Veiled cham's eyes closed

KevinRensing

New Member
Chameleon info:
Approximately 1 year old male veiled chameleon
Handle him not too much more within the last 2-3 weeks monitoring this condition
Feeding: crickets, superworms, the occasional horn worm as a treat and he eats his plants as well (umbrella plant) gutload crickets with store bought cricket food and veggis
Suppliments: zoomed calcium without d3, exoterra multivitamin and rep-cal calcium with d3 (vitamin and with d3 are only once or twice a month)
Watering: mist the cage 3-4 times a day and I see him drinking during and after misting
Droppings: normal from my understanding brown not watery turds with white urates

Cage:
Mesh 24x24x36 cage
Lighting is 2 uvb ballasts I think zoomed
One daylight basking bulb from exoterra 50w
Temps: ambient is ~22 celcius and basking is ~29 celcius
Humidity is around 60%
Plants: one large umbrella plant
Location: livingroom no fans or heavily moving air. Fairly low traffic area as I live alone top of the cage is about 5 feet from the floor
Located in british columbia canada

Current problem: about 2 weeks ago I noticed his left eye was closed and he wouldnt open it.

I took him to the vet and he was examined and they didnt seem to concerned. Just told me to put a q tip on it with some warm water to "encourage" it to open. $117 later and now after about a week of that his other eye is closed now. Not sure as to how much hes been eating but I dont think much as he doesnt have his eyes open to eat. Im not sure what could be causing this as his cage and routine has been the same for quite a while and hes been doing really well up until recently. Any ideas as to what could be going on would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
 

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I had the same problem for awhile with my veiled, i cant say for sure what worked for me, but i was giving her pure saline drops daily, and doing showers and steam sessions, after a couple weeks she opened them and went back to normal. However during the time she had them closed i force fed and made sure she was drinking alot just to be safe, best of luck and speedy recovery for your cham!
 
I feel like the qtip is really just an attempt to treat a symptom, not a true attempt to resolve the root problem causing said issue. The fact that the issue has migrated to the other eye makes me think the problem is internal, possibly bacterial.

I know you already dropped $120 on this, but I really think you need a second opinion from a different vet.
 
Chameleon info:
Approximately 1 year old male veiled chameleon
Handle him not too much more within the last 2-3 weeks monitoring this condition
Feeding: crickets, superworms, the occasional horn worm as a treat and he eats his plants as well (umbrella plant) gutload crickets with store bought cricket food and veggis
Suppliments: zoomed calcium without d3, exoterra multivitamin and rep-cal calcium with d3 (vitamin and with d3 are only once or twice a month)
Watering: mist the cage 3-4 times a day and I see him drinking during and after misting
Droppings: normal from my understanding brown not watery turds with white urates

Cage:
Mesh 24x24x36 cage
Lighting is 2 uvb ballasts I think zoomed
One daylight basking bulb from exoterra 50w
Temps: ambient is ~22 celcius and basking is ~29 celcius
Humidity is around 60%
Plants: one large umbrella plant
Location: livingroom no fans or heavily moving air. Fairly low traffic area as I live alone top of the cage is about 5 feet from the floor
Located in british columbia canada

Current problem: about 2 weeks ago I noticed his left eye was closed and he wouldnt open it.

I took him to the vet and he was examined and they didnt seem to concerned. Just told me to put a q tip on it with some warm water to "encourage" it to open. $117 later and now after about a week of that his other eye is closed now. Not sure as to how much hes been eating but I dont think much as he doesnt have his eyes open to eat. Im not sure what could be causing this as his cage and routine has been the same for quite a while and hes been doing really well up until recently. Any ideas as to what could be going on would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Don’t handle him unless he wants it. Superworms should only be for occasional variety. Try some more feeders like silkworms, butterworms, black soldier flies and larvae, blue bottle flies, mantids, stick insects, small helix aspersa, painted lady butterflies, roaches (red runner, dubia, orange headed, and ivory headed cannot climb or fly), and silk, wax, and hornworm moths. What exactly is your gutload? How often do you feed and what time of day? Calcium without D3 should be every feeding. RepCal and Exo Terra aren’t the best supplements. Get Zoo Med Reptivite with D3 and use it every two weeks, then you only have to use two supplements. How often is each misting session? He needs a taller cage, minimum of 2’ by 2’ by 4’ tall, preferably screen. Get either a t5HO or T8 linear uvb bulb and fixture (a Zoo Med 10.0 is perfect for a 4’ tall cage). Basking should be 32-35*C. Compact fluorescent uvb bulbs can cause eye problems. Go to a different vet
 
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