Eye bulging and closed.

Sinfulintent

Sinfulintent

New Member
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Karma - Veiled - Young? No age given when bought, he is really small though. picture to come later.
Handling - Very rarely, only when cleaning.
Feeding - 3 small/medium crickets with 2 meal worms (or a mixture that usually equals around 5 of something) I usually dust the crickets with a calcium supplement that came in a case for them.
Supplements -Flukers Calcium supplement given to crickets, light dusting of meal worms.
Watering - Mist from a bottle twice a day, one morning one night. Also a humidifier I turn on and off through the day if the humidity drops below 60%(quite often since where I live is dry)I don't often see him drink, I do spray him directly occaisonally and he seems to open his mouth a bit and let the water roll from his face into his mouth...
Fecal Description - Brown fecal with a white/yellowish urine. He MAYBE went yesterday before the cleaning. I'm sure he was constipated a few days ago(huge poop3 days ago) then cleaned it last night and wasn't sure if I'd seen new ones or not.
History - No given history at the time of purchase. Not sure what is wrong with him.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4070859&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInUS%2FNo
Lighting -http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12462460&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInUS%2FNo
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11147193&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInUS%2FNo

Temperature - 80F in basking 60on floor. I have temp gauge in the enclosure.
Humidity - 75% ish. drops dramatically if I don't have the humidifer on.
Plants - Not at this time. I have plastic vines and a piece of driftwood from petsmart
Placement - Living room, near an intake vent. 2' off of flooring on a nightstand sort of thing so we can keep everything in one location(food, spray bottle, etc)
Location - Central Valley California

Current Problem - Both eyes shut while walking around feeling his way around. it must have just happened yesterday he looked fine Sunday. We took him out to clean his cage and noticed his eyes were closed and clumisly feeling his way around. I sprayed my finger tips with water and dripped it onto his eyes and he would rub his head against my wet fingers repeatidly, im guessing to try to get the irritant out or whatever is causing him to keep his eyes closed. I won't be able to get pictures of his eyes until I'm home(im at work) His eyes seem normal sized but constantly closed, until he starts rubbing them then they get a bit swollen. Going to be posting a picture of him when I can get it up on a website. It won't be of his eye just him as a whole on my wifes hand. Maybe someone could give me an age?? :confused: We bought him late november. Also any suggestions besides my issue is welcome.
We won't be able to take him to a vet until tomorrow when the reptile vet comes in (who works wed-sat?!?!?!) anyway....yea

Thanks in advance!
 
http://i45.tinypic.com/2vnh2c6.jpg

Here is a picture of him.. Like I said I won't be able to get his eyes until later today.

My wife got squeezed into the vet at 1:30 though their rep vet isn't in today so I don't have high hopes for that.. Thanks chameleons09 for the link. Been looking since 7pm last night on the forums and looked at each post involving eye problems lol.
 
Oh, also I feel I should note that a white powdery substance was coming out of one of his nostrils maybe 4 days ago. I looked up on here and someone said it could be excess calcium supp.? I'm not sure if it's related or not.
 
Sinfulintent said:
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Karma - Veiled - Young? No age given when bought, he is really small though. picture to come later.
Handling - Very rarely, only when cleaning.
Feeding - 3 small/medium crickets with 2 meal worms (or a mixture that usually equals around 5 of something) I usually dust the crickets with a calcium supplement that came in a case for them.
Supplements -Flukers Calcium supplement given to crickets, light dusting of meal worms.
Watering - Mist from a bottle twice a day, one morning one night. Also a humidifier I turn on and off through the day if the humidity drops below 60%(quite often since where I live is dry)I don't often see him drink, I do spray him directly occaisonally and he seems to open his mouth a bit and let the water roll from his face into his mouth...
Fecal Description - Brown fecal with a white/yellowish urine. He MAYBE went yesterday before the cleaning. I'm sure he was constipated a few days ago(huge poop3 days ago) then cleaned it last night and wasn't sure if I'd seen new ones or not.
History - No given history at the time of purchase. Not sure what is wrong with him.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4070859&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInUS%2FNo
Lighting -http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12462460&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInUS%2FNo
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11147193&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInUS%2FNo

Temperature - 80F in basking 60on floor. I have temp gauge in the enclosure.
Humidity - 75% ish. drops dramatically if I don't have the humidifer on.
Plants - Not at this time. I have plastic vines and a piece of driftwood from petsmart
Placement - Living room, near an intake vent. 2' off of flooring on a nightstand sort of thing so we can keep everything in one location(food, spray bottle, etc)
Location - Central Valley California

Current Problem - Both eyes shut while walking around feeling his way around. it must have just happened yesterday he looked fine Sunday. We took him out to clean his cage and noticed his eyes were closed and clumisly feeling his way around. I sprayed my finger tips with water and dripped it onto his eyes and he would rub his head against my wet fingers repeatidly, im guessing to try to get the irritant out or whatever is causing him to keep his eyes closed. I won't be able to get pictures of his eyes until I'm home(im at work) His eyes seem normal sized but constantly closed, until he starts rubbing them then they get a bit swollen. Going to be posting a picture of him when I can get it up on a website. It won't be of his eye just him as a whole on my wifes hand. Maybe someone could give me an age?? :confused: We bought him late november. Also any suggestions besides my issue is welcome.
We won't be able to take him to a vet until tomorrow when the reptile vet comes in (who works wed-sat?!?!?!) anyway....yea

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Hi and welcome to the forum you have come to the right place to ask questions. It is quite important for us to see a photo so we can get an average age. I can say that he needs to be misted 3-4 times a day. This gives him 4 opportunities to drink. Can you be more precise about supplements. Petsmart is not usually noted for giving correct care instructions. Are you dusting your crickets with supplements or are you feeding crickets with it? A good guide for a veiled is plain calcium dusted lightly on feeders daily and calcium with d3 twice a month and a multivit twice a month. This can vary depending if he gets outside time and if being given feeders high in calcium. You don't indicate that you are.
80f is a bit low for basking but it would be best if we can see his size first. It is good you are talking him to vet tomorrow.:)
 
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753945&lmdn=Product+Type&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInUS%2FNo

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753954&lmdn=Product+Type&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInUS%2FNo

I give the crickets this to eat in their little enclosure

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753240&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInUS%2FNo

Enclosure I bought for the crickets.. It came with a calcium powder that I used to dust crickets in (before I learned I could feed them the calcium) now dust mealworms in it..

As to outside time it's too cold right now (at best getting 45F here) during the spring, summer, and fall I'll be taking him outside. I think I need better lighting for him anyway and since I just got paid shouldn't be too hard to go get new lights today or tomorrow.

Gah I keep editing this.. .From the tip of his head to the base of his tail...maybe 3 inches at best?
 
Hello, welcome to the forum :) He looks to be around 3 months old to me, it is impossible to be certain as they grow at different rates. A few things to recommend straight off which might help -
He doesn't need the light at night. Red light is visible to chameleons and could have been disturbing his sleep. Even with his eyes closed, chams have a parietal eye at the top of their heads.
He won't need any extra heat at night unless it gets below 60F. A night time drop is good for his metabolism.
That 160W Powersun is a very powerful bulb, maybe too powerful for a little one. Try replacing it with a 40 or 60W household bulb. If you are measuring temps with a sticky zoomed thing I suggest you get a decent digital thermometer. I can't see you getting just 80F basking spot with a 160W bulb in that size of Viv.
Hopefully lowering the intensity of light will solve the immediate problem. For uvb most people on the forum use tubes, especially for youngsters.
Here is a great basic caresheet I recommend to all new people with Veileds - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/chameleonsinmyhouse/395-veiled-chameleon-care-sheet.html
 
Sinfulintent said:
Oh, also I feel I should note that a white powdery substance was coming out of one of his nostrils maybe 4 days ago. I looked up on here and someone said it could be excess calcium supp.? I'm not sure if it's related or not.
Click to expand...

This is unrelated to the current problem. It is most likely salts and is certainly totally harmless. Some people have suggested that it could be calcium salts, but nobody on here suggests lowering calcium intake because of it. It hasn't been tested to prove what the white crust contains as far as I know :D
Some chams get it sometimes, I personally think it is seen less often when using purified water. I just use the stuff from the tap though. I see it occasionally on one of my lizards.
 
Your supplements are not good. Fluckers anything is not good. As said above a good way to go is plain calcium dusted on feeders daily. Calcium with d3 twice a month and a multivit twice a month. Chams can be very sensitive to too much or too little d3 they need this to prevent metabolic bone disease. I am in uk and our brand names can be different so hopefully someone will make suggestions. How long do you keep your lights on? Having live plants will help with humidity also having a dripper going for part of the day will also give him an opportunity to drink.:)
 
some pictures the wife took since shes home..

http://tinypic.com/r/xqf5a8/6

http://tinypic.com/r/103hekg/6

Thanks for the help so far guys!

And to Kate. thanks for letting me know Fluckers sucks... lol. after reading a bit apparently I don't leave his night light on enough and daytime light on too long.. Usually I'll give him around 8 hours of the night light.. turning on daytime light at 6am(when I leave for work) and turn it off at 10pm
 
Hi Sinfulintent. I am going to echo what David said. I am as confident as I can be from my seat behind my computer that the eye issue is being cause by your lighting. The good news is this can be easily solved in the below steps.

1.) Throw the night light in the trash
2.) Replace the powersun with a household incandescent bulb (probably 60w)
3.) Buy a reptisun 5.0 linear bulb and a fixture. 24" would be a good size for you.

Good luck
 
Sorry aboutFluckers LOL. You will find that keeping chams is a steep learning curve. I Eco what has been said above. No night light is needed. They benefit from temp drop. I have a ceramic emitter on a thermostat that kicks in if temps drop below 55. It very varely does lights on for 12 hrs lights off for 12 hrs.:)
 
Definitely agree - NO night light.

Also, I have the same size exo terra tank as the one you posted. I have a 75 watt basking bulb and nothing else but two 13 watt spiral CFLs - 1 regular, 1 UVB, and I live in Canada, so my daytime house temps right now are around 67F. This was keeping the ambient temps in the tank around 73-75F and the basking spot - approx 10" below the light at about 82F, so your 160W is way too much. I would drop it to at least 75W and maybe lower depending on what your house temps are.

I was also thinking that if he's getting overheated, he could be dehydrated which could be affecting his eyes. Make sure the humidity is high enough and he's getting enough to drink via droplets from the misting or a dripper. Since his eyes are closed, you can try placing drops of water on the tip of his nose and see if he'll drink. Good luck.
 
And since were getting it all done straight away.....when he does open his eyes again he could do with much more food than I guess Petsmart suggested :D Give him as much as he can eat in 2 five minute sessions per day. Over 20 if he wants. (appropriately tiny insects of course, not bigger than the distance between his eyes). If he seems reluctant to eat then fruit flies are a favourite of babies.
Here's a list of useful feeders - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html
And info for gutloads - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html
Commercial gutloads like Repashy Bug Burger or Cricket Crack are really good stuff for an easier option, but fresh veg for insects is definitely best for the Chams.
The black stripes and spots indicate he is a bit frightened, it's best to leave them with as little disturbance as you can manage for around a week to help him settle into a new home (I know you were asked for pics, all babies do those patterns sometimes :)).
 
Last edited by a moderator:
DavidBuchan said:
And since were getting it all done straight away.....when he does open his eyes again he could do with much more food than I guess Petsmart suggested :D Give him as much as he can eat in 2 five minute sessions per day. Over 20 if he wants. (appropriately tiny insects of course, not bigger than the distance between his eyes). If he seems reluctant to eat then fruit flies are a favourite of babies.
Here's a list of useful feeders - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html
And info for gutloads - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html
Commercial gutloads like Repashy Bug Burger or Cricket Crack are really good stuff for an easier option, but fresh veg for insects is definitely best for the Chams.
The black stripes and spots indicate he is a bit frightened, it's best to leave them with as little disturbance as you can manage for around a week to help him settle into a new home (I know you were asked for pics, all babies do those patterns sometimes :)).
Click to expand...

Have to say David I haven't used fruit flys before but am using them on my tiny nosy bes and they are hunting all day longLOL
 
Kate said:
Have to say David I haven't used fruit flys before but am using them on my tiny nosy bes and they are hunting all day longLOL
Click to expand...

I might have mentioned this before...but watching babies hunt fruit flies is about half the reason I've got eggs in the incubator now :D
 
Looks like I'll be getting new lights today after work! Might have to do some shopping though. To be clear though people are suggesting just regular 60W light bulb and a special basking bulb? When do I turn on which one:confused:

Didn't realize he could actually eat that much.... I'll definately start feeding him more.

As for him being scared his eyes were closed and we took him out for the cage cleaning so I could see how that was frightening. He did lighten up to us a bit(though not being able to see) and went back to his normal bright green after a few minutes.

Thanks for all the quick replies... I'm starting to dislike petsmart...
 
The easiest way is to have lights on a timer. Mine come on at 7am and go off at 7pm. You should mimic sun up, sun down. Yes an ordinary buib is fine. We don't have petsmart in uk but we do have some crap pet shops . I thought I knew how to look after a Cham until I came here. I'm still learning. We do have several reptile vets here which is great. Any equipment you fancy, check it out here first, also check out any plants as some are poisonous and veileds especially may eat the leaves.
 
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