Basking with left eye closed?

ConfusedHornwormGuy said:
So after replacing my old supplement with the new supplement, ive fed all 3 chameleons 1 dubia roach (good size and gutloaded with repashi bug burger) dusted with this new reptivite supplement, rather than doing a large single feed. Reason I did it a couple days in a row (1 today and 1 yesterday) is the low quantity of insects fed during the initial feeding, I want to make sure they have sufficient levels of everything.

As of yesterday my panther has started perking up again, she drank her fill yesterday and happily ate another dusted roach today, both eyes open. Yesterday was kinda hit and miss, like the vitamin A was working but she kept closing her eye for a little while then she'd open it back up, as of today her eye is totally open and normal.

Also something notable from yesterday is when I handled her, she started rubbing that eye on my finger, and I kinda started rubbing against the eye lightly along with her, trying to work whatever she may have had stuck in there out of the eye. So it was maybe a combination of the two. She was seeming a little tired and like she didn't have a ton of energy while basking, I'm confident addressing these insufficient supplements that dont have any vitamin A at all, and replacing them with this reptivite supplement, has made a world of difference, even my veiled is seeming a bit more perky.

Obviously getting all the nutrients they need is quintessential to good health and long life, so I'm glad I noticed these signs super quickly, before the issue really could take root.

I still have a vet appointment for roodie today (my panther) and am planning on getting her checked out anyway, and at the very least getting fecals done.

I think all is well now, the eye closing seems to have dissipated, and I'll be resuming standard vitamin and supplement routines on the first sunday next month, will continue just giving calcium on the regular feedings.

Thanks again for all of the help and advice, this wouldn't have been possible without you all, I just wanted to give you an update on her status.
Click to expand...
Glad to hear she is doing better. Like I said some chams really love water while others don't so giving her the opportunity to clean her eyes is important. it is good that you got the supplement that was missing.
 
Beman said:
Glad to hear she is doing better. Like I said some chams really love water while others don't so giving her the opportunity to clean her eyes is important. it is good that you got the supplement that was missing.
Click to expand...
Still going to the vet though because you never know with this type of thing, I would hate for this to present as a problem again. Thank you again so much.
 
Beman said:
Your welcome. :)
Click to expand...
Vet followup in a month because I couldnt get fecals and neither could the vet. In the meantime she gave me gentamicin sulfate, which I believe is an antibiotic eyedrop, to administer once a day until she is seen next. She did have some discharge from that eye this morning. She has been opening it but it seems today she is back to keeping it closed. The vet said she looks very healthy and said she was very pretty, outside of the issue with the eye. Without fecals I suppose we can't be certain which is why I'm going to plan to get a fecal for next month so I can get the needed testing done. Hopefully these eyedrops will resolve this issue before then, whether they do or don't work isn't going to change whether or not I go to the vet next month - I definitely am.

She has vitamin a now as well as all of the other things she could need, she's still eating and drinking, and is behaving normally outside of the eye, so I'm hopeful but cautious and am going to keep an eye on her. The vet didn't say when I could expect symptoms to clear if at all, I suppose because she doesn't have a degree of confidence at this point without the fecal unfortunately.
 
ConfusedHornwormGuy said:
Vet followup in a month because I couldnt get fecals and neither could the vet. In the meantime she gave me gentamicin sulfate, which I believe is an antibiotic eyedrop, to administer once a day until she is seen next. She did have some discharge from that eye this morning. She has been opening it but it seems today she is back to keeping it closed. The vet said she looks very healthy and said she was very pretty, outside of the issue with the eye. Without fecals I suppose we can't be certain which is why I'm going to plan to get a fecal for next month so I can get the needed testing done. Hopefully these eyedrops will resolve this issue before then, whether they do or don't work isn't going to change whether or not I go to the vet next month - I definitely am.

She has vitamin a now as well as all of the other things she could need, she's still eating and drinking, and is behaving normally outside of the eye, so I'm hopeful but cautious and am going to keep an eye on her. The vet didn't say when I could expect symptoms to clear if at all, I suppose because she doesn't have a degree of confidence at this point without the fecal unfortunately.
Click to expand...
Well hopefully the eye drops help.
 
So my panther is having the same sort of problem. Rubbing his eyes on things and keeping them closed a lot and it has been getting worse over time. I posted some of his other potential issues on another thread (I think mostly that the vets don't know as much as I need them to), but it was recommended that he only get his vitamin once every 2 weeks (I was giving it to him every week, but I have only had him a short time) and if it is a need for vitamin A that is causing it, I am not sure why I would back off on his source of this vitamin. Where else would he get this? Are there foods I can help him get this from that I can feed his bugs with? Sorry to piggyback on your post, but I need to know!!!! I am learning quickly that I have to be his vet.
 
Tarzanfam said:
So my panther is having the same sort of problem. Rubbing his eyes on things and keeping them closed a lot and it has been getting worse over time. I posted some of his other potential issues on another thread (I think mostly that the vets don't know as much as I need them to), but it was recommended that he only get his vitamin once every 2 weeks (I was giving it to him every week, but I have only had him a short time) and if it is a need for vitamin A that is causing it, I am not sure why I would back off on his source of this vitamin. Where else would he get this? Are there foods I can help him get this from that I can feed his bugs with? Sorry to piggyback on your post, but I need to know!!!! I am learning quickly that I have to be his vet.
Click to expand...
You need to be gutloading your insects as well. Vitamin A does occur naturally in a lot of different fruits and veggies which is what repashi bug burger is comprised of. Also I only use fresh water for my bugs, put water in a sponge, don't use the gelatin based water as they often are loaded with other garbage your chameleon really doesn't need. Think of it like this, if your cows were fed cow meat and not grass, would you want to eat them? Probably not. Vitamins in any amount can lead to vitamin toxicity, so you need to make sure you are only doing it 2 weeks apart. The only reason I did an emergency supplement dose for all of my chams is because Vitamin A was missing from my regiment, but under no other circumstance would I have done this. The situation warranted it - it won't kill them or lead to toxicity if it isn't a regular thing. A lot of issues with chameleons, like with my panther, progress slowly over time, as a result of something missing or too much of something. Moderation is in fact key, again the only reason for the extra dosing is the lack of vitamin A, but their bodies can only process so much of something in a given time, just like our own bodies.

As recommended in this post you should also check your lighting and temps, I did check mine out to make sure that wouldn't be a likely cause, it's getting about time for me to replace my acadia bulbs, but they should still be good. I don't know what your lighting and temps are like, or anything else about your setup or husbandry, but it sounds like you're definitely giving them too much supplements, twice a month tops, 2 weeks apart.
 
Also as far as my chameleon goes, it's only one eye, not both, mine is most likely bacterial or parasitic in nature because it's one eye. If yours is doing it with both, my guess is it's supplement/husbandry related, I'm thinking the vitamin A at this point isn't the cause - else the vet wouldn't have given antibiotic drops. Make sure you are misting at least twice a day to give opportunity to clean eyes as suggested by others earlier in this thread. Helping her clean her eye has done nothing for me at this point, the vitamin A seems to have helped somewhat, but still hasnt fully resolved the issue, so that's why I'm leaning towards something bacterial. It just happens, bugs have bugs sometimes so it just happens with reptiles. I may have fallen short on cleaning, but I don't blame myself, like you I'm doing the best I know how. Don't beat yourself up for falling short on something, just fix the problem and do the right thing by your chameleon, they depend on us! In this case I'd start by addressing the things you KNOW you're falling short on, and go from there, like with me, a vet visit helps, a second set of eyes doesn't hurt, and it wasn't terribly expensive, my vet bill was 100$. Best of luck to you and your cham.
 
ConfusedHornwormGuy said:
You need to be gutloading your insects as well. Vitamin A does occur naturally in a lot of different fruits and veggies which is what repashi bug burger is comprised of. Also I only use fresh water for my bugs, put water in a sponge, don't use the gelatin based water as they often are loaded with other garbage your chameleon really doesn't need. Think of it like this, if your cows were fed cow meat and not grass, would you want to eat them? Probably not. Vitamins in any amount can lead to vitamin toxicity, so you need to make sure you are only doing it 2 weeks apart. The only reason I did an emergency supplement dose for all of my chams is because Vitamin A was missing from my regiment, but under no other circumstance would I have done this. The situation warranted it - it won't kill them or lead to toxicity if it isn't a regular thing. A lot of issues with chameleons, like with my panther, progress slowly over time, as a result of something missing or too much of something. Moderation is in fact key, again the only reason for the extra dosing is the lack of vitamin A, but their bodies can only process so much of something in a given time, just like our own bodies.

As recommended in this post you should also check your lighting and temps, I did check mine out to make sure that wouldn't be a likely cause, it's getting about time for me to replace my acadia bulbs, but they should still be good. I don't know what your lighting and temps are like, or anything else about your setup or husbandry, but it sounds like you're definitely giving them too much supplements, twice a month tops, 2 weeks apart.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Lights are good and I am gutloading and swapping out any bugs he doesn't eat so he always has fresh gutloaded bugs, I was just wondering if there were specific foods the bugs liked that might help turn this issue around faster for him. I don't want to cause him trouble for sure! Just trying to figure out what is going on with his eyes, as it seems clear my vets can't do that for me. I have moved him into a different enclosure and replaced his lights just in case and I guess I just have to be patient and see if he can recoup on his own. I just hate to see him uncomfortable. Thanks
 
ConfusedHornwormGuy said:
Also as far as my chameleon goes, it's only one eye, not both, mine is most likely bacterial or parasitic in nature because it's one eye. If yours is doing it with both, my guess is it's supplement/husbandry related, I'm thinking the vitamin A at this point isn't the cause - else the vet wouldn't have given antibiotic drops. Make sure you are misting at least twice a day to give opportunity to clean eyes as suggested by others earlier in this thread. Helping her clean her eye has done nothing for me at this point, the vitamin A seems to have helped somewhat, but still hasnt fully resolved the issue, so that's why I'm leaning towards something bacterial. It just happens, bugs have bugs sometimes so it just happens with reptiles. I may have fallen short on cleaning, but I don't blame myself, like you I'm doing the best I know how. Don't beat yourself up for falling short on something, just fix the problem and do the right thing by your chameleon, they depend on us! In this case I'd start by addressing the things you KNOW you're falling short on, and go from there, like with me, a vet visit helps, a second set of eyes doesn't hurt, and it wasn't terribly expensive, my vet bill was 100$. Best of luck to you and your cham.
Click to expand...
Thanks. This info helps. Seeing the limitations of the vet care I am able to get is a little unnerving, but I am slowly figuring him out.
 
Tarzanfam said:
Thanks. Lights are good and I am gutloading and swapping out any bugs he doesn't eat so he always has fresh gutloaded bugs, I was just wondering if there were specific foods the bugs liked that might help turn this issue around faster for him. I don't want to cause him trouble for sure! Just trying to figure out what is going on with his eyes, as it seems clear my vets can't do that for me. I have moved him into a different enclosure and replaced his lights just in case and I guess I just have to be patient and see if he can recoup on his own. I just hate to see him uncomfortable. Thanks
Click to expand...
Bugs will eat pretty much anything even if it isn't great for them, so there's definitely certain things you want to be gutloading with. Some people use fresh cut or scrap veggies that dont have mold or bacteria - fresh is important. Alternatively you can purchase a healthy bug food, like repashi bug burger, and gutload your insects with that, crickets, dubia roaches, hornworms, doesn't matter, they all like bug burger and it's good for your bugs and your chams. Take good care of your bugs because bugs do get bugs, you can minimize that risk by feeding them proper and also regularly cleaning their cage. I've been researching a lot on parasites, they are tricky little buggers and can cause a good hit of damage, so good gutloading and everything else is pretty key. I would say if everything else is fine, just correct the supplement issue and go from there - it could take a small amount of time for him to bounce back, I didn't and don't expect immediate results from vitamin A being added so recently. Best of luck to you.
 
@ConfusedHornwormGuy said?... "Vitamin A does occur naturally in a lot of different fruits and veggies which is what repashi bug burger is comprised of"....vitamin A in fruits and veggies is prOformed though and has to be converted...and it's debated as to whether chameleons can convert it.... So unless the insects convert it, if they even can, before they are eaten, the chameleon isn't getting any vitamin A

You said... "as far as my chameleon goes, it's only one eye, not both, mine is most likely bacterial or parasitic in nature because it's one eye"....someone who posted on here said vitamin A deficiencies started off with one eye closed and then soon both would be closed. I've been trying to find that for you...but I can't. I'm not sure I believe it true anyway.
 
kinyonga said:
@ConfusedHornwormGuy said?... "Vitamin A does occur naturally in a lot of different fruits and veggies which is what repashi bug burger is comprised of"....vitamin A in fruits and veggies is prOformed though and has to be converted...and it's debated as to whether chameleons can convert it.... So unless the insects convert it, if they even can, before they are eaten, the chameleon isn't getting any vitamin A

You said... "as far as my chameleon goes, it's only one eye, not both, mine is most likely bacterial or parasitic in nature because it's one eye"....someone who posted on here said vitamin A deficiencies started off with one eye closed and then soon both would be closed. I've been trying to find that for you...but I can't. I'm not sure I believe it true anyway.
Click to expand...
Today she had her eyes opened on her own, she's had the eye closed since after I gave her the eye drops. She's still eating and drinking and perky, other eye is still good as of yet. If it was a deficiency in this case I would imagine the other eye starting to close won't happen because I caught it sooner than later.

Now if it's bacterial these eye drops should help, but I don't think it'd resolve parasites, which is still a big concern. I keep her enclosure pretty clean and just cleaned it this last week after making this post. I also stir up the sand/substrate to make sure there isnt bacteria buildup at the top layer of substrate, eventually it'll need replacing but it's clean right now.

Supplements and lighting is good, water and food is good and on a good schedule, she seems in overall good health and in good spirits, I imagine if it's parasites the issue would continue to progress and her other eye would also end up closed as well. Looking forward to the vet followup for fecals to ease my mind that I don't have a parasite infestation in her enclosure.


Edit

I didn't know this about vitamin A, I still do my supplements in spite of gutloading because I know supplements and calcium dust are used to be 100% sure the chameleons are getting everything they need, nutritious meals are certainly important to a long and healthy life.
 
As of today both of her eyes are open and she's perky, I just gave her a misting and she was rubbing her other eye that hasn't been bothering her, so I'm hoping the issue hasn't spread to the other eye. But as of right now both eyes open and alert, she hasn't been closing the problem eye today which is great, so it seems like the antibiotic eye drops are working to resolve this issue.
 
Still having this issue off and on. The eye drops help but not fully, it looks like her eye on the outside may have some shed on it, so I gave her a warm bath hoping maybe that would help release some skin. I have a vet appointment still for next month for fecals to find out if it's parasitic in nature, will be giving vitamin a again this sunday. She's still drinking and eating and alert. The bath is the only thing I haven't tried at this point. I'll probably take a steamy shower later and I'll bring her in there and put her on a rack or something for her to hang out in there, maybe bring one of her pothos plants in there. I figure the steam might help to ease any irritation on the eye, I'll let everyone know if I happen to have any luck with that. It's really off and on, she'll have it open sometimes, like if she needs to use the eye, but then closes. Maybe she's dehydrated? She doesn't seem to like her dripper and prefers to drink from mistings, but my concern is she doesnt drink much during mistings, I think maybe I should be more proactive in making sure she's drinking enough water, so I'm going to switch to watering her by hand, she tends to allow me to hold her, and I gave her water in this way yesterday while holding her, she drank her fill. So with gutloading and supplements addressed, steam/warm bath to help release any stuck shed, and eye drops. If none of this fixes it I'm willing to bet it's parasitic in nature. I'm anxiously awaiting this upcoming vet visit next month.
 
ConfusedHornwormGuy said:
Still having this issue off and on. The eye drops help but not fully, it looks like her eye on the outside may have some shed on it, so I gave her a warm bath hoping maybe that would help release some skin. I have a vet appointment still for next month for fecals to find out if it's parasitic in nature, will be giving vitamin a again this sunday. She's still drinking and eating and alert. The bath is the only thing I haven't tried at this point. I'll probably take a steamy shower later and I'll bring her in there and put her on a rack or something for her to hang out in there, maybe bring one of her pothos plants in there. I figure the steam might help to ease any irritation on the eye, I'll let everyone know if I happen to have any luck with that. It's really off and on, she'll have it open sometimes, like if she needs to use the eye, but then closes. Maybe she's dehydrated? She doesn't seem to like her dripper and prefers to drink from mistings, but my concern is she doesnt drink much during mistings, I think maybe I should be more proactive in making sure she's drinking enough water, so I'm going to switch to watering her by hand, she tends to allow me to hold her, and I gave her water in this way yesterday while holding her, she drank her fill. So with gutloading and supplements addressed, steam/warm bath to help release any stuck shed, and eye drops. If none of this fixes it I'm willing to bet it's parasitic in nature. I'm anxiously awaiting this upcoming vet visit next month.
Click to expand...
I really worry about the warm bath.... This really is not advised for chams. Steam too is not advised. Hot moist air can create an RI.
 
Beman said:
I really worry about the warm bath.... This really is not advised for chams. Steam too is not advised. Hot moist air can create an RI.
Click to expand...
The bath was about 2 minutes, still haven't done a shower, but I suppose I can hold off on it if you think it'll kill her doing it one time.
 
ConfusedHornwormGuy said:
The bath was about 2 minutes, still haven't done a shower, but I suppose I can hold off on it if you think it'll kill her doing it one time.
Click to expand...
I am just worried that your doing stuff that really is not going to help a chameleon. If it is a shed issue with the eye. the moisture is going to make it stick more. I would hate to see her get worse.

@kinyonga can you offer additional words of wisdom.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

nl.mau
Tongue injury
Replies
3
Views
290
kinyonga
K
NorahJan
One eye shut while basking?
Replies
11
Views
438
Beman
Beman
KayMcAraw
Chameleon bruising on eye and feet
2
Replies
27
Views
2K
CalamityCrow
CalamityCrow
C
PLEASE HELP! Eyes closed. Crusted and already saw a vet!
Replies
16
Views
448
ERKleRose
ERKleRose
Jo_bo_24
Chameleon with swollen eyes, please help!!
2
Replies
29
Views
2K
Jo_bo_24
Jo_bo_24
Back
Top Bottom