Veiled chameleon keeping eyes closed!

[RevolutionKing2]

HI,

I have a male veiled chameleon about 1 year 3months old... I know he has MBD and i have gotten supplement for him and a stronger UVB bulb and he has been fine, until recently. He is now sleeping late and keeps his eyes closed during the day, he isn't sleeping during the day like he would if this was MBD related, but just has his eyes closed and he moves them sometimes like they are irritating him. I recently just got a new 10.0 UVB bulb and these symptoms really came to light. Could this be from the UVB bulb, or something else? What could I do in order to prevent his eyes being irritated. If it is the UVB it would be odd since this is the second bulb I have but in that was 10.0 because he has MBD... he is in a 3foot x 3foot screen cage (if this is important).

 

[lysinlight87]

Hi,

10 UVB is generallyconsidered too strong, he would be better with a 5 uvb. If he's closing his eyes, I'd strongly suggest getting him to a vet- that's a serious symptom of illness. Has he had a check-up since being diagnosed with MBD? Did he have any x-rays, calcium shots, etc? If you fill out the form below, it might give people an idea of what's going on.

They close their eyes to clean them, but if it's prolonged/repetitive, you may want to get him checked out.

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?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

 

[RevolutionKing2]

I have a reptile shop in my town and the man has over 20 years of experience and he helped me diagnose his MBD. Next time I go in i will ask him and see what he says about him... he has had MBD for a while and once started to get sluggish again (and sleeping during the day again) about two weeks ago when it was time to replace the bulb, then once i replaced the bulb his eyes were shut but he was awake.

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Veiled, Male, 1 year 3months. Has been in my care for 11 months.
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? Not often, he does not like it.
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? Crickets, once a day about 3 or 4 large. I have potatoes, carrots and or celery and things in my cricket keeper.
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Rep-Cal Phosphorus-Free Calcium wit VIT.D3, ultrafine powder i usually put on all crickets.
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I use the misting technique, one to two times per day. He still hates but but he does open his eyes crawl around and drink.
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Brown, once a day and football shaped mostly, occasional runny but not often. No parasite tests.
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. Just know that he has MBD, physical signs show it. He also has no problem opening his eyes during misting and during feeding when i open the tank and hand feed him his eyes open no problem. Also when he moves into his sleep area and int o his basking area in the morning, although he as been sleeping later.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Screen cage, cage is actually, 2feet wide, by 3 feet high.
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? Zoo med 60w basking day bulb. Zoo med 10.0 UVB compact bulb. Light is on a 12hr schedule, goes on at 9a and off at 9p.
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Not too sure, but basking is probably in the 80s and further down the cage is most likely in the 70s.
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? Hard for me to maintain a humidity level because i go to work and school a lot so i mist before and after school a decent amount.
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? Yes, a pothos plant he loves to climb on.
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? No fans or vents or high traffic areas, its at the foot of my bed. Top of the cage is 4feet above the bottom of my floor.
Location - Where are you geographically located? New York, United States

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.
Chameleon is closing his eyes during the day, but is fully awake. He will open them no problem when he needs to when i open to mist and hand feed, or just to move to a different area.

 

[carol5208]

One thing I see that needs changing is your supplements. You have most likely overdosed your chameleon on d3. You should have been using a plain calcium with no d3 to dust your crickets. Repcal contains very high leves of d3. You should have been using that particular supplement two or three times a month. I am not sure if that is anything to do with his eyes closing but it can cause problems internally with their organs. I would change out the 10.0 for a 5.0 and see if the eye problem does not improve. When you remove from the light source, does he open his eyes?

 

[RevolutionKing2]

One thing I see that needs changing is your supplements. You have most likely overdosed your chameleon on d3. You should have been using a plain calcium with no d3 to dust your crickets. Repcal contains very high leves of d3. You should have been using that particular supplement two or three times a month. I am not sure if that is anything to do with his eyes closing but it can cause problems internally with their organs. I would change out the 10.0 for a 5.0 and see if the eye problem does not improve. When you remove from the light source, does he open his eyes?

Okay, i will cut back on the D3 defiantly now... thank you for that.. I shut his 10.0 off today at the end of the day and it was the same... i read somewhere that maybe if this is caused by the strong UVB the light off for two days or so with just the basking could help heal the eyes so we will see soon and i will let you know if i see a change. Thank you!