Eye bulging and closed.

Sinfulintent said:
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...
Click to expand...
Regular bulb for basking- it's just for the heat really. The uvb is best in tube form, along the whole top of the cage. Both on 12 hours a day. The same 12 hours :). It's amazing how much babies can eat, they grow so fast!
Most chams do calm down a couple of minutes after being picked up. Just some info for you so if he wants to go back you'll know.
I sort of guessed you'd had a good chat with a Petsmart sales rep.....:rolleyes::) It happens, and the powersun will be good if you save it until he's all grown up.
The Flukers being basically pointless is not Petsmarts fault, really......they don't know how specialist chameleon diets ought to be.....
 
Haha I knew they weren't genius with all pets but I hoped to atleast get the basics down -.-

Going to have to do some research/looking around for the correct UVB bulb this time...

Also here he is just 2 days ago doin....somethin... lol. Just bein weird
http://tinypic.com/r/29eiyav/6
 
Wife took him to the vet today! They said it's just dehydration! Thank goodness was worried something was terribly wrong with him. They gave us some ointment for his eyes. Vet said no more dirt for a substrate, which luckily for us I just switched to zoo med carpet which is why we took him out in the first place! He's now soaking in a warm bath and looking happy.
30lcwev.jpg

Also we got him weighed and he weighs all of 8 oz!
 
Thanks Dave, I'll only be happy when he's fully recovered as well. Eyes still haven't opened but I'm thinking it may take some time to. Might try hand feeding him tonight or something though :\
 
Sinfulintent said:
Thanks Dave, I'll only be happy when he's fully recovered as well. Eyes still haven't opened but I'm thinking it may take some time to. Might try hand feeding him tonight or something though :\
Click to expand...

Worth a go, if it's late save it until the morning though, it's generally better to eat at breakfast and lunch. But not evening meal time, so there's plenty of time to be warm and digest.
Just hold an insect at his nose a bit, make sure he knows its there as much as you can but no need to try and pry his mouth yet. That would be more trouble than it's worth :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmcA9LIIXWw
 
Poor little guy. When they are young like that the lights can also bother their eyes. I'd turn the light off for now and get the tube style Reptisun 5.0 and raise it up a few inches off the cage.
 
Welcome to the forum!
It is great to see a new cham owner taking a serious interest in his cham's health.

Sinfulintent said:
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:

... I'm starting to dislike petsmart...
Click to expand...

The basking bulb is the regular 60 watt light bulb. The other bulb, Reptisun 5.0 is a special UVB bulb that allows the cham to be able to use the calcium he gets to build strong bones and keep him healthy.

If Petsmart was the only offender, there would be thousands more healthy chams.
People on the forum hear about the wrong care instructions being given to people all the time.
I know I was given some poor advice and my chams would not have survived, nevermind be healthy, if I hadn't accidentally found this forum a few years ago.
 
Sinfulintent said:
Wife took him to the vet today! They said it's just dehydration! Thank goodness was worried something was terribly wrong with him. They gave us some ointment for his eyes. Vet said no more dirt for a substrate, which luckily for us I just switched to zoo med carpet which is why we took him out in the first place! He's now soaking in a warm bath and looking happy.
30lcwev.jpg

Also we got him weighed and he weighs all of 8 oz!
Click to expand...

8oz is a lot for a baby. That makes him 225 gms and my adult panther weighs 205 gms. Do you mean 8 gms? I had to overlap the carpet so if you have done the same watch your feeders don't hide there. I have a hand held dyson and it just hoovers things up nicely.:)
 
Lol Kate it might have been 8 grams and my wife got it confused :rolleyes: after thinking about it 8 oz does seem like alot for something that small lol.

Update from yesterday, bought new lights bought this http://www.petco.com/product/14564/Zilla-Slimline-Desert-50-UVB-T8-Fluorescent-Fixture.aspx?CoreCat=LN_ReptileSupplies_Lighting Also bought a stand for the basking lamp so that now it sits a few inches off the cage, put in a 60W bulb for him as well. Vet also recomended reptivite for him that has D3 and VitA along with a bunch of stuff so we bought that. Also bought 2 live plants for him. I'm pretty sure I bought a Dracaena fragrans and Dracaena deremensis unfortunately they didn't have names for the plants but it was for "tropical lizards" and they do look quite similar to the pictures just..mine are tiny for now. I'll try to remember to grab pictures today when I get home in 9 hours -.- He was walking arounda bit more yesterday, opened his eyes a bit to look around but would only keep them open for a few minutes at a time which is alot better from 2 days ago when he wouldn't open them at all! No interest in the food but he was still all stressed out and was still striped black and all. I had to help him onto the spot he usually sleeps on under the leaves on his vine, once I put him there and turned off the light he went right to sleep.
 
Really glad you are seeing an improvement.:) I don't use reptivite but hopefully someone with more experience will help with how often as it does contain d3. Keep up the good work and keep posting.:)
 
Hes opening his eyes more and more but still not eating anything :/ not sure if i should force feed him or how to even go about it... Any suggestions?
 
I hate to bear bad news but the UVB bulb you bought is for desert animals and is too strong for your cham's eyes.
Chams have had problems with strong UVB bulbs.
Your bulb puts out 50 microwatts per square centimeter of UVB, whereas chameleons should have between 13 and 30 microwatts per square centimeter.
Here is the reference for that info
http://zoomed.com/Library/ProductDBFiles/Reptiles and UVB.pdf

It might not do harm if it is far enough away from the cham, but then you have to be sure it is close enough to be helpful, so why take chances?

A frequently used bulb for chams is this one:
http://www.pangeareptile.com/store/zoo-med-reptisun-5-0-uvb-flourescent-bulb.html
 
Actually i clicked the wrong link :/ its a 25 UVB light. So thats fine right. Didnt realize i selected the desert link one instead of "tropical"
 
Sinfulintent said:
Hes opening his eyes more and more but still not eating anything :/ not sure if i should force feed him or how to even go about it... Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Don't think about force feeding yet. If he looks like he is improving leave him to it. Keep offering him tasty exciting food.....he should take it eventually. Have you tried fruit flies? :D
 
Havent tried fruit flies yet... Not even sure where id get those.. Ive been trying crickets, meal worms, calciworms, and apples, all were a no go. I think he just doesnt see anything so cant eat it.
 
Sinfulintent said:
I think he just doesnt see anything so cant eat it.
Click to expand...

There's your main problem still :). We are getting ahead of ourselves a bit......there's loads of info on this thread now, and as always some of it is worded quite poorly........
Anyway, he is improving, this is good. When he can see he is much more likely to eat. Chams that can't see don't survive very well in general. We all hope you acted in time to save Karma :)
 
Yes that is the light a got david, sorry for the confusion there, as soo as i read that i hoped up and looked at the light lol.yea he is getting better, keeps try to walk around but unfortunately he cant see sooo i fear for him falling iff if vines, hammok..... Top screen.....
 
You might ask the vet his opinion on giving Karma a 50/50 mix of Pedialyte and water or 50% Gatorade/water , just to give him a little boost.
Maybe with the added calories, etc. would give him a little push in the right direction.
It wouldn't need to be force-fed to him, just dripped onto the tip of his nose.
Can't hurt to ask.
 
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