HELP! Panther Chameleon Has Eye Closed

abauer23

New Member
(PICS ATTACHED) My Panther Chameleon is keeping one eye closed constantly and seems lethargic and on some days is just not interested in food at all. he was taken to the vet and the eye was looked at and i was old that there was nothing wrong that the vet could see. This is a good vet-m she helped get him back to health from a bacterial infection that required liquid injections and syringe force feeding. My cham will only eat worms now-anything else he wont even go after. PLEASE Help


-I have had my male Panther Chameleon for 2 years now-since he was a hatchling.

-I handle him minimally- only to take him out of the cage for cleaning, to go outside, or to soak him.

-He got very sick 3 or 4 months ago, with a bacterial infection and eye sores. the whole 9 yards, but me managed to bring him back from deaths doorstep. However now he will not eat anything except for hornworms and superworms/mealworms no matter what I try, even starving him. He iss offered food daily, but usually eats 5-6 worms every other day or so. The food is dusted every other day with Zoo Med calcium powder with D3 and the Zoo Med multivitamin powder.

-He has a misting system that goes on for 15 seconds every hour and a fogger that is turned on for 10 minute increments 3-4 times a day. He also has a dripper that drips constantly and i also spray down in the morning and in the evening.

-Feces look regular-good color and urate looks normal

-He used to eat everything i would give him but now he will only eat superworms and hornworms since he got sick. he had to be forced fed with a syringe and had a couple injections during his treatment.
Cage:
-cage is a 36*18*18 reptibreeze
-100 watt powersun
-basking spot is 85-90 ambient is around 80 during the day and 70-75 at night
-Humidty is probably around 60-805 throughout the day (I dont have a gauge but theres is misting or fogging alot throughout the day)
-cage is placed on top of a small plastic shelving thing in my room right by the door.
-I live in texas right outside of dallas
 

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While i cant say for sure on the eye, i can say you arent supplementing right.

he needs a calcium with no d3 every feeding, calcium with d3 twice a month, and a multivitamin twice a month.

the eye could be a vitamin a deficiency, which you can reserach here on this forum.

I dont see any mention of a UVB bulb, do you use one?
 
I use a 100 watt powersun. It was recommended by the vet and was what cured his original illness but is that the best option? Thank you for the help i will change his supplementing. I am sure that his only eating worms affects his nutrition but it stresses him out a lot when he is force fed so i dont wanna resort to that unless absolutely necessary. Any suggestions for that?
 
I would agree that this is likely to be a vitamin A deficiency since it is not infected.

See post #6 in the thread below for info and treatment (read carefully since too much vitamin A is toxic):
https://www.chameleonforums.com/cham-keeps-closing-one-his-eyes-66576/

Note that chameleons need both their eyes to hunt properly since it gives them depth perception. It is highly likely this is why he is not eating as much and only eating slower moving insects (worms).
 
How are you gutloading those larva? its a pretty limited diet.
You don't need D3 every day, assuming your lighting provides UVB, so it could be an imbalance between D and vitamin A. Reducing the D and a temporary increase in A might help.

he doesn't look too thin. How long since his last illness (other than the eye)?
If he's in decent health, i think you might try breaking him of this larva habit. Offer him only other prey for a week or two. Don't give in with supers. treat like a child demanding ice cream instead of veggies :) When he gets hungry enough, chances are he'll eat something other than superworms and hornworms. Try Crickets, but also try gutloaded silkworms, moths, blue bottle flies, gutloaded butterworms, terrestrial isopods....
 
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