Help! Our Chameleon keeps one eye closed!

[Amias]

Hello,
Our baby boy has just started (this afternoon) keeping one eye closed, when we handle him he opens it and is quite happy but once he goes back in his enclosure he closes it and sits under his heat light?
He was quite active this morning as usual but since he has been keeping his eye closed he hasn't moved from his heat light?

Any suggestions will be greatly received

Thanks

 

[ReptileLove18]

hi, sorry to hear your baby isnt doing well! please copy and paste this into your reply, answering all the questions. this might help us figure out what happened


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.

 

[Amias]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male Yemen, Hatched 14.02.13. We have had him a week on Thursday
Handling - Everyday
Feeding - Small Crickets, left in viv so he can eat as much as he wants. we gut load the crickets with vegetables.
Supplements -nutrobal calcium every other day.
Watering - we mist 3-4 times a day keeping humidity above 40% we have a water fountain, We have just seem him drink now. We have never seen him drink in the past we we unfortuantly don't get to watch him all the time
Fecal Description - white with black
Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? not to our knowledge
History - ????

Cage Info:
Cage Type - exo terra small tall 45x45x60 glass
Lighting - exo terra bulbs 75watt basking spot lamp & 5.0 UVB, lights on 08.00 lights off 20.00 (we leave lights on longer if we have handled him)
Temperature - exo terra monitors basking temp is currently 35oC everywhere else is currently 20.7oC
Humidity - exo terra monitors, we don't let it drop below 40%
Plants - No
Placement - next to our living room door away from TV, not a very high traffic area.
Location - United Kingdom

Current Problem - keeping one eye closed, when we handle him he opens it and is quite happy but once he goes back in his enclosure he closes it and sits under his heat light?
He was quite active this morning as usual but since he has been keeping his eye closed he hasn't moved from his heat light?

 

[ReptileLove18]

im slightly confused! when was he hatched? i dont understand the date 14.02.13, what date is that?

what is your light schedule? lights on 8 hours and off the rest of the time?

does the nutrobal have d3 in it?

a water fountain is not recommended for chameleons because they dont recognize it as a water source to drink out of and will defecate in it. they like to drink water droplets off of foliage in their enclosure. this can be created from misting and a dripper system. do you have a dripper system? you can make one with a water jug with small holes poked in the bottom of it set on top of the cage so that it drips water on the foliage in the cage

do you have any plants or fake plants in the cage?

can you please post pics of him, the eye thats closed, and his enclosure for us?

sorry for all the questions!!!! gotta have all the info we can to help your baby

 

[Amias]

im slightly confused! when was he hatched? i dont understand the date 14.02.13, what date is that?

what is your light schedule? lights on 8 hours and off the rest of the time?

does the nutrobal have d3 in it?

a water fountain is not recommended for chameleons because they dont recognize it as a water source to drink out of and will defecate in it. they like to drink water droplets off of foliage in their enclosure. this can be created from misting and a dripper system. do you have a dripper system? you can make one with a water jug with small holes poked in the bottom of it set on top of the cage so that it drips water on the foliage in the cage

do you have any plants or fake plants in the cage?

can you please post pics of him, the eye thats closed, and his enclosure for us?

sorry for all the questions!!!! gotta have all the info we can to help your baby

14.02.13 is the 14th feb 2013.
his lights turn on everyday at 08.00 and turn off again at 20.00
we have fake plants in his viv just not real ones.
we were informed that a water drip system was not very good for them and that a fountain would be ok that's why we picked it?

we cannot upload a photo of his eye because when we handle him he opens his eye again.

the nutrobal contains: per gram 200mg calcium and 150IU D3, plus vitamins A E K B1 B2 B6 B12 C, Folic, Nicotinic and Pantothenic acids.

 

[Kaianuanu]

im slightly confused! when was he hatched? i dont understand the date 14.02.13, what date is that?

I believe that is the european format for February 14th, 2013. If so, he is very young.

This may not be the source of the problem but for a cham that young, handling that much is probably pretty stressful, it would probably best if you only handle when necessary until this problem is cleared up. The lighting schedule seems fine, 12 on 12 off. As for the fountain, I say get reid of it as it can harbor bacteria. And drippers are very beneficial, despite a few challenges you may face when setting them up. Also your basking temp is way too hot for a cham that tiny. FYI, 35 celcius is approximately 95 farenheit, you need to go to a lower wattage or raise the light off of the cage. Also post a pic of his enclosure. Im not too sure about the supplementation on a veiled of this age, but it seems like a lot of D3 to be used so often, thats 150,000 iU/kg. Also, what type of light is the 5.0 UVB? Linear, or CFL, and what brand, Zoo Med Reptisun? I have seen on here, people with chams that were squinting their eyes because regular 6500k cfls for the plants were too bright, this may be the case if you have a CFL UV light.

 

[ReptileLove18]

oh wow he is really young.. is he your first chameleon?

lighting is good then 12 hours on and 12 hours off.

what kind of uvb bulb are you using? coiled or linear? what brand?

its pretty common that some petstores dont know all that chameleons need unfortunately and thats one of the great things about this forum is that new and experienced owners alike can come here to learn more about their chameleons! as i said, its really not recommended to use a waterfall or fountain because they wont drink out of it they will defecate in it and it will become a breeding ground for bacteria very quickly. a dripper and misting is the best way to go to keep your chameleon hydrated as it simulates rain like in the wild.

if you get a chance to get a pic of his eye while he is in his enclosure and its closed that would be great! then we can get a better idea if there may be something in it

using calcium with d3 too often can lead to over supplementation. it is recommended to use calcium with d3 twice a month, plain calcium with no d3 every feeding, and a multivitamin twice a month. you can find a plain calcium and multivitium at a petstore as well as some of the sponsors carry them on their online sites.

this caresheet is for veiled chams, it has accurate info on what they need it goes over supplements, temps for babies, humidity, food, all the good stuff!
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

 

[Kaianuanu]

As for the temps, I found this in an old thread. Note that the temps are obviously in farenheit. Although it says heat lamps are not usually required, a basking spot 80-85 degrees farenheit is often used.

check your temps against this...

Temperatures for Veiled Chameleons

Neonates – Juvenile (hatchling–3 months old) – 74-76 degrees Fahrenheit *heat lamp not usually required

Juvenile – Sub-Adult Female(3-5 months old) – 76-78 degrees Fahrenheit *heat lamp not usually required

Sub-Adult – Adult Male(5-12 months old) – 82-85 degrees Fahrenheit

Sub-Adult – Adult Female(5-12 months old) – 72-82 degrees Fahrenheit

Adult Male(12+) – 85-90 degrees Fahrenheit

Adult Female(12+) – 80-82 degrees Fahrenht

 

[ReptileLove18]

ambient temp for a neonate should be 22-26 degrees C, basking temps should be 29 degrees C