Eyes closing during the day PLEASE HELP AND TELL ME WHAT TO DO

[Ruethechameleon]

So my chameleon started closing his eyes for a short period of time then opening them back up today and I’m literally so scared because I’ve read that he could be dying or something?!?! What!? Ok so I cleaned his cage out today and he’s not to comfortable with coming out of his cage but I needed to clean it up a little so I left him in there and I feel like that might be the reason why he’s doing that now because he’s now over stressed and now i feel awful cause I don’t wanna stress out my baby. Temperature and humidity are good and I’m pretty sure he wasn’t doing this yesterday or the day before yesterday it just started today. Can someone tell me how I should go about this because google said to take him to the vet but I feel like that will stress him out so much more and I just don’t know.
I took this picture of him doing it even though it’s kinda hard to see and it was taken around 6:15pm and he goes to bed at 8:00 he was also on his basking branch as well

 

[kinyonga]

Can you post a couple more photos of all of him and his eyes please.

 

[Kamikaze Chameleon]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------

Please Note:
The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
Photos can be very helpful

 

[Ruethechameleon]

Can you post a couple more photos of all of him and his eyes please.

Ok I was able to get a video of him closing his eye but I can’t upload videos here so I screen shotted each part in the video the sequence in which he closed his eye and it seems like he’s closing just one eye for some reason not both of them. Now I’m not sure if he has an eye problem cause I’ve also seen him “itch” the eye he closed on his branches too. And the time frame he kept it closed was about 18 seconds

 

[Beman]

When you say cleaned his cage... What did you do exactly? No cleaning products correct?

 

[Kamikaze Chameleon]

Can you fill out the husbandry form, we can get a better idea of your setup, chams are constantly blinking to clean out their eyes but if its closed for a long period of time there could other issues.

 

[Ruethechameleon]

When you say cleaned his cage... What did you do exactly? No cleaning products correct?

I took out one of the plants and wiped the leaves clean with water in a paper towel cause there was some poop I had missed and it smelled funny. I cleaned the bottom of the cage with water on a paper towel with just one small spray of cleaner on it so i made sure it was heavily diluted.

 

[Beman]

I took out one of the plants and wiped the leaves clean with water in a paper towel cause there was some poop I had missed and it smelled funny. I cleaned the bottom of the cage with water on a paper towel with just one small spray of cleaner on it so i made sure it was heavily diluted.

What was in the cleaner?

 

[Ruethechameleon]

Can you fill out the husbandry form, we can get a better idea of your setup, chams are constantly blinking to clean out their eyes but if its closed for a long period of time there could other issues.

Ok sure I’ll do that now

 

[Ruethechameleon]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------

Please Note:
The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
Photos can be very helpful

I have a male panther chameleon and he is 6 months old. I’ve had him for almost a month I got him on November 29. I do not handle him or try to because he’s already pretty sweet so I feel if I ever needed to take him out for an emergency I would be able too with no problem. He just probably won’t do it willingly. I feed him crickets, super worms, black soldier fly larvae, silk worms, hornworms, wax worms, and super worms and I give him a total of 8-16 bugs depending on size. I feed him around 10am and I gut load by giving my bugs carrots, collards, and escarole. I alternate between calcium without d3 and the repashy calcium plus. I use a dripper and I mist about 2 times a day and I don’t really see him drink. The urate is a creamish color and the poop part has been slightly runny but I have gotten him tested for parasites when his poop got kinda runny and he doesn’t have any. Screen cage, 4ft tall 2ft deep. For lighting I have a 75 watt basking bulb and a t5 liner uvb light. The basking temperature is about 82° and the bottom of the cage is about 71°. The lowest team over night is 68° and I measure these with a temperature gun and a dial that measures temp and humidity in the cage. The humidity is usually around 60%-70% because I got a humidifier outside his cage to keep the humidity up. I use a dial that measures humidity. I have a pony tail plant, a ficus benjimina, and a pothos plant. My cage is in my room but I have a white shower curtain on 3 sides of the cage so when I’m in my room doing school he won’t see me. And it’s not near fans or vents. And the cage in on a table that’s about 2-3 feet off the floor so the top of the cage is about 7ft high. And I’m located on the upper East cost in the US.

 

[Ruethechameleon]

What was in the cleaner?

the brand is fantastik it’s an anti bacteria cleaner

 

[Kamikaze Chameleon]

the brand is fantastik it’s an anti bacteria cleaner

Oh man that's harsh! ya that could be your issue, i would stick with something gentler like watered down blue dawn and rinse well. There maybe traces of chemicals that's causing the irritation to his eye. Also i notice your humidity is high usually want it around 50. High humidity+High heat during the day can cause RI

 

[Shanar808]

Someone who knows more about your chameleon will reply soon but by reading your form I think you might need to change your supplement schedule, the suggestions I read usually say multivitamin(Repashy calcium plus) is one day every other week alternating with Calcium with d3 one day every other week and calcium without d3 for all the other feedings. Humidity high at night (75-100) and low during the day. Also post lots of pics of your enclosure especially the top because the distance to the uvb might also be a cause.

 

[Ruethechameleon]

Someone who knows more about your chameleon will reply soon but by reading your form I think you might need to change your supplement schedule, the suggestions I read usually say multivitamin(Repashy calcium plus) is one day every other week alternating with Calcium with d3 one day every other week and calcium without d3 for all the other feedings. Humidity high at night (75-100) and low during the day. Also post lots of pics of your enclosure especially the top because the distance to the uvb might also be a cause.

Ok that makes sense, the breeder I got my chameleon from uses. I have just started the new schedule yesterday with alternating between calcium without d3 and the calcium plus. the humidity at night is usually around 60-70 maybe 80 at the highest. I’ll reply to this with a picture of his enclosure tomorrow because I turned his lights out and see what you think.

 

[MissSkittles]

Can you post a pic from the side please?

 

[Ruethechameleon]

Oh man that's harsh! ya that could be your issue, i would stick with something gentler like watered down blue dawn and rinse well. There maybe traces of chemicals that's causing the irritation to his eye. Also i notice your humidity is high usually want it around 50. High humidity+High heat during the day can cause RI

Yeah It is a little harsh, I’ll make sure to use the watered down dawn next time. I think he’s actually closing one eye and I’ve noticed him “itch” it on his branch before. He doesn’t itch the other eye just the one on his right which is the one he closed. And this is the first time since I got him that I disinfected the bottom of his cage beside whipping his poop up as soon as possible. And I heard that their humidity should be around 60-80% cause they are a jungle species idk

 

[Ruethechameleon]

Can you post a pic from the side please?

This is the best picture I was able to get today, I’ll try to get one tomorrow from the side when he wakes up cause he’s asleep right now

 

[Shanar808]

If it is the disinfectant I think it best to keep him well hydrated (like 100% night humidity; 3-4min misting at lights out, midnight, and before lights on; and day dripper) so he can naturally flush it out. If it’s really bad maybe a gentle rain shower for 30min. @Gingero has a great YouTube video on hydration that shows how to water in the shower, or if you’re gonna just hand mist for a while I would turn off the heat lamp during the misting.

 

[MissSkittles]

Usually eye problems can be caused by vitamin A problems or foreign body in the eye. Has he shed lately? How often are you giving the Calcium Plus? I’m not sure if it has preformed vitamin A in it or not and I believe it should be used only once every other week. I may be wrong on that though... @Beman can tell you better about that than I.
I asked for a side pic as your guy looks to be a bit overweight...his casque looks all puffed up/out. You are feeding him quite a lot. He looks to be an adult so should be getting only 3-4 feeders every other day.

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."I have just started the new schedule yesterday with alternating between calcium without d3 and the calcium plus"... What was your schedule before this?