Vinny's Problems

[Spene]

Hi all, I had a thread a while ago where my chameleon Vinny (1 yr 9 month old male) was having some issues with his eyes not opening in the morning. This got better, and he was fine for a while, but now he's back to having closed eyes in the morning. They open after I spray some water on them, but he doesn't seem to be getting better. More troubling is the fact that recently, he's also developed a situation where he has his mouth slightly open sometimes, and also seems to be having trouble eating with his tongue- he eats, but seems to dive into the food bowl and eat with his mouth. I'm pretty worried. Here's what I've got as far as food, enclosure, lighting, etc.

72 " reptarium
2 24" reptisun 5.0 bulbs
1 80 watt halogen basking light
Ambient temperature is around 74, basking area around 90 +
Humidity at about 50-60

No poisonous plants, just pothos and a ficus
Water daily, he's trained to have it squirted in his mouth
Eating superworms and crickets loaded with oats, carrots, and spinach
Currently supplementing with Minerall, but I've been backing off for a while b/c I thought it might be a vitamin D issue.

Anyone have any ideas? Everyone was really helpful last time I posted, I really appreciate any recommendations.

 

[beeze]

You need a plain calcium dust with no D3 to use at about every other feeding.

Use collard green to gutload instead of spinach.

I wouldn't let the basking temputure get much over 90.

Other than that everything else looks good.

Sounds like it's time for Vinny to have a vets visit.

 

[Carlton]

I agree...spinach binds up dietary calcium making it less available to the cham.

Also, a simple thing to check more often is your humidity. Check the gauge itself. Sometimes they stick on one level. The RH might be dropping much lower at some times leaving him dehydrated (he spends more time with his eyes shut because they bother him, tongue not "sticking" to prey because the glandular tip isn't moist. The stickiness is a combination of strike force, moist surface area, and suction). When he drinks, does he salivate a lot? That's a sign of dehydration.

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."he's also developed a situation where he has his mouth slightly open sometimes"...is the mouth open all the way back or is it just open at the tip? (This is hard to explain.)

You said he seems to be having trouble eating with his tongue- he eats, but seems to dive into the food bowl and eat with his mouth"...tongue problems like this are quite often from a poor calcium balance.

Can you post pictures of the chameleon please?

 

[Spene]

I agree...spinach binds up dietary calcium making it less available to the cham.

Also, a simple thing to check more often is your humidity. Check the gauge itself. Sometimes they stick on one level. The RH might be dropping much lower at some times leaving him dehydrated (he spends more time with his eyes shut because they bother him, tongue not "sticking" to prey because the glandular tip isn't moist. The stickiness is a combination of strike force, moist surface area, and suction). When he drinks, does he salivate a lot? That's a sign of dehydration.

Good point, I'll cut spinach and make sure the humidity gauge is working properly.

 

[Spene]

You said..."he's also developed a situation where he has his mouth slightly open sometimes"...is the mouth open all the way back or is it just open at the tip? (This is hard to explain.)

You said he seems to be having trouble eating with his tongue- he eats, but seems to dive into the food bowl and eat with his mouth"...tongue problems like this are quite often from a poor calcium balance.

Can you post pictures of the chameleon please?

The mouth is generally just open at the tip, and not all the time. It may be calcium, I've cut off on the minerall for a while because I thought it was a D3 issue, I'm going to get some minerall without D3 and see if that helps.

I really appreciate all the assistance on here guys, my issue is that there are really no vets in the area that know much more about chams than I do- many advertise reptiles, but the few I've gone to definitely don't know their shit and I end up paying 75 bucks for nothing.

 

[Spene]

Here's a pic, his eye facing is shedding, he really seems to be in good health otherwise, he was eating with his tongue yesterday.

 

[Spene]

I've upped water, etc, still about the same. Some days his tongue is working, other days it isn't, I really don't know what's wrong with him, probably have to take him back to the vet but it always ends up in cost and no resolution to the problem.

 

[Carlton]

The problems took time to develop...and will take time to improve. It's only been a few days since you changed things. They aren't worse are they?

 

[Spene]

Not exactly worse, but he's been having these eye issues on and off since last spring, it's really annoying because I can't seem to figure out what the issue is. More annoying is the fact that all the vets near me claim to have reptile specialty, but when you get there they know nothing.

 

[Spene]

Hi all, it's been a while, just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on my situation. Vinny has gone through periods of improvement, but is now going back downhill again. I've taken him to the vet, who gave me some antibiotics and liquid calcium. From reading other threads, I'm beginning to think he may have URI. He currently wakes up with both eyes kind of glued shut, I have to spray them to get them to open correctly. He also keeps his mouth open slightly a lot, has stringy saliva, and the other day he spent the day with his head cocked straight up.

Further, his tongue functionality goes in and out, although he's still managed to eat by just getting down in the bowl. I really don't know what to do, the vet seems clueless and I really want to figure out what the issue is so he can recover. He's almost 2 now, and a great veiled specimen, I just want him to improve.

Everyone on this board has always been helpful, if anyone has any ideas let me know.

 

[kinyonga]

Have you been dusting with a phos.-free calcium powder at most feedings now?
How often have you been using a supplement with D3 in it since this started?

One thing I just noticed when I re-read this thread is that you said you watered him by squirting water into his mouth...I wouldn't do that because you could get water into his lungs. Dripping it would be better.

You said..."the other day he spent the day with his head cocked straight up"....was his mouth open while the head was up?

Where is the cage located? Near a window?

 

[Spene]

Hmm, I've never heard that on the water, I generally just squirt it on the front of his mouth/snout and it drips down into his mouth. Cage is near a window but it's closed, heat is consistent. The other day when he had his head straight up he didn't have his mouth open, although his mouth seems to be open more than normal with whatever illness he has.

I'm kind of at my wits end with this, now he's not really even getting up in the morning, which is really troubling. He's also always been a voracious eater, even with these problems, but now he seems to not even be eating. I wish I could get to the root of the problem, I may try more antibiotics from the vet.

I have been dusting with Minerall lightly (it has D3) and I've also been giving him liquid calcium here and there that I got from the vet.

 

[Texas Panther Man]

what anti biotics are u using? Have you tried rinsing his eyes daily with saline solution. You need to mist his entire cage at least 3 times a day. And i'd try putting him in the shower for 15 min with lukewarm water. Just place him in there on a plant. That should help the eye issues.

 

[Elizadolots]

Squirting water onto his head so it drips into his mouth is pretty close to the top of "good ways to get water into your cham" as far as I can tell...I think kiyonga thought you were maybe holding his mouth open and shooting water into it which as noted, would be very bad.

I believe I've read that mouths being opened might be a result of the temps being high...90 degrees at the basking point might be a bit much? I recommend you wait for someone way smarter than me to offer advice on that before taking action.

 

[kinyonga]

What antibiotics has he been on?

I would move the cage away from the window. Even though its closed its likely chilling him at night. I have so often heard of chameleons being kept in front of the window like that in a cool climate ending up with URI's and/or fungal infections.

This eye thing has been going on for quite some time now...what did the vet say about it??