help! sunken eyes!

[siennas]

my chameleon is a male and he is about seven months old.

for the past few weeks, he has had severely sunken eyes and it has been worrying me.

i do not see him drink but his mister runs 3 times a day and i also provide a dripper.

his urates are always white and poops are well shaped and colored.

he eats about 20 bugs a day - fifteen 1/2in roaches, 2 superworms, 3 black soldier flies. he also munches on leaves.

how could this be if everything seems to be healthy? i always give him the two weekly vitamin A included reptivite

 

[siennas]

also, he is from petco, so maybe it could be genetics?

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi. Can you clarify exactly what supplements you are using and how often?

 

[Tkrd69]

@Beman and @MissSkittles might be able to help

 

[siennas]

Hi. Can you clarify exactly what supplements you are using and how often?

i use flukers calcium without d3 daily on every feeding. flukers calcium with d3 every two weeks and reptivite without d3 every two weeks; they rotate

 

[MissSkittles]

Looking back at your recent posts, your guy had an URI and was on antibiotic not too long ago. I didn’t look way back at all of your previous posts to see if you had a husbandry review, but I did get the impression your care is correct. Has he had a recent fecal check for parasites? You’re feeding him an awful lot for him to be slender. I would say it would probably be prudent to have have a vet visit - have a fecal and some labs to make sure organ function is 100%.

 

[siennas]

Looking back at your recent posts, your guy had an URI and was on antibiotic not too long ago. I didn’t look way back at all of your previous posts to see if you had a husbandry review, but I did get the impression your care is correct. Has he had a recent fecal check for parasites? You’re feeding him an awful lot for him to be slender. I would say it would probably be prudent to have have a vet visit - have a fecal and some labs to make sure organ function is 100%.

i gave him only one fecal and it was a mail-in. the results said no parasites.

i have no vets close by that do reptile fecals, so should i do another mail-in?

 

[siennas]

i gave him only one fecal and it was a mail-in. the results said no parasites.

i have no vets close by that do reptile fecals, so should i do another mail-in?

also he has been shedding pretty rapidly recently. i am not sure if parasites has anything to do with that

 

[kinyonga]

Please post some photos of your chameleon.

 

[siennas]

Please post some photos of your chameleon.

i have already attached some photos, but here are some more from a month ago where his sunken eyes are very visible

 

[siennas]

@Beman i know you have another fellow translucent cham from petco, are sunken eyes also visible on your cham bentley? i was wondering if it was just genetics

 

[Beman]

@Beman i know you have another fellow translucent cham from petco, are sunken eyes also visible on your cham bentley? i was wondering if it was just genetics

I had him up until he was 9 month old. They were never sunken in. To my knowledge this has nothing to do with genetics. This is a sign something is off like illness or dehydration. It can also be something where when they feel threatened they will pull the eyes further in. But that is temporary when they are being threatened.

I agree with trying to get another fecal done. He is awfully slender for eating 20 good sized feeders a day. Granted most of that is all being diverted to growth at his age. If he curbs back and stops eating this would be a big red flag.

His eyes are not overly sunk in... How are the urates looking?

 

[siennas]

I had him up until he was 9 month old. They were never sunken in. To my knowledge this has nothing to do with genetics. This is a sign something is off like illness or dehydration. It can also be something where when they feel threatened they will pull the eyes further in. But that is temporary when they are being threatened.

I agree with trying to get another fecal done. He is awfully slender for eating 20 good sized feeders a day. Granted most of that is all being diverted to growth at his age. If he curbs back and stops eating this would be a big red flag.

His eyes are not overly sunk in... How are the urates looking?

he did curb back and stop eating about two months ago, hence why i got his first fecal done but it came back all negative.

thank you for the advice, i will buy two mail-in fecals over the next two months.

his urates are white, never have i seen them become a darker color

 

[kinyonga]

Doing a second fecal is a good idea...often the parasites can be missed if the parasites are not "shedding" at the time of the test.

 

[Lindasjackson]

He’s beautiful but looks very thin to me.

 

[siennas]

update: his test came back negative. i feel like he is still growing pretty rapidly, as he is shedding right now. i took this picture today

 

[Beman]

update: his test came back negative. i feel like he is still growing pretty rapidly, as he is shedding right now. i took this picture todayView attachment 328476

Casque looks better on this one. Not as slender more healthy. I do not think anything is wrong with his eyes... I think it is the way he holds them. Perhaps pulls them in tighter when he sees you or the camera.

 

[siennas]

Casque looks better on this one. Not as slender more healthy. I do not think anything is wrong with his eyes... I think it is the way he holds them. Perhaps pulls them in tighter when he sees you or the camera.

why does he have that gray color on his eye turrets? is it because he's a piebald?

 

[Beman]

why does he have that gray color on his eye turrets? is it because he's a piebald? View attachment 328537

yes, pale pink skin can change to grey/black or white. Bentley had one eye turret that was green and black while the other was white/translucent.

3-16-21_2

• Beman
• Mar 16, 2021
• 1

Ahhhhhh I see Beman on your hand! You're cheating on me mom!!!!

2-3-21_4

• Beman
• Feb 3, 2021

Firing up after seeing Beman out on my hand.

 

[siennas]

yes, pale pink skin can change to grey/black or white. Bentley had one eye turret that was green and black while the other was white/translucent.

3-16-21_2

• Beman
• Mar 16, 2021
• 1

Ahhhhhh I see Beman on your hand! You're cheating on me mom!!!!

2-3-21_4

• Beman
• Feb 3, 2021

Firing up after seeing Beman out on my hand.

bentley is very cute! i love his colors! my chameleon looks so different now compared to when he was a baby. thank you for the information by the way.

just one more question.. why does my chameleon always display darker colors even when he is stressed? your cham's colors are so much brighter than mine!