Merlin The Magic Man (Chameleon)

[JoCarp]

So I wish this post was all positive, but it isn't unfortunately. I haven't been on in a few months due to work and other stuff like we all get caught up in. So Merlin closed his eyes back in Sept/Oct. and hasn't opened them since. Before everyone jumps up in arms, I have been to the vet, and we are still continually working together. They did a gram stain test and it came back 80-90% gram negative which should be mostly gram positive from my understanding (I'm far from a vet). The last time I was at the vet he said it's possible he may gain his sight back, but he may not. We talked about a possible vitamin A injection, but he wanted to give the antibiotics a chance. He was on Baytril I think it was. When he first closed his eyes his turrets sunk in and I thought it was dehydration, buy I'm confident that isn't the case as his mister goes off 5 times a day, most of them are 5 minute durations and I give him a shower for as long as he'll drink a few times a week. Anyway, the positive! His colors really brightened up after last night's meal of crickets (that I now literally hand feed to him) and shower.Just wanted to get a picture up of my guy and all the fight he still has in him! As long as he wants to eat and drink, I'll give him my all!

 

[Andee]

My boy Ryker has this issue, kind of, though he's pretty much lost all sight in both eyes. He has been helped a lot by repashy LoD regular dusting, but I also added a drop of liquid vitamin A to some his of liquid diet and adjusted his Repashy accordingly. That has helped incredibly. I plan to do it more often and then hopefully wean off. I hope he gains at least enough sight to feed himself. I hope your baby pulls through. Ryker has been to a vet multiple times, he has weird pupil formation at the moment. GOOD LUCK Merlin! It's always hopeful when they are still drinking on their own and have beautiful colors.

 

[Link]

View attachment 175345 View attachment 175345 So I wish this post was all positive, but it isn't unfortunately. I haven't been on in a few months due to work and other stuff like we all get caught up in. So Merlin closed his eyes back in Sept/Oct. and hasn't opened them since. Before everyone jumps up in arms, I have been to the vet, and we are still continually working together. They did a gram stain test and it came back 80-90% gram negative which should be mostly gram positive from my understanding (I'm far from a vet). The last time I was at the vet he said it's possible he may gain his sight back, but he may not. We talked about a possible vitamin A injection, but he wanted to give the antibiotics a chance. He was on Baytril I think it was. When he first closed his eyes his turrets sunk in and I thought it was dehydration, buy I'm confident that isn't the case as his mister goes off 5 times a day, most of them are 5 minute durations and I give him a shower for as long as he'll drink a few times a week. Anyway, the positive! His colors really brightened up after last night's meal of crickets (that I now literally hand feed to him) and shower.Just wanted to get a picture up of my guy and all the fight he still has in him! As long as he wants to eat and drink, I'll give him my all!

I have the same problem that you are dealing with. Mine is now completely blind. My daughter gives him a shower everyday so he drinks and feed him by hand in the shower also that's the only way he'll eat. She has kept him alive for over a year now and he seems very happy when he hears her voice he goes right to the front of the tank. Just my opinion make sure the vet isn't over-medicating they tend to do that a lot. Good luck hope he gets better

 

[Jennyontheblock]

http://www.chameleoncompany.com/Medical---

I'm a total newbie, but this came to mind when I read your post. This link talks about how to cure and prevent vitamin A deficiency.

 

[JoCarp]

Thanks for the replies and the link! I think it may be time to go back to the vet again and try a vitamin A shot to see if we can get him out of his slump. Glad to know that others have had success over extended periods of time with blind chams. The real shame is that my armoire enclosure that I spent tons of time making may not get used. I don't want to move him into a new space he's never been it. At least in his current enclosure he's familiar with the space. Plus I am still holding out that he may get better and I don't want to transfer the gram negative stuff or whatever else over to his new enclosure. Maybe it would be good to move him into a fresh space though?
Cheers,
Jordan

 

[Matt Vanilla Gorilla]

I have had a lot of good luck with vitamin A in the form of Retinyl palmitate!

Please see the thread:

https://www.chameleonforums.com/thr...nced-keepers-please-share-your-wisdom.152159/

 

[JoCarp]

I have had a lot of good luck with vitamin A in the form of Retinyl palmitate!

Thanks! I'll look into that and maybe avoid a shot! Much appreciated!

 

[Matt Vanilla Gorilla]

I am proud of you @JoCarp you are in a hard place and doing it all with the right focus! You are a wonderful person and you have a beautiful chameleon!

 

[kinyonga]

Does your chameleon keep its mouth slightly open all the time?

I don't like the fact that the eyes are sunken in...to me it's an indication that your chameleon is very sick. You really need a good reptile vet ASAP IMHO.

Please tell me what supplements you are using and how often for each and what you feed\gutload the insects with and please be SPECIFIC.

 

[JoCarp]

Thank you, Matt. I sincerely appreciate the very kind words!

 

[JoCarp]

@kinyonga His mouth is not open all the time, he was taking a gulp/swallow at the time of the picture so it was just bad timing. I appreciate your concern, and share your sentiment about this being a bad situation and his eyes being very sunken in. I am still working with the vet closely. As for supliments he gets multivitamin every 2 weeks, Calcium w/D3 every two weeks and calcium without on the other feedings. Part of the issue is that he's not eating everyday as I have to pull his mouth open, and then get the cricket halfway in his mouth and let him chomp down. Then he realizes it's food and will happily eat it. I just don't do that everyday since he's an adult and I feel that the additional stress of doing that every single day is worse than giving him a good meal every other day or so.

Anyway, I'll keep you all posted on Merlin's progress and hopefully I can get those eyes back open and working again!

 

[Andee]

Generally with Ryker, I don't do huge cage changes at the moment since he is relatively blind. He seems to get around fine because of this and drinks on his own. The only thing he doesn't do is eat on his own. And literally I cannot get him to eat whole bugs much anymore. So I use a liquid diet with him since it's easier to get it done within a few seconds and then the stress is over, his tummy is relatively full so he feels better, and he's pretty much just cruising again.

 

[kinyonga]

It may be easier to feed him more if you drip water on the tip of his nose and when he starts drinking stick a cricket between his teeth.
Good luck with him.

 

[Andee]

I have noticed if I am going to feed Ryker any sort of whole prey items it usually works better with soft bodied feeders. But it can take forever not to get him to spit it out sometimes. If I need to I warm him up with a silkworm and then add roaches or whatever. Looking forward to what happens with Merlin, to see if he starts getting better.