my chameleon does not want to keep his eye open

[jvillereptile]

my one male veiled first got the bump on his lip and now it doesn't open his one eye a lot he will open it but after a few second he closes it while the other eye is open all the time this chameleon has had problems since i got it at the daytona show this year.

 

[Brad]

I would recommend letting your vet check him out. The recent eye behavior could be a sign of something serious, or your cham could be having a little trouble cleaning his eye. With the recent bump and the eye problem, I think it would be a good idea to visit the vet.

 

[2by2]

As far as eye problems go, I've had them in a couple of the panthers that I've had over the years. Just for the record, it is a fairly common problem in chameleons. I've made a few visits to my vet because of this and i do recommend you take him to the vet in case there is a major problem.

Sometimes if the cham isn't getting enough moisture, closed eyes can signal dehydration. However, if your husbandry is good, usually the cham is just having a problem getting something out of his eye. The first step I take when I see this problem is to make sure I mist the cage heavily over the next couple days to see if the extra moisture will help him work it out. If that doesn't work it can be a minor infection. My vet has prescribed baytril on a couple of my animals and usually within a weeks time the closed eye is open again. I continue the treatment for as long as recommended and then the problem is normally solved. I've never run into an eye problem that hasn't been solved by either of these methods. However, I've only seen 5 or 6 cases as well.

 

[jvillereptile]

he will open his eye it is just he won't keep it open. if you look at my pictures in my photo gallery i have 2 males both same age just one hasn't grown as fast as the other and now this is happening to him and the only happening to the other male is he keeps growing. i don't think it is humidity. could it be from spraying him with water.

 

[2by2]

Sounds exactly like what goes on with the chams I've seen do this. They'll open it if they have to, but they'll close it as soon as they can after that. How long has he been doing it? Are they together?

If he's been keeping it closed for more than a week, I'd take him to the vet and have him make the diagnosis.

And if you have them together, its probably time to seperate them. I'm not sure how old they are, but it sounds like the one is growing at a much faster rate which might suggest that he's been the dominant one, and he's eating all the food and leaving none for the little guy. If this is the case, who knows, it might be a nutritional thing. Whatever the case may be, it sounds like the eye thing, paired with the lip bump definately warrents a vet visit.

Keep us posted on what happens.

 

[jvillereptile]

i never kept the 2 together and the eye thing started monday. the bump has went down it is not even noticable any more i don't even keep the 2 males in the same room the only other chameleons it sees is 2 young female

 

[2by2]

Sounds like things are looking up. I'd still keep an eye....on that eye....no pun intended.

 

[fullhouse]

shower solved our eye prob

our male panther had a similar eye prob. - we put him in the shower for about 20 minutes and he was better immediately - he just needed a good eye cleaning

 

[ChameleonsTree]

my one male maroansetra is always getting dry in one eye so i flush it with basic saline solution. After a few seconds he;'s fine and it stays open.