My Veiled won't open her eyes. Any advice appriciated

[roges24]

Cage Info:

* Cage Type - 10 gal. tank (soon getting fresh air terrarium top)
* Lighting - basking light recently burnt out, but using reptisun uvb light now.
* Temperature - around 75 degrees
* Humidity - dont know
* Plants - i have a vine, fake leaves and stems on a suction cup
* Placement - cage was located in my room until i moved, now i keep her in the loft of my new place (think an attic with carpet and walls, she was near an open window and fan for a few days)
* Location - north east indiana

Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Female Veiled Cham, about 4-5 months, got her very young.
* Handling - never until her eyes shut
* Feeding - I feed her only crickets, i try to dust them and gut load but dont always do it.
* Supplements - flukers calcium
* Watering - i spray as often as i can remember, i usually see her drink.
* Fecal Description - half white half brown
* History - everything has been well until now, never had any problems. recently moved and care has been sub par.
* Current Problem - Both eyes remain shut while handling even in light, unsure how long her eyes have been closed but now were looking at at least 12 hrs.



So heres the deal, i got this chameleon about 5-6 months ago from a breeder. she was a tiny baby, i keep her in the 10 gal cage. when she gets bigger i plan on making/buying a screen enclosure. i didnt pay much attention to her these past days because ive been busy settling in, i feel awful now that she wont open her eyes. ive been watching her and sometimes it looks like shes flexing her eye trying to open it. i havent seen her eye balls yet. she doesnt struggle when i pick her up which is unusual. she usually trys to get away at any costs. i saw her drink a little water when i sprayed her cage but not much (that i saw). shes still a light shade of green and her tail has been curled up all the time mostly. her eyes are NOT very puffy, just closed. when she does the flex thing i talked about the eyes turn grey and look puffy but that goes away quickly. its almost like her eye is bulging out when this happens

my thoughts on potential problem causes:
- inadequate water/food in recent days.
-cage too cold, doesnt help my basking light burned out.
-cage being near a window and fan, also in loft.
-friends smoked cigarettes in loft near cage


i dont think shes stressed, unless it was the
move. there is little activity in the loft and she is secluded.

also- her eyes still move around as if she can see, but im sure she cant. she reaches both front arms out to grab would be branches infront of her. her vision isnt good enough to see the branches, but she is aware enough to move around in my hand. im not sure if this helps, i feel like ive been typing alot.

 

[roges24]

here are some pictures taken from my laptops webcam, very low quality. you can kinda see the greyish area on the lower part of her eye. as you can see the eyes are closed shut making them look like this (-).

will her eyes open with time? should i try and feed her? i bought some super worms from the pet store, should i give these a shot?

 

[Julirs]

Ouch. I think you nailed it-sub-par care. Why is it difficult to replace the basking light? Use a regular 60 watt bulb. Without heat they cannot digest food. Eyes closing is also a sign of dedhydration. She should NOT be in a tank. She may need to lay eggs-do you have a suitable egg laying place for her? IS your UVB a coiled compact bulb-these also cause eye issues.
She needs a Vet visit and you need to step it up on the care or give her to a good home. Chamelons are difficult and time consuming animals.

In the meantime this is what I would do:

Remove the compact UVB if that is what it is. You need a linear flourescent UVB bulb-Reptisun 5.0 most suggested.
Put a regular household bulb in a clamp lamp-and make sure you know what your temps are. This is best accomplished with a digital thermometer with a probe. Get her to the low 80's on one side of the tank.
Mist her like crazy. You may want to put her on a plant in the shower-pont the spray towards the wall so the only water hitting her is coming off the wall-leave her in for about 15 minutes and watch her to see if she drinks. You need to get her eyes open so she will eat.
Get rid of the aqaurium and get a screen cage now-and then research laying buckets here and get one in her cage.
Quit smoking around the lizard with sensitive lungs and absorbant skin.
Then is she pulls through start supplementing and gut loading feeders properly.

 

[Julirs]

I would not say she is gravid or extremely dehydrated from the pics-but she is dehydrated and thin. Has she pooped recently?

 

[carlosandcat]

hi

i recently have had this same problem and his surroundings have been ok.

Closed eyes are a common ailment with chams and it has to be treated immidiately. Without sight they cant hunt and therefore eat and will go downhill extremely quickly.

The bulge in her eye, is a water sack that they use to keep eyes lubricated. Are her eyes sticking out or are they sunken? If they are sunken it could be a sign of dehydration.

The first thing you need to do is get to a vet, a same day appointment if you can.

The second thing you should do is sort ou her environment, Chams are very sensitive and have to be brought up in perfect conditions.

You may need to purchase some critical care formula from your vets, which is a powered food suppliment you make up nto liquid and then drip feed by hand. Its very stressful for the little guy but will keep him nutritionalized.

Go to your vet though, right now, then to the reptile store and sort out her tank.

 

[roges24]

im using a reptisun 5.0 bulb, not a coil. When i was a kid i had a frog and used a normal house bulb for heat and that killed it so ive always stayed away from those even as a last resort. Now that i know they are ok for chams, i have a 60 watt sitting ontop of the cage.

I moved the cage to my room now, this is kind of a wake up call. Ive had a leopard gecko, and a beardy in the past, i recently got this one knowing it was a lot of work. The 10 gal has been a temporary cage, i was told by the breeder that it will be suitable until shes grown. if it all goes well ill show you my new set up, because now im not comfortable using this current setup and will be replacing it hopefully.

also- how do i know if shes going to/ready to lay eggs?

 

[roges24]

just went and misted the cage off the wall as suggested, and her left eye opened and swiveled. its still open. should i put a cricket in and see if shes hungry or let her rest until the right eye opens?

 

[kinyonga]

You said...the cage temp. is "around 75 degrees"...if that's the warmest, its too cool...likely slowing digestion down somewhat.

IMHO you need to improve your gutload and make sure that you always do it. Crickets can be fed a wide assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, zucchini, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, celery leaves, etc.)

You said you use "flukers calcium"...I dust with a phos.-free calcium at most feedings, a vitamin powder with a beta carotene source of vitamin A twice a month and with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder lightly twice a month.
I don't remember what in the way of phos., calcium, D3 and vitamin A is in fluker's.

You need to be sure you water every day if possible. It won't hurt to miss once in a while generally...but its better to do it every day.

She doesn't look well in the pictures. She definitely shouldn't be keeping her eyes shut all the time...its especially bad that she doesn't even open them when handled. Its also bad that she doesn't react to you by struggling when that was normal.

Although she is old enough that she should be able to reproduce, she doesn't have the goldy spots that she should have to be sexually mature.

If she will take a cricket, it shouldn't hurt...especially if she hasn't been eating in the last few days.

I really think that she needs to see a vet if you can't solve the problem very quickly. They don't give much warning that things are critical...but I think they are.

 

[ChrisnLisa]

One other thing that the others haven't mentioned, is how tiny she is for her age. Honestly, this does not sound like a new problem. Rather one that has gradually gotten worse from inadequate care over an extended period of time.

The fact that she has one eye open is progress, I'm sure you misting her helped with that. I would also try a shower as Julirs recommended, it certainly won't hurt any at this point. Get her to a vet and keep us updated. Good luck!