My female Veild Chameleon wont open her eyes!!

Treyton

New Member
I have a 5 month old female veild chameleon who keeps her eye shut all the time. When I try to rinse them with a saline solution she will open them but shut them right away. So its not like she cant open them. She hasent really ate anything in 4 days for sure and is barely drinking.
There is NO swelling or discharge. But she does rub them on the branches as well as your hand when you take her out.
I have tried rinsing them with saline, distilled water, as well as giving her showers but this is now day #5 and I have changed her heat light to a red one so its not as bright in her cage. I took her to be looked at by someone in a reptile store. And they said that she looks all around healthy, her tail is curled up, her grip is tight, and there is no swelling or discharge around her eyes.
Her cage set up is just like my other one, but she is in a busier place than my other is. She is right by the kitchen sink, where there is more artifical light and artifical smells than the other. Could that be the problem with her eyes?

Please help!!!!
 
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?

pictures are helpful.

lighting, temps and hydration would be my first guess at the problem without knowing any information.
 
Fill out the form if you would like us to try and help you!!! Temps, lighting etc all play important roles in your chameleons health and could be causing issues!
 
Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - Veild chameleon, female, just over a month i have had her and she is about 5 months old
Handling - I handle her more than usual because i need to rinse her eyes and i give her water by hand,
Feeding - Crickets 6 a day, the get fed in the morning up are put in a bowl so they dont ru. Around the cage, my crickets are fed with water from a sponge and carrots
Supplements - They are fed a calcium supliment that my breeder gave me ina different container so i dont know which ones that is so they get that 3 times a week, than the other 3 days they get zoo meds reptivite vitamins with D3
Watering - i use pre boiled water than i use a spray bottle to mist her cage at least 4-5 times a day for about 20 seconds and i mist the carpet to keep the humidity up
Fecal Description - She pooped sunday, it looked normal, just smaller than the her normal ones
History - She hasnt ate anything since thursday or friday, she barely drinks to. But she looks very healthy, her tails curls up her grip isnt weak at all, her tongue is stil pink (it kind of looks like her siliva is sticky kind of)



Cage Info:

Cage Type - all mesh cage 18" X 20" X 12"
Lighting - reptiglo 5.0 13 watt UVB, and all living things infared bulb 50 watt ( i changed it to the infared to see if maybe the other one was to bright )
Temperature - I dont know these exactly the breeder i got her from said that this is the exact same set up she came from and she was .iving fine in these temps for the past month, nothi g has changed
Humidity - I dont know exactly but both my chameleons get sprayed that exact same amount a day, probably 4 5 times a day for a good soak for about 20 seconds each and i spray the carpet to keep it up
Plants - I have a live plant, i dont know what kind it is from the breeder that i got her from
Placement - Above the kitchen sink, withh a window behind her, with the blimd down and closed, and about 6 feet from ceiling
Location - alberta canada

Please help me!!!
 
Could she possibly be gravid/egg binding. I have had females who start developing eggs as early as 3 months. Lost a female a few years back who was egg binding at 3 months old. But bc of her size and age i was forced to put her down bc her body couldnt handle meds or surgery. I have another female currently, when she is about to lay her eggs her eyes get a little swollen and she likes to rub them. Not sure why? But once she lays them her eyes always clear right up? Not saying this is the problem, just putting it out there. I would monitor her until friday/saturday and if there is no improvement I would seriously think about contacting an exotic vet. Good luck.
 
So i changed her cage a bit. It is all mesh so i read on someone else post that their chameleon had kind of the same problem, and it was to cold in their cage so what i did was cover two of the side ( on the outside) with plastic to hopefully keep more moisture and heat in.

She doesnt seem to keep her eyes clsoed as tight anymore and is moving them around (like she is looking around with her but her eye lids are closed) she doesnt seem to be as clumsy as she was before. Do you think that could be signs of improvement?
 
Why are you using an infrared bulb? Is that a ceramic heater? Those might be fine in the night time to help keep the temp above 60, but during the day you should have a regular bulb for heat, probably a 60 or 75 watt bulb, (or possibly 100). You need to get a thermometer to monitor the temps, otherwise you're just guessing which isn't the best way to go.
 
Could she possibly be gravid/egg binding. I have had females who start developing eggs as early as 3 months. Lost a female a few years back who was egg binding at 3 months old. But bc of her size and age i was forced to put her down bc her body couldnt handle meds or surgery. I have another female currently, when she is about to lay her eggs her eyes get a little swollen and she likes to rub them. Not sure why? But once she lays them her eyes always clear right up? Not saying this is the problem, just putting it out there. I would monitor her until friday/saturday and if there is no improvement I would seriously think about contacting an exotic vet. Good luck.

are you 100% sure she was only 3 months old? I have never heard of such a thing! I am not sure if is it even anatomically possible. Sometimes people are told their chameleons are much younger than they actually are when they buy them. The pet stores are notorious for this.
 
my little cham was experiencing the exact same symptoms and i tried everything..so then i took her to the vet and they gave her some meds...injected her with fluids...and gave us things to do to get her back to health but they said it isn't looking good...she was dehydrated despite my efforts to water her and even watching her drink...and she was calcium deficient which the vet said couldn't have happened on my end with me only having her for 2 weeks and i was giving her the vitamins three times a week as instructed by the reptile salesmen from whom i purchased her from.needless to say i waited to long to take her to the vet and two nights later my little cham went in her sleep...take her to the vet ASAP!...most on here are really trying to help but others just want to push product on you for whatever reason...everything refers back to the lighting for some reason if your cham is sick its because you don't have reptisun 5.0 because nothing else will possibly work...and others just want to ask you questions and make statements to make you feel dumb...(if you don't do this then don't take offense) but seriously get her to a vet!
 
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