Eye Problems?

[Amy J]

I just got my first chameleon yesterday -- a six-month-old female veiled. She seemed healthy, friendly and active at the petstore we purchased her from. We were even able to talk to a worker who had raised her from birth, who seemed to have a pretty decent knowledge about chameleons. We picked her out on Wednesday, when she crawled all over me and I fell in love. We noticed her eyelids seemed to be sealed shut, but the worker said that it was because she was shedding. We reserved her until we could finish building her cage. Yesterday, before we picked her up, the petstore's vet had declared the chameleon healthy despite the fact that her eyes were still sealed shut, and she was still shedding. She still looks like this. If this is just a part of shedding, is it normal for a chameleon to take this long to shed? I found an excerpt from "The Chameleon's Dish" that says:

"Chameleons that are in the peak of health and kept in a proper environment should be able to shed with ease, usually in one day. If the environment and health of the animal are not ideal, slow (often dry and retained) shedding may occur. If an animal is having trouble shedding, consider the reasons for complications such as environment and care."

 

[Chill]

Thats not shedding... I think she might have a deformation of some sort. It could be an eye issue that needs medical attention. But if shes been like this for awhile and is in healty condition you may not have to. Is she still eating and drinking fine?

 

[Amy J]

The petstore might not have kept the humidity high enough. I could not see a hydrometer, but it seemed that they only watered the chams with a pool with air bubbles. Could lack of humidity have caused this to happen? I've been misting her eyes often, as this is what the petstore employee suggested, but now luck. The lights seemed okay at the store, so I don't think she was blinded from that. Is this normal?

 

[Amy J]

Yes she's just started going after the crickets in the cage, and she seems to lick the water off her face when I mist her. I don't think she's been like this long though, so I'm not sure how it could be a deformation. I think the employee who raised her would have noticed at some point. It does appear that she is actually shedding as well though even if it doesn't have anything to do with the eyes.

 

[Chill]

Yah if i were you, I would consider taking her to the vet, or calling and consulting a vet. No this isnt normal either, when they shed they get real pale and look silvery then they shed and thats that.

 

[CrazyChameleon5]

Aww poor baby Well i am no expert but it looks like (from the pic) that the eye ball is no longer there looks like it shrivled up. could it have been an injury or infection that they didn't catch? she does look nice though so hopefully it won't be anything serious. are you gonna take it to the vet?

 

[CleanLineChameleons]

Some lights that may look normal to us can cause severe problems with chameleons eyes. The lack of humidity in the pet store probably didn't help and allowed her eye to get infected. This is definitely not caused from shedding. I would first go to the vet, but if I couldn't do that then I would give her a good shower, about 15-30 minutes a day as well as give her terramycin drops twice a day.

-chris

 

[Amy J]

Yeah, we were referred to a vet by the petstore. We might call in a couple of days, after it's gotten accustomed to its new environment, just to make sure there are no other problems besides this. She seems quite healthy despite everything.

 

[Amy J]

If you think it's a current infection, we're going to call the petstore now, and then the vet.

 

[Amy J]

We talked to the petstore employee. The one other chameleon in the cage had the same problem. It's eyes have opened after rubbing them with q-tips dipped in warm water. I tried the same thing on mine and have been misting her often, but it doesn't seem to have an effect. I'm not sure if she's been able to catch any food yet, but she appears well-fed at the moment. We'll watch her over the next few days, and if they still do not open, we'll take her to a vet.

 

[CleanLineChameleons]

You should definitely get terramycin from a local feed store...also tell the pet store employee, if it is like a petsmart they normally have vet within it. Terramycin is pretty common, just give her a drop in each eye twice a day. Try to gently open her eyes and put the drops in.

-chris

 

[Amy J]

We talked to the petstore employee. We plan to talk to their vet in a few days if things don't clear up. We'll look for the terramycin. Thanks for the tip.

 

[kinyonga]

I would take her to a vet. Since the eyes will only open with the use of a q-tip its likely an infection. I would also talk to the pet store about paying for the bill because they shouldn't have sold you a chameleon that they knew there was a problem with.

If you do end up keeping her don't forget to provide her with a place to dig in her cage to let you know when/if she is carrying eggs.

 

[Amy J]

We are chosing to try to self-treat her with the terramyacin or other eyedrops first. The other chameleon's infection sounds like it has cleared up. It doesn't seem to be anything life-threatening, so we are not taking her back and are willing to wait. Really, we've found this petstore's quality of care to surpass any others we have seen. She is actually quite friendly and healthy besides all this, so we are just going to wait a few days to see how she's doing before taking her to the vet or returning her to the petstore. One of her eyes seems to be starting to open slightly.

 

[BIGGUN]

The one thing you don't want to do is WAIT!
It could just be an eye infection but it may not be. Alot of chams close their eyes when unhealthy......it could be anything from parasites to URI. No matter what it is it needs treated. She needs a vet visit to determine.

I'd definately put her in a warm to touch shower for 15-20 mins that does wonders for eye problems. And if you have the terramycin you can use that for now. Don't wait for it to just get better by itself though.

I also wouldn't trust the pet store TOO much after all they were housing a cham with a bubbling water dish to drink out of, which is a no-no. The dish is a breeding ground for trouble as the chams often use them for bathrooms.

Do you know what kind of light the shop uses for UVB? Is it a linear tube or a spiral UVB light. I think this is over pursued in most health threads but being as this is an eye issue that is present in both chams they had it could be an issue.

Good luck,
Kevin

 

[Amy J]

The problem is, it can be difficult to see a vet on the weekend. We're taking her on Monday. She is not closing her eyes, they are sealed shut. We gave her a shower and she seemed to like that. We looked around for terramyacin today. No luck. But if we can't find it tomorrow, we'll just get something similar.

I know that I personally would not trust using a bubbling water dish, but they kept it clean. I'm not saying they were perfect, they are just better than any of the other petstores in my area, which is sad. That's why I am not taking her back. Despite the eye infection, she seemed to be pretty well cared for. At least this one knew that they need to be able to see their water to drink it. Many others just leave standing water on the bottom.

The store used a 5.0 linear florescent UVB light. They were actually very helpful in this department. I noticed some dried up pus on one eye, which makes me quite certain that it is some sort of infection. These might be contagious, perhaps explaining why both chameleons had it.

 

[BIGGUN]

Amy,

What area are you from? Try a large feed store or farm supply store for the terramycin. I found mine at Tractor Supply. Be careful when trying other meds definately llok around the threads and research anything that you can find to make sure it won't hurt more than help.......don't assume that medicated eye drops will help.

I'm glad to hear they were under linear bulbs that should at least eliminate one possible cause.

After the shower did her eyes remain open for a while?

Good luck,
Kevin

 

[BIGGUN]

Oh, My terramycin came as a gel, not a liquid, in a 1/8 oz. tube made by Pfizer.

Kevin

 

[Amy J]

I live in Pennsylvania, right on the outskirts of Philadelphia. I don't know what you mean by a feed store or farm supply store. We don't have any of those in my area. It appears that most petstores around here don't sell them, but some have them in their vetinary clinics built into the store. We would like to have her seen by the vet that has always looked at her so that he knows her medical history. If he's no good, we'll try somewhere else. We managed to find a petstore worker that knew about terramyacin from working on a farm. We asked him about a turtle eye drop solution, and he said that it should be fine to use on the chameleon. I think that is what we will buy tomorrow. I wrote down the ingredients that I can post here.

Repti Turtle Eye Drops (Zoo Med):

water (isotonic saline solution)
solubizing hyrotope
Vitamin A
palmlite in an oil base
cyanocobalamin (vitamin B12)

We also looked at another product as well that seems to use natural ingredients.

Repti Wound-Healing Aid (Zoo Med):

jojoba oil
quinolinol
ti (tea) tree oil

Unfortunately her eyes have not opened after the shower.

 

[BIGGUN]

Here's a TSC in NJ about 25 miles out of Philly.

1869 ROUTE 38 - SOUTHAMPTON NJ 08088
(609) 702-9953

Here's another located in Pottstown, PA in case it's closer.

799 STATE ST - POTTSTOWN PA 19464
(610) 327-4465

I'd call first to make sure they have it in stock.

Here's the info on it from the website.

SKU Number: 2209032

Dog Antibiotic Ointment; 1/8 Oz Size; Terramycin Opthalmic, Pfizer Animal Health Type; Use in Dogs Providing Dual Antibiotic Activity of Oxytetracycline and Polymyxin B