2 week expose to Compact florescent Bulb

[rangos]

I have 4 month old Veiled Chameleon which I have had for 1 1/2 months. I did have him housed in a 10 gallon glass aquarium up until 2 weeks ago when I got him a Small Reptibreeze cage, 16x16x20. along with the cage I also got a new 12'' hood with a Zoo Med ReptiSun® 5.0 Compact Fluorescent Lamp. On Tuesday the 13th I noticed his eyes were squinted shut and he did not eat any crickets that day. I did not get nervous until the next day Wednesday in the afternoon after work i noticed the same thing. I thought maybe dehydration but after a lot of research I saw that CPL lights can cause eye damage. I shut off the fluorescent light right away. I am just wondering if anyone has had this same issue, or for any kind of advice on how to proceed to help Rango recover.

Thanks so much for any of your help.

 

[AZJ0SH]

Do you still have the box for the bulb? It's possible they sold you an expired or outdated bulb, back when they were unsafe for use with chameleons.

If you can afford it, switch to a standard flourescent fixture, using a tube style bulf versus the CFL.

 

[rangos]

I no longer have the box, but am already in the works on getting Rango a Tube light. I am just praying his eyes are ok and he recovers. I read that it could take 2-14 days to recover if there is no damage to his eyes. I am debating on how to get him water if he can not see.

 

[bigben2057]

Im sorry but the new bulbs do not cause any ill effects if the bulb is old it may be the cause. He also may have been too close to the bulb.

 

[Fearaffect]

http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/reptile-supplies/light-fixtures/-/18-fluorescent-hood-fixture/
http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog...por-bulbs/-/zoo-med-15-repti-sun-50-uvb-bulb/

 

[rangos]

@bigben, I had the hood with the CFL sitting ontop the screen, the branch which he usually sits on is at most 3'' away from the light.

@Fearaffect, have you heard of fast recoverys for this type of exposure. 2 weeks but 3 days with visual affects

 

[bigben2057]

I would say that is too close I would keep it atleast a foot away if it is in a small glass cage you probably won't have any problems if you use it with the screen cage.

 

[ShortStack]

@bigben, I had the hood with the CFL sitting ontop the screen, the branch which he usually sits on is at most 3'' away from the light.

@Fearaffect, have you heard of fast recoverys for this type of exposure. 2 weeks but 3 days with visual affects

That light is entirely wayy too close.

 

[rangos]

I shut it off completly today before work. Im going to check on him this afternoon after work to see if it helped any.

 

[ShortStack]

I shut it off completly today before work. Im going to check on him this afternoon after work to see if it helped any.

He needs to have that UVB light on in order to stay healthy. You just need to move it farther away. It's bad to not have it on at all...

 

[Elizadolots]

One day without UVB probably won't do any harm and until the light can be moved, it's certainly the better option.

Rangos, you might try dripping water right onto his head. If you can get a syringe (no needle) or a plastic eye dropper you can get the water right where you want it. (plastic because there have been stories of them grabbing and biting the dropper, glass would be bad in that situation). Most medication for infants is packaged with a small dosage syringe that will work fine. Just be sure to dispose of the medication safely.

 

[rangos]

I figured 1 day would not hurt. I have plenty of plastic syringes around the house, Ill try that out this afternoon. Thanks so much for the info. It seems like I hear more bad then good things from these lights and will be getting him the reptisun 5.0 tube light setup, I really do not want this to happen again.

 

[bigben2057]

Its just too close buy a clamp light from home depot and clamp it on something further away

 

[rangos]

any idea on the recovery time for this type of issue?

 

[bigben2057]

I think 2/3 week recovery but I'm not certain

 

[rangos]

update: I got another twist with this issue. When I got home yesterday Rango was shedding. I bumped up the humity to help him out a little. I was able to get water in him by means of a plastic serange 2x last night and once this morning before I went to work. This morning he attempted to open his eyes and I did notice they were watery. not sure what that means.