Eyes closed?

[hallenhe]

This morning, Thaxter got up and began to climb about without opening his eyes. The eyes were bulging in a healthy fashion (i.e. not sunken), and they were swiveling about, but not open. He climbed along his chain a bit, stopping when he encountered an obstacle (the ceiling). I coaxed him onto my hand (he evinced no alarm at being picked up blind) and took him to his Chameleon Condo where he could be spritzed. I also took him to the kitchen sink and (gently) ran lukewarm water from the spray nozzle on him. Took him back to the Condo, continued spritzing. About five minutes after I had picked him up and began watering him, he opened the right eye, and the left one a minute or two later; he was behaving normally when I left. There was no visible secretion or exudate on his eyes, and, while they were closed, he was not squinching them about as they do sometimes to clean them. He seemed perfectly normal except that he was walking with his eyes closed. Any suggestions?

* Cage Type - Free range in living room, with four bendy vines, three pothos, a Schefflera and a Chameleon Condo
* Lighting - Reptisun 5.0 linear. On 7 am, off 7 pm.
* Temperature - Warmest is ~ 85, coolest room temperature (64 midday, 68 morning and evening, 60 o/n).
* Humidity - Ambient/normal household (I only have a cheap plastic humidity gauge; know I need to get better). Reads ~40% midroom. Condo has drip system running throughout the day, and will be higher humidity.
* Plants - Pothos, schefflera.
* Location - whole room. Top perches are 6 feet and 8 feet off the floor. Heat vents are in the room and can blow on the cham, but only if he sits in a particular place. At most two people in the room, and we're not particularly active.


Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Male Ambilobe panther, will be 4 in June. Has been in my care 3.5 years.
* Handling - He is picked up/allowed to climb onto my hands daily to be carried to his Condo and watered.
* Feeding - Extra large crickets are always available in a cup, and are switched out daily. One superworm as a treat two or three times a week; hornworms and waxworms are other periodic treats. He will eat two to five crickets at a time. Gut load is primarily Cricket Total Bites, supplemented with fruits and veggies we have around (carrots, grapes, berries)
* Supplements - MinerAll-0 every third day; alternate Rep-Cal calcium with D3 and Rep-Cal Herptivite on weekends
* Watering - Drip system runs on Chameleon Condo. Mist 5-10 minutes each morning with warm water. He is observed to drink, on a near-daily basis
* Fecal Description - Fecal and urates appear normal.

 

[desultadox]

I'm sure it'll be no time at all before Jim posts with more information on this, but there is no preformed vitamin A in your supplementation schedule. The first signs of a vitamin A deficiency tend to be eye-related (I'm talking from first-hand experience, too). If you could get some right away (you can find it at a GNC or nutrition store... sometimes at a regular grocery store) you might try dosing him with that, but it may be time to see a vet. Vitamin A is dangerous as both too little and too much though, so it should be used cautiously. FYI Reptivite is a multivitamin supplement that has preformed Vitamin A.

it should also be noted that this isn't necessarily Vitamin A-related at all. But even if it's not, based off your supplementation, it one day could be.

 

[hallenhe]

Well, yesterday afternoon and this morning he was perfectly normal. It sounds stupid, but it's almost as if he got up yesterday and just forgot to open his eyes.
My primary pet store doesn't have Reptivite, but they pointed out to me that Cricket Dust (don't remember the company; brown and white box with a picture of a veiled on it) does have preformed vitamin A, and I do have Cricket Dust, so will start giving him a wee bit of that now and again. I came in to the hobby when the idea was that chameleons could not handle vitamin A, and that beta-carotene was the only way to go, but do remember seeing a discussion on this a while back.
Any recommendations on frequency of vitamin A? Once a month? More? Less?
Much thanks.