Conserned my chameleon may be blind!!!

[radical reps us]

hello everyone. im in desperate need of help. I have a young panther cham iv had him for 4-6 months now. recently iv noticed hes not opening his eyes at all and blindly feels around his tank. about 3 weeks ago he shed up until now hes been doing great eating pooping I spray him daily and I also have a reptile fogger I made for him. aprox 3 weeks ago he shed and started to keep one eye closed. at first I thought maybe he was retaining shed as many of my other reptiles usually do and with a heavy misting will shed the rest. but then while feeding him I noticed he was having trouble aiming. then a few days after that the other eye became shut. ?!?! he moves around still but now he wont eat or drink. iv gotten him to try and drink blindly off leaves and iv managed to get him to feed but only twice in two weeks. I have held him and rubbed his belly when he opened his mouth I stuck a crickets but in and he crunched like 6 or so down. now he wont even open for me bc he got used to being held and not being able to see.


I have him housed in a repti breeze setup with live plants some yucca trees as well as an umbrella plant. I been using the cool blue heat bulb and a reptivision uv bulb. im concerned the uv bulb may have been too strong and burned his eyes. hes now shedding weight. I talked to a reptile "professional" but there is only one reptile vet within 90+ miles and iv got to them for years. they said remove the uv and he should get better in a week that was two weeks ago. im desperate I don't want drax to die I have other reptiles and keep them all well. I use a digi thermo and analog hygro in his screen cage. humidity usually stays between 45%-80% and at the peak of the summer day it may get as hot as 89-91 degrees. I try to keep a small personal fan on the lower half of the cage to drop the ambient for him a little.


is there any remedies such as liquid diet I can feed him from a pippet? iv been trying to feed him water using a syringe but he hasn't seemed too eager to except my help. has anyone ever experienced this? his eyes don't seem sunken they do move sometimes bulging out just don't open and idk if he can even see. hes my first cham and I spent way too much and love him too much to let him go like this. ill be posting some pict later tonight. SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!!!

 

[carol5208]

What do you feed your crickets and are you giving your chameleon a multivitamin that contains Vitamin A? I don't know what a reptivision bulb is. Do you mean reptisun? If so, they are safe if you are using a 5.0 or 10.0. Chameleons need UVB to survive, so turning it off was probably not good advice. Please post some pics of your set up, your chameleon and find out for certain what bulb you are using for UVB. Sounds like he might have a Vitamin A deficiency. Could be an infection, but they usually are not in both eyes, just one.

 

[radical reps us]

the bulb im using is a coil reptile vision 13w says uvb output 175 uw/cm2 at 8 inches away I have recently changed to zoo meds 13 w 5.0 mini compact flourscent not a coil more like a loop bulb. I don't really gut my crickets too much mostly bc he used to eat them all as soon as I bring them home but the ones left over u feed them oatmeal, cricket food mix along with orange cubes (cricket food) /or water cubes. iv tried meal worms and some roaches I had left from my beardies he didn't like them. I also use zoo meds repti calcium with d3 but just switched to without d3 bc the vitamins I use contain d3 the vitamins are zoo meds reptivite with d3 and it also contains 99,910ppm vitamin a per every pound. this is fed monthly to bimonthly and calcium with every feeding as well as flukers liquid calcium with every spray water an in his mister. as well as an extensive list of other minerals in the reptivite the "professional" recommended leaving uv off for a7-10 days then switching to a tube like uv bulb but my setup doesn't currently have room for a 3ft long bulb so I switched to the non coil like bulb I described above. theres mo puss or discharge near eyes or mouth nostrils ect and I was assured he had just burned his eyes with the intense light from the coil. im devastated and now disappointed and persuaded to get out of reptiles after 3-4 years bc I spent hundreds on him just to have him get seriously sick after a few months.. hes always been super skinny since I got him I thought it was just bc he was a baby? but now idk bc hes loosing weight fast bc hes not eating but hes been shedding regular every 8 weeks since I got him.

I will be adding pics later today need to let my camera charge first.

 

[radical reps us]

theses are pics of his enclosure as well as equipment I use.

 

[radical reps us]

here are some images of him he changed color during handling like usual but for the most part his color hasn't been too off just a little more pale than before he got sick. ill post an older pic soon.


I really hope he gets better today I think I may take some dried meal worms I have for my dragons. (I buy by the 5lb bag) and crush them into almost a pure with water mix it with some calcium and vitamin and see if hell eat I tried to syringe water and spray water him this morning but he doesn't wana open his mouth so idk how that's going to work. if u think this may be a good idea please anyone let me know.

 

[JoeVet]

Are we sure this is a male and not an egg bound female? I would like to see blood chemistry, blood cell count and a fecal. Carnivore care is a supplement diet that can be used. You have to be carefully because their teeth are easily damaged. I'd recommend a vet visit asap.

 

[jcarlsen]

Are we sure this is a male and not an egg bound female? I would like to see blood chemistry, blood cell count and a fecal. Carnivore care is a supplement diet that can be used. You have to be carefully because their teeth are easily damaged. I'd recommend a vet visit asap.

I kinda tend to wonder about the gender as well. My male is around that age and proabably at least twice as large and more colorful. You may have a female. Can you show us a picture of the vent area? If there's no noticeable bump around the tail, it could be a female.

 

[radical reps us]

he is 100% male. he has hemipenes and is green with blue bars redish orange grey dulap area. females would be pinkish rose grey or a variation of sorts. hes only that color bc I was handling him to get a decent picture.

 

[LilBlue]

You said that he looked a bit thin when you got him, but it can be hard to say, to me all babies look like stick-man dinosaurs lol. I've seen a couple cases where breeders crowded their baby cages, and some were not getting as much food as others, that means not as many vitamins too, so could have been off to a rough start to begin with.

I know your reptile vet is very far away, but to go to someone who is definetely knowledgeable about reptiles is worth it, speaking from experience here...if you really can't get to a specialist, call around to vets in your area, ask if a vet can call you so you can speak directly to them. Even if their experience is limited, you can still have blood work done, a fecal check, and get medicine. The vet you see may even call the reptile vet out of town for assistance, don't be afraid to ask them to do that. You can get food called Emeraid, it works great.

In the mean time, it never hurts to have more water. Do the shower method. I also think you could use a couple more plants in there, and maybe it was your camera, but the light seems really intense, very well could be causing him to close his eyes.

And don't be discouraged about reptile health, and good for you for reaching out for help, it helps everyone learn I've had a rough go this year, spending almost 3K between two lizards, both are still going strong. Considering I have close to 30 reptiles and other pets, I ain't doing too bad lol.

Hope he feels better soon, keep us posted

 

[kinyonga]

IMHO that chameleon is very sick and needs to see a good reptile vet ASAP.

 

[Carlton]

IMHO that chameleon is very sick and needs to see a good reptile vet ASAP.

I agree. IMHO, what may have started out as a borderline nutritional deficiency (from inconsistent, less than great, or no gutloading and lack of feeder variety) got elevated to a serious one (stopping the UVB exposure), and now his problems are more systemic and more complicated. He's now weaker and not eating which makes everything worse.

 

[radical reps us]

yeah he did see a vet like 3 weeks ago wen it first started theyre the ones who told me its just the light. but iv taken other animals there before and there service isn't that great that's why I say "professional" bc half the time they only get me in with an assistant who talks to the doc but half the tme the doc never comes to examine the animal personally but in the case of my sick turtle 3 years ago hey were very good. an the only other exotics near me are aprox 2 hrs away that's why I asked if anyone has had any similar experiences. im going to try a hand feeding regiment and see if I can get antibiotics for him but the vet charges like 150 just to get in that's before they even see the pet and before medication. so im going to have to wait a week or so till I have funds bc im not rich. in was just reaching out for possible tips from other care takers who may have had this issue. and hes barely the size of my finger is it possible to get a blood sample soo small? fecal should be no problem tho. I only have 3 live plants and 4 fake. but humidity seems to keep relatively well.

 

[Carlton]

im going to try a hand feeding regiment and see if I can get antibiotics for him

Why antibiotics? You don't know if there's an infection going on. Not a good idea to just "shotgun" treat with any meds until you know specifically what's going on.

Instead, I think I'd work on a possible nutritional deficiency...get that UV light on him or get him some basking time outdoors. Correct your gutloading and dusting for better nutrition, a variety of soft-bodied insects, and a cautious dose of vit. A once. Keep him drinking well no matter what.

 

[radical reps us]

so iv been feeding drax a mix that I made for diet suplimentation. I ground u some meal worms and dragon pellets (made for dragons to "replace " crickets zoo med claims. hen I pushed the purae through a syringe after that I mixed a small dash of reptivite powder calcium and liquid calcium. im storing it in the fridge and feeding it through a syringe I affixed with a new section of fish air tube cut to an angle at the tip. hes been eating and drinking better but im concerned still bc even tho hes gotten a little more active he seems somewhat dehydrated bc today his eyes started to seem like theyre a little sunken in. aslo have been misting and watering him with syringe as well.

 

[JoeVet]

You have to be careful when force feeding. There is a possibility of aspiration of the food into the lungs and setting up a pneumonia. Also the teeth of chameleons are easily damaged and will not grow back. The bearded dragon is an omnivore and diets specific for them would not be appropriate for chameleons which are carnivores/insectivores. The zoomed pellets come in adult and juvenile preparations. The juvenile preparations are higher protein but the protein, fat and carbohydrate percentages still are not ideal for a chameleon. The adult preparations are more for a herbivore so less suitable. A better product is oxbow carnivore critical care and it should only be used if the animal is not eating on its own. If it is eating on its own then gut-loaded and calcium dusted crickets would be better along with silkworms, hornworms and superworms. He does look very dehydrated and I would continue to make every attempt to get him to drink by using drippers or misting. A vet can give parenteral fluids.

What a good reptile vet can do is to offer blood work and help identify the real reason for his appearance. Bloodwork can identify systemic inflammation/infection, look at calcium and phosphorus levels, and look at organ function. They can also help with better critical care management.

Good to hear he is a bit improved but we still don't know what the real problem is. Only a vet and diagnostic tests can help determine this. Sorry to hear that your vet is not that involved with your animals. Definitely need to investigate another.

 

[kinyonga]

Could you post a photo of just its head so I can see the mouth/lips from the side and front.

 

[radical reps us]

so I attatched some pics 2 of his face as requested and 2 others one of his colors as well as a hemipenes so u can see he is 100% male. he managed to choke down 3 1/3 crickets today which isn't too good but better than he has been doing. he also drank for me and received vitamin water I made for him both assisted of course. he doesn't look good but is trying to hang in there, he isn't active until I get him out iv moved him to the living room to better keep an eye on him. idk where I went wrong bc iv always tried to give him everything I possibly can and be the best owner I can be but seems it wasn't good enough. I hope he makes it.

 

[Andee]

He needs a vitamin/D3 shot from a vet most likely to get him started or else he's most likely not gonna make it. The vitamin spray is not nearly good enough compared to regular dust. I have fed and watered chameleons with vitamin defficiencies before, he is very dehydrated. He needs water at least three times a day, I tend to drip it on their nose and they'll lick it off. I usually give one CC each hydration session.

I also would buy some reptaboost, it's like carnivore critical care, only you can buy it in pet stores. I would still end up buying carnivore critical care from a vet, because the reptaboost isn't as good, but it will keep him going for a while, better than the dragon mush. I never ever squirt it into their mouths, I wedge their lips open slightly and paint it along their gums, and then feed the rest by letting them lick it off the tip of their nose.

Good luck

 

[jajeanpierre]

so I attatched some pics 2 of his face as requested and 2 others one of his colors as well as a hemipenes so u can see he is 100% male. he managed to choke down 3 1/3 crickets today which isn't too good but better than he has been doing. he also drank for me and received vitamin water I made for him both assisted of course. he doesn't look good but is trying to hang in there, he isn't active until I get him out iv moved him to the living room to better keep an eye on him. idk where I went wrong bc iv always tried to give him everything I possibly can and be the best owner I can be but seems it wasn't good enough. I hope he makes it.

This chameleon is in desperate need of a good vet. You saw a vet three weeks ago and he isn't getting better. I suspect he is getting worse. If the treatment the vet suggests doesn't work, you have to go back to try to figure out the problem. They are not infallible--sometimes they think it is one thing but it turns out to be something else entirely. If the chameleon is not getting better, it needs a follow up appointment asap. Good luck.

 

[radical reps us]

im not using the vitamin spray just plain distilled water with powder calcium and powder vitamins including d3 mixed and shaken before every watering Iv been watering him 3-4 times a day about 1-2 cc bc he doesn't always drink sometimes he just lets it drip down his chin. im putting the tube in just to get him to open up then im doing it one drop at a time. not really squirting more like dropping it in 3 drops wait for a swallow then 3-4 drops more.