Carpet chameleon and vet!!

[ElliotG]

So as many of you know. I’ve been looking at getting a carpet cham with an eye problem. I finally got him and took him to the vet today.

Wasnt a very happy camper. We had another vet come in to check him out, same clinic, and she seemed even better than the last! It was great, she was gentle and quick and knew exactly what she was talking about. I’ll definitely be asking for her. But now to the diagnosis.

As you can see there’s clearly an eye problem. She took a look at it and concluded that it was most likely hereditary or from extensive injury. The cone of his eye is deformed and it’s small. He’s more than likely blind in his right eye. This means he sees his world in 2D and has a problem hunting, which is why she also said he was underweight. He is currently on a liquid food diet so he can gain some weight back. He will also be given liquid calcium so that he doesn’t develop MDB. This is super easy since chameleons love opening their mouth when you bother them. So he got a bit of liquid food. I’ll be giving him some more tomorrow morning.

It’s a sad diagnosis. But I’m happy that I’ll be able to give him the special care he needs and that he’s in a safe place. Since he has 2D vision he can gauge how he walks. I placed a bunch of foliage in his enclosure so that he has a soft landing when he falls. He’s a very sweet and docile boy. Hopefully he’ll be most feisty as I start giving him liquid diet and calcium.

Here he is soaking up heat after the whole ordeal. He’s a very special baby. I figured especially last night when I had to place him on foliage so he could go to sleep since he had given up and tried to sleep on his screen. I’m willing to do everything for this little guy as long as he helps me. Thank you guys for tagging along with us when I first spotted him. It’ll be nothing but loads of care and recovery for him .

His name is algae by the way, and is DEFINITELY a boy lol!

 

[ERKleRose]

He's a cutie, and I love his name! Definitely keep us updated!

 

[MissSkittles]

So very glad that you got him! He’s beautiful!

 

[ElliotG]

Thank you! I’ll definitely keep updates on him. He’s currently laying down getting ready to sleep .

 

[Chameleoking]

What an experience. That's awesome!

 

[kinyonga]

Be careful not to overdo or underdo the D3 and vitamin A if he's getting liquid calcium.

He doesn't look like he's really underweight to me.
Is he eating on his own at all?

They can learn to eat without having vision in two eyes. They learn to move their head a bit to determine where the insect is...especially if you help them a bit at first. It's really unite amazing how adaptable they are.

 

[ElliotG]

Be careful not to overdo or underdog the D3 and vitamin A if he's getting liquid calcium.

He doesn't look like he's really underweight to me.
Is he eating on his own at all?

They can learn to eat without having vision in two eyes. They learn to move their head a bit to determine where the insect is...especially if you help them a bit at first. It's really unite amazing how adaptable they are.

The liquid food has vitamin A. I’ll mix some d3 calcium in with his liquid food when needed. He hasn’t been able to figure out how to eat on his own. I’ve been trying to help him but he’s been struggling. He will be on a liquid diet and calcium until it’s certain he can eat by himself. Hes tried but has had lots of troubles. She said he was a bit underweight and would like it if he gained a bit more weight. He’s not severely malnourished/skinny. So we intervened in time.

 

[kinyonga]

What form of vitamin A is it? How much vitamin A is in it?

Vitamin A and vitamin D3 need to be in balance with each other...and they both are involved in calcium metabolism....so if you give too little, from supplements, the chameleon won't be able to use the calcium you're giving it. If you give too much, from supplements, the chameleon will absorb too much calcium and that can cause bone issues just like having too little can. D3 from exposure to the sun or UVB light is safer because the body converts it as needed as long as the chameleon can move in and out of the sunlight or UVB light at will. PrOformed vitamin A is safer than prEformed...but it's not proven how well chameleons can convert the prOformed kind. The prEformed can overdose and prOformed can't. Are you begining to see how complicated it is?

As for getting him to eat on his own...hold a cricket close enough to his nose that he can see it and see if he can take it from you. Each day move it a little further away from him....and he should learn to triangulate to figure out where it is. Soon he should do it on his own.

 

[Lindasjackson]

Congrats on getting your little guy! I’m so sorry about his eye issue but I know your going to give him great care and he’ll soon be hunting down crickets!

 

[redhorse]

Glad your giving him a good home and the care he needs. Does he hunt on his own? Just curious.
Did the vet open the eyelid? Just curious again.

I have turtle with one eye, frog born one working eye, and Saul.. So not that big of a deal in this house. keep up the good work.

 

[pascalthechameleon2]

Congratulations!! He is so cute

 

[SpicyOrchid]

I'm glad Algae ended up in the right hands.

 

[Mountain Dragon]

Aw he’s so cute I’m glad it worked out onay

 

[Sonny13]

Congrats on getting that handsome boy and soo great you´re dedicated to give him the best possible life, he deserves it and it will bring yourself lots joy and satisfaction.
Nice name and keep us posted, so we can enjoy him as well

 

[ElliotG]

What form of vitamin A is it? How much vitamin A is in it?

Vitamin A and vitamin D3 need to be in balance with each other...and they both are involved in calcium metabolism....so if you give too little, from supplements, the chameleon won't be able to use the calcium you're giving it. If you give too much, from supplements, the chameleon will absorb too much calcium and that can cause bone issues just like having too little can. D3 from exposure to the sun or UVB light is safer because the body converts it as needed as long as the chameleon can move in and out of the sunlight or UVB light at will. PrOformed vitamin A is safer than prEformed...but it's not proven how well chameleons can convert the prOformed kind. The prEformed can overdose and prOformed can't. Are you begining to see how complicated it is?

As for getting him to eat on his own...hold a cricket close enough to his nose that he can see it and see if he can take it from you. Each day move it a little further away from him....and he should learn to triangulate to figure out where it is. Soon he should do it on his own.

So he has 12 hours of UVB a day so that’s where he’s getting most of his D3 from. Hopefully he’ll be accepting food by the 1st of next month. I’ve tried the up in the nose method but he’s still a little skittish of me.

The powdered food I’m using is Repta Boost by flukers. I picked it up from the store after the vet, but I’ve had success with it when rehabilitating leopard geckos. I’ll leave a link here.
https://flukerfarms.com/repta-boost-insectivore-carnivore/

I get what you mean when you say it’s complicated. I 100% agree and hope to get him hunting sooner than later. He just has to get use to my presence and then he might try to eat. He tried once but missed the target and wouldn’t try for me again so we’re getting there. I’ll try again today. It’s a learning curve for him but hopefully with a bit of patience he can do it.

 

[ElliotG]

Glad your giving him a good home and the care he needs. Does he hunt on his own? Just curious.
Did the vet open the eyelid? Just curious again.

I have turtle with one eye, frog born one working eye, and Saul.. So not that big of a deal in this house. keep up the good work.

He’s got problems hunting on his own. I he’s tried but keeps missing. So we’ll be doing a bit of work on getting use to hunting.

The vet did open his eye. It’s under there just deformed along with his cone. She said he might be able to see a tiny bit but most likely was blind. I had an vision impaired gecko that needed help hunting so this isn’t 100% new for me. I’m just happy he’s in a fight place that he can receive the care needed.

 

[ElliotG]

Congrats on getting that handsome boy and soo great you´re dedicated to give him the best possible life, he deserves it and it will bring yourself lots joy and satisfaction.
Nice name and keep us posted, so we can enjoy him as well

I’ll definitely post some more pics for you guys (;

 

[ElliotG]

Great update everybody. Today was D3 day for the Chams so I decided to try with some crickets. I let them run on the screen cage and he ate a few! I would say 5 pinheads. I took the rest out and will try again late. But I’m so so so happy he ate some crickets. He’s definitely blind in his right eye but cAn catch pretty okay when he can see them. He’s not use to cup feeding which is where I want to get him so his food doesn’t run around and bother him. I’m super happy he’s ate though.

 

[ERKleRose]

Amazing!

 

[ElliotG]

Heatin up on the stick. I’m so in love with this little guy.

Also put some BSFs in my young veileds cage and man it’s working him out pretty good.

Pic of his tongue. Kinda hard to see lol!