Eye problem and Sleeping to much!

[Smeagol]

Cage Info:

* Cage Type - Describe your cage: All screen 29" X 48"
* Lighting - 2 Reptiglo 5.0 (see pic) 12 hrs on 12 hrs off
* Temperature - basking btwn 89-92, ambient 78-85. Digital thermo @ basking, and regular thermo toward bottom of cage.
* Humidity - 50-60% use a dripper and automatic mister, on for 2 minutes every 3 hours or so. 70-80% after mister goes on.
* Plants - 2 live pothos
* Placement - in the office, low traffic, cage sits on 4 foot table.
* Location - Long Island, NY


Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Male Panther, had him 5 months, is now approx. 10 months
* Handling - very rarley, just to take him to the vets, or occasional basking (he seems to get scared when he comes out)
* Feeding - He eats crickets only, I tried all worms, but he won't touch them. I gutload my crickets with cricket crack, greens & potatoes, and alternate carrots, apples, oranges, yams,
* Supplements - use zoo med reptical without d3 5X a week (2 days w/out anything) Repitivite 2x/month, and herptivite 1x/month.
* Watering - use a dripper and a mister, see him drink occasionally.
* Fecal Description - fecal looks good, white/brown. Has never been tested for parisites
* History - within the first week or two I got him, I noticed his left eye closed often. Once it did not go away (about 3 weeks that i got him) I have been bringing him to the vet every 2-3 weeks. We have been trying different eye drops every time I go back. We have tried Ciprofloxacin, Vetrachloracin, Gentamicin, and now on Flurbiprofen.
* Current Problem - The current problem is basically the same but this past month I have noticed he has been sleeping more. He has always went to bed early about 4pm. About 1 month ago he didn't wake up until about 1pm, (he stay up until about 9pm that evening). I mentioned it to my vet and all that he said was hmmm that is strange? Now he started this same routine at least once a week(sleeping until 1pm). Yesterday he was up at 7am, but by 11am he was sleeping, maybe woke up for an hour, and went back to sleep. Today he woke up at 11am, had a few crickets and now he is back to sleep (currently 2pm).
I'm not sure my vet knows more than some of you here, which is why I'm asking for help. The vet that I see now was recommended by a forum member, and honestly think he is the better vet here on the Island. I was using a different vet for my other Cham, but felt she was not knowledgeable enough. Thanks in advanced.

 

[Surfrat]

Cage Info:

* Lighting - 2 Reptiglo 5.0 (see pic) 12 hrs on 12 hrs off

* Feeding - He eats crickets only, I tried all worms, but he won't touch them. I gutload my crickets with cricket crack, greens & potatoes, and alternate carrots, apples, oranges, yams,

I want to start by making two comments.

1. Reptiglo 5.0's are not sufficient for a chameleon that is kept indoors without natural sunlight. You need Reptisun 5.0. The lack of uvb combined with the amount of calcium he is receiving could mean that he is not processing that calcium and he is beginning to have issues. In addition, you are not using reflector hoods, so you are losing 50% of your lights benefit because it is beaming up into the ceiling and not into the cage.

2. Gutload looks good, but leave out the potatoes (no value in these).

As far as the sleeping goes, how do you know he sleeping? It could be that he is having issues with both eyes and they are both closed. This would significantly impair his mobility for a good portion of the day.

The eye could be scratched, it could have an infection, or it could be a symptom of the lack of uvb and therefore lack of calcium absorption.

Teramycin is a drop that may have a positive effect on the eye/eyes if it is a scrape or infection.

Can you post a photo of the cham?

 

[Smeagol]

I want to start by making two comments.

1. Reptiglo 5.0's are not sufficient for a chameleon that is kept indoors without natural sunlight. You need Reptisun 5.0. The lack of uvb combined with the amount of calcium he is receiving could mean that he is not processing that calcium and he is beginning to have issues. In addition, you are not using reflector hoods, so you are losing 50% of your lights benefit because it is beaming up into the ceiling and not into the cage.

2. Gutload looks good, but leave out the potatoes (no value in these).

As far as the sleeping goes, how do you know he sleeping? It could be that he is having issues with both eyes and they are both closed. This would significantly impair his mobility for a good portion of the day.

The eye could be scratched, it could have an infection, or it could be a symptom of the lack of uvb and therefore lack of calcium absorption.

Teramycin is a drop that may have a positive effect on the eye/eyes if it is a scrape or infection.

Can you post a photo of the cham?

Thanks for the reply. as for the lighting, I have been concerned that there was no hood reflector on these lights, but thought since there are 2 5.0 bulbs it would be sufficiant. should I put a reflector above both? the fixture wouldn't work with one of the bulbs out, which is another reason I didn't need to change the reptiglo to reptisun. I will order the other bulbs and put some sort of reflector ontop.

The vet has checked both eyes. the one that is usually closed often, has a scratch on it, which the scratch has gotten a little smaller, but should it take this long to heal? The other one was fine. When he is up the "good" eye is round like it should be, while the "bad" eye is sunken most of the time. When he is sleeping, he is a nice red color, when he is awake, he's green. So this is why i'm assuming he is asleep.

Once he wakes up I will post a more recent photo of him.

Anyone else have any comment/ concern?

 

[jannb]

The Reptisun 5.0 is the only UVB to use for chameleons. I would recommend you start a new thread to ask for a experienced chameleon vet in your area and see if a member here can give you a GOOD refference. After all this time you need another opinion.

 

[Surfrat]

Thanks for the reply. as for the lighting, I have been concerned that there was no hood reflector on these lights, but thought since there are 2 5.0 bulbs it would be sufficiant. should I put a reflector above both? the fixture wouldn't work with one of the bulbs out, which is another reason I didn't need to change the reptiglo to reptisun. I will order the other bulbs and put some sort of reflector ontop.

The vet has checked both eyes. the one that is usually closed often, has a scratch on it, which the scratch has gotten a little smaller, but should it take this long to heal? The other one was fine. When he is up the "good" eye is round like it should be, while the "bad" eye is sunken most of the time. When he is sleeping, he is a nice red color, when he is awake, he's green. So this is why i'm assuming he is asleep.

Once he wakes up I will post a more recent photo of him.

Anyone else have any comment/ concern?

I am dealing with a male panther who has a small scratch on his eye right now. I am not sure how long it takes to heal, but I would guess a couple weeks. I was told by someone else that when his panther had a scratched eye he was told to give 20 minute warm showers every other day, and Teramycin drops once a day.

Yes switch out the bulb and use a reflector and you will be good to go there.

 

[Smeagol]

I am dealing with a male panther who has a small scratch on his eye right now. I am not sure how long it takes to heal, but I would guess a couple weeks. I was told by someone else that when his panther had a scratched eye he was told to give 20 minute warm showers every other day, and Teramycin drops once a day.

Yes switch out the bulb and use a reflector and you will be good to go there.

thanks again for the reply's. I have posted a new thread for a different vet.
The scratch as been there since April, which is why this is so frustrating! But even worst he's sleeping ALL day today, which is why i'm overly concerned.

I will try the showering again with the current drops im using, which is the Flurbiprofen. I tryed the showering with the other drops, but nothing
Do you have to get the Teramycin from a vet?

Thanks

 

[jannb]

I know we have some NY members here. Hopefully they will see your new thread and be able to refer you to an experienced chameleon vet. Keep us updated.

 

[TylerMcCoy]

my panther recently had an eye problem because of his compact light, two days after switching to the repti-sun his eye was completely back to normal. GET THE REPTI-SUN!

 

[Smeagol]

my panther recently had an eye problem because of his compact light, two days after switching to the repti-sun his eye was completely back to normal. GET THE REPTI-SUN!

he was under the repti sun when it started, just about month or so ago he has been under these. But the reptisun has been ordered regardless.

 

[Smeagol]

here are some pics of his eye. you can tell that the bad eye is sunken, but the good eye is fine.

 

[jheitz]

Here is a link for reptile vets state wide. As for the eye, warm showers everyday for 20-30 minutes. You can also do warm compresses to his affected eye by soaking some cotton balls in warm, not HOT, saline solution, and holding them to the affected eye three times a day for 5 minutes at a time. He will most likely need antibiotics for the eye. Corneal abrasions, scratches, and foreign bodies quickly lead to infection in both humans and animals. Warm compresses with insight a rush of white blood cells to the area to start the healing process, but will not be enough to pull him through to full recovery. One he starts to open the eye, you can gently flush it with normal saline to see if there is a foreign body there, and hopefully remove it. The flushing will also provide a little pain relief, just as if you put aloe on a sunburn.
As far as the two lights, you only need 1 with a hood. Best of luck to both of you.

http://www.herpvetconnection.com/

Jason