Hey all,
So I've now had Clark for roughly 2 weeks from LanceCham and he's starting to color up so fast!! Since I got him I noticed that he regularly blinks his right eye; when I say blink I mean that he closes it and also "pulls it in" (into the socket) for a second. He does this relatively often but only in his right eye. I'm guessing the blink is because he feels like he has something in his eye (the gunk, see below) and he's trying to get it out. He is my first chameleon and I have not seen him do the "pulling into the socket" thing when blinking in his left eye (he will blink his left eye like normal, but i have not seen him "pull it in", it merely opens and closes) so I just wanted to make sure that it was a normal way of blinking for them.
About a week ago, I witnessed him rub his right eye on the end of a stick as if he was poking himself with the end of the stick almost. He did this for a few seconds and seemingly hard so I got worried and brought my hand near him which made him stop. I have not seen him do it again except that one time.
Last night, while he was sleeping, I was looking at him and it looked as if his right eye was open while he was fast asleep (AND BOY IS HE A SOUND SLEEPER!!) Upon closer examination, it turns out that his eyes were both closed, but there was a small eyeball sized amount of gunk on the midfront of his right eye (which created the illusion of his eye being open).
This morning I checked on him again and the gunk was certainly noticeable on his right eye. I observed him a few hours and he was constantly sitting with his right eye closed. I then took a Q-tip and *VERY* gently rubbed it along his eye (I was so worried about the pressure that the Q-tip barely even touched him). I also used it to easily remove 2 pieces of skin leftover from his last shed from before I got him. I was unable to remove the gunk from his eye but I managed to "roll" it forward enough that it is now no longer directly on his eye but rather JUST to the side of it. His right eye is open again but he is still blinking occasionally. Usually when he blinks he'll do it multiple times in succession (like 3-5 times) and then not do it again for awhile.
EDIT: The gunk looks very similar to the stuff that forms in the corner of our eyes when we sleep.
Onto the generic:
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - 3.5months; from LanceCham; PC; I've had him for about 2 weeks.
Handling - Once or twice a day, I try to handfeed him. He takes one or two sometimes.
Feeding - Primarily crickets (switching to roaches soon as they arrive ;D). 1/4" crickets: 10 in his cup in the morning at 9am and about 5 in his cup in the afternoon around 4pm.
Supplements - Calcium powder daily; +d3 / multivitamin alternating on sundays. RepCal.
Watering - Little Dripper always dripping slowly. I handmist garden mister at least 2times a day sometimes a little more. I have never seen him drink anything and he runs away when I mist (see the issue for description)
Fecal Description - Looks good; solid brown chunk with white piece. Once a day.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - Currently in an 18"x24"x18" enclosure. Screen top, plastic opaque sides (I use a fan to vent it). I remove the screen when I am home and connect it to a ficus via fake vines.
Lighting - 24W 18" Reptisun 5.0; 75W basking bulb daylight
Temperature - Basking Spot 85F; Cooler Spots 70F // Nightime temps are always around 70F at the COLDEST 65F. Digital Thermometer both mounted in tub and point and shoot style.
Humidity - Digital. Pretty consistently at 50%.
Plants - Hibiscus inside. Free range him on a larger ficus.
Placement - Computer desk; very low traffic area. Tub is located ~4feet off the floor total but since the sides are solid you can't see out of it. In that sense, the maximum height in relation to the floor is 18". The ficus is setup 1foot higher and is taller, so when he climbs over to that he is ~6' off the ground.
Location - Southern California
Sorry no pics, my cameraphone can't get a worthy pic and the gf took our camera on a trip for the weekend :\
So I've now had Clark for roughly 2 weeks from LanceCham and he's starting to color up so fast!! Since I got him I noticed that he regularly blinks his right eye; when I say blink I mean that he closes it and also "pulls it in" (into the socket) for a second. He does this relatively often but only in his right eye. I'm guessing the blink is because he feels like he has something in his eye (the gunk, see below) and he's trying to get it out. He is my first chameleon and I have not seen him do the "pulling into the socket" thing when blinking in his left eye (he will blink his left eye like normal, but i have not seen him "pull it in", it merely opens and closes) so I just wanted to make sure that it was a normal way of blinking for them.
About a week ago, I witnessed him rub his right eye on the end of a stick as if he was poking himself with the end of the stick almost. He did this for a few seconds and seemingly hard so I got worried and brought my hand near him which made him stop. I have not seen him do it again except that one time.
Last night, while he was sleeping, I was looking at him and it looked as if his right eye was open while he was fast asleep (AND BOY IS HE A SOUND SLEEPER!!) Upon closer examination, it turns out that his eyes were both closed, but there was a small eyeball sized amount of gunk on the midfront of his right eye (which created the illusion of his eye being open).
This morning I checked on him again and the gunk was certainly noticeable on his right eye. I observed him a few hours and he was constantly sitting with his right eye closed. I then took a Q-tip and *VERY* gently rubbed it along his eye (I was so worried about the pressure that the Q-tip barely even touched him). I also used it to easily remove 2 pieces of skin leftover from his last shed from before I got him. I was unable to remove the gunk from his eye but I managed to "roll" it forward enough that it is now no longer directly on his eye but rather JUST to the side of it. His right eye is open again but he is still blinking occasionally. Usually when he blinks he'll do it multiple times in succession (like 3-5 times) and then not do it again for awhile.
EDIT: The gunk looks very similar to the stuff that forms in the corner of our eyes when we sleep.
Onto the generic:
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - 3.5months; from LanceCham; PC; I've had him for about 2 weeks.
Handling - Once or twice a day, I try to handfeed him. He takes one or two sometimes.
Feeding - Primarily crickets (switching to roaches soon as they arrive ;D). 1/4" crickets: 10 in his cup in the morning at 9am and about 5 in his cup in the afternoon around 4pm.
Supplements - Calcium powder daily; +d3 / multivitamin alternating on sundays. RepCal.
Watering - Little Dripper always dripping slowly. I handmist garden mister at least 2times a day sometimes a little more. I have never seen him drink anything and he runs away when I mist (see the issue for description)
Fecal Description - Looks good; solid brown chunk with white piece. Once a day.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - Currently in an 18"x24"x18" enclosure. Screen top, plastic opaque sides (I use a fan to vent it). I remove the screen when I am home and connect it to a ficus via fake vines.
Lighting - 24W 18" Reptisun 5.0; 75W basking bulb daylight
Temperature - Basking Spot 85F; Cooler Spots 70F // Nightime temps are always around 70F at the COLDEST 65F. Digital Thermometer both mounted in tub and point and shoot style.
Humidity - Digital. Pretty consistently at 50%.
Plants - Hibiscus inside. Free range him on a larger ficus.
Placement - Computer desk; very low traffic area. Tub is located ~4feet off the floor total but since the sides are solid you can't see out of it. In that sense, the maximum height in relation to the floor is 18". The ficus is setup 1foot higher and is taller, so when he climbs over to that he is ~6' off the ground.
Location - Southern California
Sorry no pics, my cameraphone can't get a worthy pic and the gf took our camera on a trip for the weekend :\
Jann is correct about the showers and the rinsing his eye with saline solution. I would also go to the classified section - chameleon supplies and order some terramicin from TylerStewart. That might do the trick for his eye. I have a couple if chams who do the pull the eye thing in but it is the gunk in his eye that is worrisome. That is all I can think of that I would do, hope it helps, let us know.
