eye iritation?

[phase]

hi.. got my 2 month old veiled 2 days ago.. since i first put him in the enclosure he has been bothered be his left eye.. he rubs it against branches and has it open only when he is hunting.
i would like to know what could be iritating him and how i can fix him.. i feel so bad watching him itch his eye against branches! he is so small and fragile!

he is also taking little daytime naps.(im shure this is normal)

enclosure- using half of an 18x18x36 half glass half mesh enclosure.. 1 planted ficus bonsai and 1 planted schefflera arboricola.. misting 3-4times a day.. dripper drips every 5 seconds. lots of twigs,branches. basking spot 79-82 and humidity stays aat 60-65%.

he has eaten 12 1/8th crix dusted with calcium yesterday and has eaten 11 1/8th crix + 1 small waxworm today.. i have not seen him drink but he is not dehydrated.

i would like to help him as i hate seeing the poor animal so bothered by the eye!

 

[ataraxia]

how long are you misting for? most young ones hate and i mean HATE being misted. i would personally get a mister that has the finest mist you can get. usually the pressurized hand pump misters you buy at any hardware store usually have a pretty good nozzle on it. i would fill it full warm/semi hot water and mist above him so that the fine mist is falling on him.

i would suspect he has debri in the eye.

 

[phase]

i have done this as the breeder recomended doing this after talking with him about this problem. i got the homedepot pressurized sprayer and misted for 5min with warm watter as i was told.

normally i mist for about a minute so the water can collect on the leaves.

 

[ataraxia]

it may take a few sessions but keep at it.

 

[phase]

ok and this should help get whatever might be in his eye, out?

 

[ataraxia]

thats the plan

 

[kinyonga]

What brand and type (compact, spiral, long linear tube, etc.) UVB light are you using?

 

[Monzon]

You might try a long rain event. Put him in the shower all day, or even overnight. This is a different hydration experience than a 5 minute misting and will allow your animal to flush his eyes from the inside as well as the outside.

 

[ataraxia]

its a great idea but personally i would not leave a young chameleon in a shower all night. the water running to the drain can be high at points and anything can happen.

 

[phase]

What brand and type (compact, spiral, long linear tube, etc.) UVB light are you using?

reptisun 5.0 uvb tube

 

[phase]

You might try a long rain event. Put him in the shower all day, or even overnight. This is a different hydration experience than a 5 minute misting and will allow your animal to flush his eyes from the inside as well as the outside.

he is so tiny! i have been misting him and he seems to not be rubbing it as often anymore. still uses his right eye more.

 

[britim]

I had same situation, took to vet for that and other problum. vet said I was not maintaining high enough humidity. fell to low for to long of period. said he had dry eye balls. wanted to give me a medicated eye solution but mentioned that I could just buy a salean solution, that you can get at any pharmacy and a eye dropper. so I did that and it worked. no more puffyness no more rubbing on vine. just a couple of drops when ever they look puffy and dry and he is good. still a on going struggle for me to maintain humidity. hope this helps.

 

[phase]

my humidity is fairly easy to maintain. with proper misting like 3-4 times a day, 2 live plants and the dripper running all day, the humidity stays at 65%. i gave him a good warm 15min mist yesterday and he seems to be doing fine now. his eye has been open and no more rubbing.

 

[armyrec1]

That's great. Hopefully the problem has been solved.

 

[phase]

thanks.. yeah he seems to be doing great!

 

[Monzon]

Most chameleons have evolved to live more or less fully exposed to the elements. They have adaptations and strategies to deal with things like heavy rainfall, wind, etc. My animals demonstrate many interesting reactions to rain events, but only after 5 to 10 minutes. I often let my misters run for hours. My personal feeling is that under 5 minutes is more about bumping humidity (which is also important). To deeply hydrate your animal, juvenile or adult, and to give them the "shower" time to clean their eyes out and whatever else they do while popping and rubbing and rinsing, they need a good long rain event.

 

[jojobeans123]

Hey guys, just out of interest, if putting the cham in the shower is the chlorine in the water not a potential issue for the cham? My little dude is pretty dehydrated. I'm trying him on Avipro to see if this helps but as a last resort i may try the shower thing. He's not in a good way and hasn't been since i picked him up from the pet shop. He also doesn't open his eyes through the daty much which aint good as he should be alert and awake all day. My issue, i think is that i have used compacts rather than linear UV's - i'm sorting this out 2mo.

Yeah, so would the chlorine in the water be a potential issue for him??

Cheers,
Jo

 

[Monzon]

If your animal is badly dehydrated, then I would not worry about tap water or chlorine. Get him into a misting or raining shower situation with 100% percent humidity. Offer him feeder insects that are fat with wet gutload. Try to keep the temps high 70's - low 80's. He will need a few days of this with an occasional dry out "break in the weather." Badly dehydrated animals do not always recover, so he needs some intensive care NOW if he is going to have a chance.

If he is eating, then you can be ready with a medicine dropper full of water or pedialyte. When he catches and starts chewing his prey, you can drip 1 or 2 drops at a time (do not overdo it you can drown your animal) onto/into the sides of his mouth.