Veiled Chameleon's Eyes

[Infamousphx6]

I recently took my 7 month old chameleon to the vet because he would not open his eyes. The vet said it was because he was not getting enough vitamins. After 2 or 3 weeks he opened his eyes, but one is still not open completely. I have had to feed him by opening his mouth and sticking food in there. Now that his eyes are open, he still does not eat on his own. What should I do?

 

[kinyonga]

Can you fill out the questions in the health (this) section in the thread "how to ask for help" please?

 

[Infamousphx6]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, Male, 7months old. I have had him since December
Handling - I have been handling him about every other day because I have to manually feed him
Feeding - I am feeding him wax worms now, 3-4 every other day. I do not gut-load them
Supplements - Reptocal (Calcium and Vitamin D3)
Watering - I have a fogger in the cage, also I spray his cage down 2 times a day for about 30 seconds. I do not see my Chameleon drinking, I give him water when I manually feed him through a Syringe
Fecal Description - It is mostly a tan color, almost in the shape of a wax worm. I have got his Feces tested, still waiting for the results.
History - He closed his eyes for about 3 weeks, about 2 weeks ago he opened them, but one still looks like it has a sac of pus or something in the front of it.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - I am using a glass cage
Lighting - zoomed Spiral UV Tropical light, also a blue bulb for heat during the day, And a blacklight at night. I normally leave the UV and blue bulb on for 12 hours, then switch to blacklight
Temperature - During the day it is around 85 under his lights, and about 76 on the other side of the cage. I have a Temp and humidity gauge on the side of his tank.
Humidity - It stays between 50-70, I am using a fogger and twice a day misting to keep it humid.
Plants - No live plants in his cage, 4 fake plants ( 2 attatched to the glass)
Placement - cage is in my room. I have my ceiling fan going, and an air vent is about 6ft above his cage. His cage is on the floor, and is about 2 feet off the ground.
Location - I live in Phx, Arizona
Current Problem - Even though his eyes are open, he will not eat or drink on his own. He has recently seen a vet because his eyes were closed for almost a month, They have been open now for almost 2 weeks, and still I have to manually feed him and give him water.

 

[ataraxia]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, Male, 7months old. I have had him since December
Handling - I have been handling him about every other day because I have to manually feed him
Feeding - I am feeding him wax worms now, 3-4 every other day. I do not gut-load them waxworms along with superworms arent the best feeder nutritionally you can provide your guy. but if you desire to feed him these we need to gutload them. id suggest silks, horns, crickets, roaches.
Supplements - Reptocal (Calcium and Vitamin D3) how often?
Watering - I have a fogger in the cage, also I spray his cage down 2 times a day for about 30 seconds. I do not see my Chameleon drinking, I give him water when I manually feed him through a Syringe "most" chameleons wont drink right offf the bat. what i usually do is. spray the cage for about a minute then move to my next cage. i spray the next cage for about a minute then i come back to the first cage and start spraying. they usually start drinking. spray from the top also have you tried a shower chamber?
Fecal Description - It is mostly a tan color, almost in the shape of a wax worm. I have got his Feces tested, still waiting for the results.
History - He closed his eyes for about 3 weeks, about 2 weeks ago he opened them, but one still looks like it has a sac of pus or something in the front of it.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - I am using a glass cage dimensions>?
Lighting - zoomed Spiral UV Tropical light, also a blue bulb for heat during the day, And a blacklight at night. I normally leave the UV and blue bulb on for 12 hours, then switch to blacklight most on here use linear tubes (repticun and reptiglo 5.0) as some spiral uvb light have caused eye issues. no need for the blacklight at night.
Temperature - During the day it is around 85 under his lights, and about 76 on the other side of the cage. I have a Temp and humidity gauge on the side of his tank. his basking needs to be set to 90* but this will also raise your ambients because you glass cage. you will need a screen cage to care for this guy properly.
Humidity - It stays between 50-70, I am using a fogger and twice a day misting to keep it humid.
Plants - No live plants in his cage, 4 fake plants ( 2 attatched to the glass)
Placement - cage is in my room. I have my ceiling fan going, and an air vent is about 6ft above his cage. His cage is on the floor, and is about 2 feet off the ground.
Location - I live in Phx, Arizona
Current Problem - Even though his eyes are open, he will not eat or drink on his own. He has recently seen a vet because his eyes were closed for almost a month, They have been open now for almost 2 weeks, and still I have to manually feed him and give him water.

please post some pics of the set up and chameleon

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/ataraxia/404-common-eye-problems-solutions.html

 

[Infamousphx6]

What is gutloading? and how do I go about doing it?
I have the Repticun 5.0 but for some reason it doesn't turn on with the dual light hood that I use. I am not sure on the dimensions of the cage, It is around 2ft high, 16inches wide, 16 inches long.
I have a picture of his tank and I am trying to upload the picture of his eye right now.
Also I have stopped spraying from the top because it has been rusting, and I didnt want to get rust in his cage.

 

[ataraxia]

Cage: is to small it is ok for a baby but he needs more room to roam.. most screens do rust somewhat. he will need a 2x2x4 foot cage.

fogger: needs to go. foggers running constantly in a glass cage = not good. bump your mistings up to 3 times a day for 2-5 minutes. the humidity doesnt have to stay high it can flux.

 

[Infamousphx6]

Alright, what is a chameleon shower?

 

[ataraxia]

this is only if you have a removeable shower head. place your cham on a plant or fake plant in the shower. turn the water to warm. take the shower head and aim it at the wall. you will have to fine tune this to where the mist bouncing off the wall onto the chameleon is a fine mist. do this for about 15 minutes.

this guy needs to see a experienced vet.

 

[Infamousphx6]

This is the eye I am concerned about.

The only vet he has seen is at a local petsmart. She didn't seem like she knew what she was talking about tbh.
Also i do not have a removable shower head.

 

[ataraxia]

is it only one eye? the other still open?

 

[Infamousphx6]

Yes, the other eye opened up first but it also looked like this at one point, and this one opened a day or two after. Btw, thank you for all of your help.

 

[kinyonga]

Can you post another picture of the whole chameleon please...including his legs.

Some spiral, compact and even some tube lights can cause eye problems.

 

[ataraxia]

if it is only the one eye and you dont have a removeable shower head.

looks like one of two thing. debris or Vit A issue.

Try these first:
1)buy a removeable shower head
2)get some saline solution and drop some in the eye. be sterile while doing this.

if 1/2 does not work:
now this is the spot where it gets kinda ugly. only do this if you feel confident you can do this and understand that you can cause more harm if not done right.
3)get some fish oil supplement. take a needle and pierce the gell capsule and dab it on a qtip. then lightly smear it on the back a feeder. JUST ONE! DONT DRENCH THE FEEDER! ( you do use reptivite, which has preformed vitA. so in all actuality vitA should not be the problem.) it really depends on how much you regular use and for how long have you been using it
4)if you have experience in syringe feeding. take 1.0 ml pedialyte and a pinch of herptivite. mix well and feed.

option 4 and 3 should be reversed. i would try 4 before 3

 

[Infamousphx6]

Where can i buy the saline solution? Should it be a specific kind?

 

[ataraxia]

drug store, walmart, kmart, target etc. any brand saline solution. make sure it is plain saline solution.

 

[Infamousphx6]

ok, he has been improving since I have been dusting his food. The vet said his eyes closed up due to a vitamin deficiency. Since then he has been getting better, but it just seems like that one eye won't go back to completely normal, I hope this does the trick.

 

[ataraxia]

i hope he does to. good luck~!

btw here is a care guide for your chameleon.

Cage:24x24x48' SCREEN cage lots of rope, vines and live plants if you can. live plants will help with the humidity. make sure you cover the soil with screen or large rocks. put cage as high up in the room as you can. not near any vents, fans or windows.

Lighting: 5.0 reptisun or reptiglo linear tube (length depends on cage size)/house hold bulb for basking. the house bulb watt will depend on how far your nearest branch is from the light and your ambient room temps.
***change UVB bulbs every 6 months.

Temps: basking temp around 90* for a male low 80's* for female / ambient temps 72* measure by digital guages.

Hydration: manual spray 2-5 minutes/2-3 times a day. provide a dripper.

Feeders: gutload (24 hours before feeding) with fresh veggies and fruits and once a week with sticky tongues gutload. Crickets, mealworms, superworms, silkworms, hornworms, dubai roaches, reptiworms, BB flies.

Supplements: repcal calcium w/o d3 every feeding, repcal calcium w/d3 twice a month, repcal herptivite twice a month

 

[Infamousphx6]

Here's his full body.

This is my current light set up during the day.

This is the 5.0 bulb that does not work in this hood or the dual hood. Any suggestions ?