Another Swollen Eye Situation
- Thread starter tenchijin
- Start date
Matt Vanilla Gorilla
Chameleon Enthusiast
If you look closely you will notice that the roundness of the eyelid is altered and it looks like it is deteriorating. Also the pupil of the eye does not sit in the middle of the eye opening. In my experience this is typical of a Vitamin A deficiency!
Check out this thread!
https://www.chameleonforums.com/thr...nced-keepers-please-share-your-wisdom.152159/
Check out this thread!
https://www.chameleonforums.com/thr...nced-keepers-please-share-your-wisdom.152159/
tenchijin
Established Member
I have indeed looked that closely and noticed those symptoms. However, I have very little knowledge of cham illnesses and their treatments. It seems the consensus is "go to the vet" for any problem like this. I'm hoping I caught this early enough to help him. I only adopted him a few weeks ago.
tenchijin
Established Member
$89 at the vet today for Michi (I figure it's nice for others to know what the cost range is for various vets for various services).
She was unable to make a clear diagnosis but was happy that he seemed in very good health otherwise and that the problem was not in both eyes. No obvious sign of URI. She gave me some antibiotic eye drops.
For my part I'm going to look more carefully at my gut load regimen and try to make it more reliable and effective.
She was unable to make a clear diagnosis but was happy that he seemed in very good health otherwise and that the problem was not in both eyes. No obvious sign of URI. She gave me some antibiotic eye drops.
For my part I'm going to look more carefully at my gut load regimen and try to make it more reliable and effective.
tenchijin
Established Member
Bearing in mind that I've only had him for less than one month, I can't remember the brands of supplements (I'm not home now). There's a calcium and a multi vitamin powder, both of which were part of the package I obtained from the previous owner when I adopted him. I haven't settled on a proper schedule for either yet.
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Andee
Chameleon Enthusiast
Sorry I didn't notice this earlier btw, but with the way he was before I am not sure I could have helped much. I would have actually waited honestly before taking him to a vet. Because his symptoms in my opinion were not well defined enough for a vet who does deal with chameleons very regularly. Can you tell me the misting schedule? Like duration and how often?
tenchijin
Established Member
Sure. He has an Aquazamp power mister that comes on I think 5x day for just a minute (or less) each time. It puts out a tremendous amount of water so I keep the duration short. I end up with a fair bit of water (probably 16 oz) I have to eliminate each day in the drip pans. I've never seen him drink after the misting, but I hand water him which he loves. He's been trained to drink right from the spray bottle by his previous owner, and when he sees the bottle he comes right up to it for a drink if he's thirsty. In addition I have a whole room humidifier, with a humidistat which typically shows the room as being 45-60% RAH.
Andee
Chameleon Enthusiast
What I am wondering is if he isn't getting a long enough misting a few times a week to correctly clean his eyes. So he has started a small infection or his eyes are dry now. Let's see, drop the misting to 4x a day and in the morning do a mist for... 4-5 minutes at least. It should help with eye cleanings especially since he is a panther and they don't need tons of water to be stimulated to start cleaning really well. It will use more water of course. But they need a longer misting at least (AT LEAST) 3 times a week to correctly clean their eyes. I notice panthers have more eye problems as they get older than most other species in my opinion, so practicing good eye maintenance with them is really really important. If he has an infection starting the mistings at the moment will not solve it, and neither likely with the antibiotics on their own. His eye will likely need to be flushed and really well cleaned by a vet to help get whatever junk in there is out and then antibiotics can help better.
He also looks like he's a bit heavy, what are you feeding and how often?
He also looks like he's a bit heavy, what are you feeding and how often?
tenchijin
Established Member
I'll give that a shot, thanks for the suggestion.
Since I've had him (about a month) it's been mostly crickets and a few superworms. Probably 4 crix/day and 2 superworms, but recently (past week or so) he's not at all interested in crickets. He only eats the superworms :/ . I've been feeding him as much as possible, fearing he might be heading downhill. I think he ate 6 superworms yesterday and the day before.
A few weeks ago I got some dubia but he only eats the large winged ones and won't touch the others.
Andee
Chameleon Enthusiast
the male dubias is what he's eating and if you have a colony that is 500+ strong and has a good steady number of adults don't worry about feeding off a few males. They are best at lower numbers.
Cut down on super worms. Super fatty and harder to keep a gutload in them. You can gutload them but they have a really short digestive tract so they don't keep it in long. Feed only every other day at his age. Only 8 feeders in fine. Starving him to make sure he eats his crickets and dubias is usually the best way to fight a superworm addiction. They can easily go 2 weeks without feedings, and at his weight I wouldn't worry about going longer unless he shows other signs of issues. Honestly with a chameleon who shows easy addictive tendencies for superworms (I have never dealt with this thank god, even though I feed one usually at every feeding for my guys with three other feeders) don't feed more than 2 superworms 2 times a week. Be very very careful. And never feed superworms until he eats the rest of his feeders. So even if that means leaving his feeders in there in the morning and then giving his superworm when you get home. As far as the starvation tactic goes, go a couple days without offering anything at all. Then only offer crickets or the dubia. He will get desperate enough. They won't choose to starve when there is a viable feeder in front of them. No matter what people think. If he goes longer than two I would assume something is wrong with him, but I think since he's only eating superworms it has nothing to do with that and he's just an addict.
Cut down on super worms. Super fatty and harder to keep a gutload in them. You can gutload them but they have a really short digestive tract so they don't keep it in long. Feed only every other day at his age. Only 8 feeders in fine. Starving him to make sure he eats his crickets and dubias is usually the best way to fight a superworm addiction. They can easily go 2 weeks without feedings, and at his weight I wouldn't worry about going longer unless he shows other signs of issues. Honestly with a chameleon who shows easy addictive tendencies for superworms (I have never dealt with this thank god, even though I feed one usually at every feeding for my guys with three other feeders) don't feed more than 2 superworms 2 times a week. Be very very careful. And never feed superworms until he eats the rest of his feeders. So even if that means leaving his feeders in there in the morning and then giving his superworm when you get home. As far as the starvation tactic goes, go a couple days without offering anything at all. Then only offer crickets or the dubia. He will get desperate enough. They won't choose to starve when there is a viable feeder in front of them. No matter what people think. If he goes longer than two I would assume something is wrong with him, but I think since he's only eating superworms it has nothing to do with that and he's just an addict.
tenchijin
Established Member
I think you're right and I've never been concerned about a healthy chameleon missing a few days of food. It was one way I used to keep my veileds healthy many years ago.
BTW I don't have a real dubia "colony." I just bought a few dozen from a local breeder and a handful were the winged males. He ate those now I've got a couple dozen medium sized ones with no wings living in a critter keeper. I'm waiting to see if any grow up and sprout wings! With only 1 chameleon right now it was not my intention to breed them.
tenchijin
Established Member
tenchijin
Established Member
When I adopted him he came with a new Reptisun 24" 5.0 tube. It's on for about 13 hours per day along with the heat light. Both are positioned 6-12" from basking positions.
Multivitamins are what came with him as well. A Reptivite product. I've only had him for a month, so I've only used it a couple times as it is.
