my 2 yr old chameleon has been closing and rubbing an eye for about 2 and a half months now, sometimes it puffs up for about 20 mins then goes back down from him irritating it, i don’t think it’s an eye infection because he alternates the eye(unless it’s in both i hope not) i thought it was from vitamin A deficiency because i wasn’t gutloading feeders or supplementing repashy calcium plus lod twice a month but i’ve been gutloading and supplementing for around 2 and a half months now and i’ve gave the repashy calcium plus lod 5 times but his eyes aren’t seeming to get better if anything they’re getting worse i would say. from when he was really young to about a year and a couple months i was feeding him grasshoppers which are full of vitamin A which makes sense why he didn’t have an A problem earlier on. if anyone knows another reason why he would have this behavior please let me know 75w uv bulb, t5ho 5.0 bulb
chameleon closing and rubbing eye alot
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elizaann2
Chameleon Enthusiast
What a beautiful boy! I don’t have a lot of experience with eye stuff, do you mist at all? Maybe allowing some time for him to clean his eyes from the mist will help. I also know it takes time for these little guys to improve from an illness or vitamin deficiency.
@MissSkittles @Beman - what do you think?
@MissSkittles @Beman - what do you think?
thank you very much, i do mist a lot like 2 minutes twice or 3 times a day and i believe missskttles told me that it could take up to 6 months for the eyes to be fully healed but i feel like it’s getting worse. i just ordered some flukers reptile eye rinse and i also want to add that like a month ago for like a week he had some crust around his eyes which also makes me believe it is A deficiency.
No I would not use the eye drops right now those are for treating a bacterial infection.
When you mist him by hand is he coming into the mist?
One issue with hand misting is the spray is harder than that of a mistking nozzle. Mistking is really fine mist. Also your standing there spraying. What may seem like you spraying for 3 minutes may be more like 90 seconds. They need time to trigger cleaning their eyes and then doing so.
ok i won’t use those eye drops thank you for letting me know, i recently took him to the vet for early signs of respiratory problems she did xrays and sent them off for a special vet to look at it but she said everything looked good to her he just lifts his head making that posture they make for respiratory problems after he drinks water. he only drinks running water so i crack open a water bottle a little bit and run water off the leaf and it attracts him everytime besides that he doesn’t drink. i asked her about his eyes and she said it sounds like A deficiency from the crust around his eyes and my lack of supplementing but she’s not sure and she said if it’s not getting better after a couple more times to give him just plain saline eye drops and that it doesn’t effect reptiles do you recommend me trying that? everytime i mist in the cage he always curls up and closes his eyes so i just try to spray everything around him and i try to be soft with it because ya the sprayers are often strong and could hurt the eyes, i used to crack open a water bottle and drip a drop in his eyes then someone on here told me not to do that
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
It’s surprisingly hard to find just plain saline eye drops. After reading just about every label of every eye product, I finally bought Bausch & Lomb eye irrigation. I did not drop into my cham’s eyes. I drenched a Q tip in it and very gently removed the little crusts when they looked to be a problem for him. Maybe your guy has an eye infection, trapped debris or something else going on. It’s so hard to tell with eyes.
So I would try misting in his general direction higher so the mist falls down around him. Not spraying it directly at him. See if it triggers him to start puffing and rotating his eye turrets.
Most chams will only drink from moving water. None of mine ever would drink from still water on leaves. I have always provided a dripper by using a plastic solo cup with a few tiny pin holes in the bottom. Then I set this on top of the cage over a plant. So it consistently drips.
You might consider getting a mistking starter system as well instead of manual spraying.
he doesn’t seem to have any crust anymore do you think i should buy some of that brand eye drops and drop some one in his eyes and see if it helps at all
sometimes when i mist he does starting rotating his eye turrets and doing all that he really does it when i dropped a drop of water in his eyes, i have the little dripper dripping box i just haven’t set it up yet i should probably do that right now. do you recommend me buying saline eye drops and dropping a drop in his eyes to try and help him flush them out or maybe just a water bottle close to his eye and just 1 drop. i also don’t have a humidifier on him should i get one of those could that help
No I do not recommend the saline drops.... I really think this is an issue of him wanting to clean his eyes. If he starts to do this when you are spraying then you need to keep spraying so he can. Again this is where the automated mister really makes a difference in this hobby. I really feel like it is a have to item for these guys.
Adding a humidifier will not help with cleaning the eyes. This used at night only with cool temps below 67 directly impacts their hydration. They breathe in the cool moist air while sleeping and it in turn is able to help hydrate them. So a humidifier is another source of hydration.
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
If there’s no crusts, then there’s no need. Eyes are very delicate and the more we mess around with them, the more risk of making a problem worse.
ok thank you i will have to order a automatic misting set up, do you think it would hurt to crack open a water bottle a little bit and drop a drop of water in his eyes from close up
thank you for the help did, how long did it take your chameleon to stop having eye problems
Plain water is fine. Look into the mistking starter system. It is the best IMO.
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
It took a long time. After the first 2-3 doses of correct multivitamin with preformed vitamin A, (so about a month) the crusts had gone away and he was able to keep his eye open most of the day. Every now and then I’d catch him with his bad eye closed and that persisted for about 6-8 months. His eye problems were from strictly from a vitamin A deficiency. He didn’t have infection, trapped debris or any other eye issue. If your guy’s eyes aren’t improving at all, it may be something more than vitamin A deficiency. If you can find a vet with solid experience and knowledge about chameleons, they should be better able to diagnose and treat. Make sure your humidity levels are correct and your misting long enough - I see @Beman has been guiding you there.
i will thank you
okay yeah im pretty sure it isn’t vitamin A related thank youIt took a long time. After the first 2-3 doses of correct multivitamin with preformed vitamin A, (so about a month) the crusts had gone away and he was able to keep his eye open most of the day. Every now and then I’d catch him with his bad eye closed and that persisted for about 6-8 months. His eye problems were from strictly from a vitamin A deficiency. He didn’t have infection, trapped debris or any other eye issue. If your guy’s eyes aren’t improving at all, it may be something more than vitamin A deficiency. If you can find a vet with solid experience and knowledge about chameleons, they should be better able to diagnose and treat. Make sure your humidity levels are correct and your misting long enough - I see @Beman has been guiding you there.
