feed him:

- crickets gutloaded with apples and occasionally banana (daily)
- superworms that live in a mixture of oats (one a day or every other day)
- mealworms that live in a mixture of oats (every couple days)
- hornworms that typically eat apple chunks (once every two weeks as a treat)

Please, if any of you have experienced a similar ordeal any advice would greatly be appreciated.

 

[ColombiaCham]

The Chameleon Company

follow this link and instructions and he will be on his way to recovery in no time

https://www.chameleonforums.com/cham-keeps-closing-one-his-eyes-66576/

Good Luck.

ColombiaCham

 

[samthechamman]

Thanks that was a great thread. I purchased some vitamin A with retinal palmitate and have began the said treatment today. I am curious however regarding why my cham was not synthesizing his own Vit. A from the multivitamin supplement I am using? Was I not using it frequently enough? If anyone has any insight that would be great!

 

[ColombiaCham]

Beta Carotene is a percusor to vitamin A but not readily absorbed by insectivores. However, your cham being a veiled is an omnivore and should be able to absorb it even more. I am curious to see what kind of Uv light you are using. Some old coil type UV lights were causing retinal scaring because they were emiting the wrong wave length.

 

[samthechamman]

Heres a picture of the box my light came in. I have been doing the said Vitamin A treatments for the past 3 days but haven't noticed any progress.. His eye is still looking the same and I am really worried because he seems to not want to eat anymore. I think a trip to the vet is needed, I'm going to try to go tomorrow if I see no more progress in the next day.

 

[Pazuzu]

Heres a picture of the box my light came in. I have been doing the said Vitamin A treatments for the past 3 days but haven't noticed any progress.. His eye is still looking the same and I am really worried because he seems to not want to eat anymore. I think a trip to the vet is needed, I'm going to try to go tomorrow if I see no more progress in the next day.

i was using a coil to and that happened to my baby cham and he started closing both eyes and not eat and i asked for help and ppl on here told me to change to a tube and he didrnt get better or worst so on i took him to the vet and thy told me that the coil was to strong for him so he forced his eyes close that thy got swollen and thy gave me a cream for his eye and i been putting it on him one eye is better and the other one is half way open but its getting thr and he started eating and his alot better now

 

[samthechamman]

So to my surprise the little fella opened his eye! I'm beyond relieved!! The vitamin treatment worked, any advice on continuing the treatment for another 2 days? Or should I just stop and only continue every 2 weeks?