Need Help!

[Jordantheblind]

cant find anything in my area. craigslist is a bust too.
anyone in the northern Illinois area got anything for sale?

I am willing to trade a Toshiba Satellite laptop with 320gb hdd, 4gb ram, 15.6 lcd display, charger, running Win 7 64bit.

dont really have any cash to spare, but this laptop is nothing to shrug at. i work at a local computer repair shop as a technition.

 

[carol5208]

so you think he is blind cause his eyes are closed? That does not mean he is blind! Of course he is going to not be able to grab branches if his eyes are closed. Chameleons are prone to eye issues and when the have problems they shut their eyes. It could be a vitamin difieciency or something like dehydration. I would get him to a vet first and foremost and make sure he is indeed blind and then go from there. I know a girl that took in a Veild. His eyes were completely closed too! He was not blind! She got him out in the sun, gave him Vitamin A, plenty of water and slowly he started opening his eyes. First one then the other! He soon was shooting his tongue at his food cause he could see!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Wykd]

Carol: The assumption of blindness came from the prior owner who may not of been the best pet owner, and after seeing the cage they gave her.

Has the little guy been drinking any at least since home? May want to follow the instructions on here for giving your cham a shower. Like Carol said the eye closing could be temp. due to other factors. 1st thing 1st though as others said is keeping him hydrated and fed until you can get his house in order.

That classified link I posted was on this site. Contact the seller and see what can be arranged shipping wise.

Or head to petstore today and you could pickup everything you need. Dislike the petland, petsmart, petco type stores or not they do sell supplies, and they usually have one close to where ever you are. Do you have a list of everything you need to get to keep a chameleon?

cant find anything in my area. craigslist is a bust too.
anyone in the northern Illinois area got anything for sale?

I am willing to trade a Toshiba Satellite laptop with 320gb hdd, 4gb ram, 15.6 lcd display, charger, running Win 7 64bit.

dont really have any cash to spare, but this laptop is nothing to shrug at. i work at a local computer repair shop as a technition.

 

[Wykd]

I know you said cash is tight but unless someone is up for trading you for a laptop asap... you need to hit petland in rockford ASAP and get the following asap if you plan to keep the chameleon imo. The stress of a move itself can be taxing on the cham, and moving into a even smaller less suitable home is adding more trauma to the situation and not helping. Nothing on this list thats not mentioned in the other posts/links, but a must if your going to try save that cham:

Flukers Repta Rinse - Not sure on this for chameleons - need someone to chime in: http://www.petland.com/reptile/reptile-food/flukers-reptile-eye-rinse-2oz.html

You need a better habitat asap also:
Cage 1
or
cage 2
If one has the light hood with it get it over the other to save yourself some $$$ since they are both close to the same cost.

Get a branch of some sort and prop it in a corner for the the gu to climb up and bask on for the heat. Does not have to be alot to start just some place for him to move on and warm up:
http://www.petland.com/reptile/reptile-plants-and-decor/zoo-med-terrarium-grapevine-medium.html

calcium & vitamin suppliments

Thermometer & hygrometer

Lights & fixture(s): UVB 5 bulb - reptisun 5.0 is best bet, so you need a linear type fixture for that bulb.

Go to lowes and get a small 5 1/2 clamp on work dome light housing most likely cheaper than buying from a pet store. and set that up for the basking spot.

Misting bottle - you can get a plant misting bottle at lowes/walmart cheaper than a pet store for this.

Make a dripper system yourself and save some $$ just search this site for more info.

and get some live crickets and tongs to hand feed the cham with. The tong may be less threatening than your hand in case it has some viability/sight.

 

[carol5208]

wykd, I know what you are saying but if their assumption is the eyes are closed so he is blind...well that could be totally incorrect. If they had taken it to a qualified vet and were given that diagnosis then I understand. But I think they are just guessing here..... I mean if your eyes were closed, wouldnt you stumble and feel around too?

 

[Wykd]

Oh I agree w/you Carol. I was just saying the blind condition was info passed along to her. I agree it could be a matter of things possibly wrong.

Wonder if a warm dip or shower would help? Maybe some discharge or something has crusted the eyelids closed.

I am not going to make assumptions about the prior owner and their commitment to the chameleon, so who knows its real condition.

 

[carol5208]

Oh I agree w/you Carol. I was just saying the blind condition was info passed along to her. I agree it could be a matter of things possibly wrong.

Wonder if a warm dip or shower would help? Maybe some discharge or something has crusted the eyelids closed.

I am not going to make assumptions about the prior owner and their commitment to the chameleon, so who knows its real condition.

you are right. I just dont want him to assume he is blind when there are other things it could be. I mean these people had it for four years and were going to kill it? What does that say about them? I would think if he were blind his eyes would be open like people. Maybe I am wrong. I just would hate no attempts to be made to get his eyesight back. That would be ashame.

 

[Jordantheblind]

I have not seen it drinking much. when you say to give it a shower... i just kind of take it in the shower? how hot is too hot? or cool to cool?
ive set up a water bottle with a hole in the bottom for a drip system.
i also have been pouring water over all the plants and dripping some on him to keep him hydrated. going out to buy live crickets

 

[Wykd]

Chameleon Shower

Hopefully the warm water will bounce off the walls onto him and lubricate the eyelids in case they are crusted closed, Also would not hurt to look into that repti rinse I mentioned for the eyes either.

Closed eye does not equate blindness as mentioned by others. An eyelid closed is different than a eye that is foggy/milky and such.

search "chameleon won't open eyes" on here and google, there are many posts on the matter so just look around. The more I looked the more i doubt it is actually blind, and more likely dehydrated and under cared for.

I have not seen it drinking much. when you say to give it a shower... i just kind of take it in the shower? how hot is too hot? or cool to cool?
ive set up a water bottle with a hole in the bottom for a drip system.
i also have been pouring water over all the plants and dripping some on him to keep him hydrated. going out to buy live crickets

 

[Elizadolots]

It's possible he's not blind, but keeping his eyes closed due to some other health reason. Chameleon's typically grasp around for things close to them. Their vision is designed for accuracy at a distance and, despite the ability to spin the eyes all around, I think they always have substantial blind spots.

What you might want to do is get a cage which would be tall enough for him if he recovers and start it out horizontally so he doesn't have too far to fall.

Getting him into a shower might help a lot, I'm sort of wondering if the poor thing has ever even been misted. If you could put a plant in the shower, put him on it, then bounce very warm water off a wall so it doesn't hit him directly and leave him there for 15, 20 minutes, it might be perk him up quite a bit.

 

[justjumpit621]

Not sure how no one else has noticed, this looks like a Female? Can you see bumps on it's back heels? If so it is a male but if not you have a female and she is quite fat looking which may not be good.

 

[Jordantheblind]

went out n got a lamp, repti spray, mister, humidity checker, water treatment and some live crix n mealworms. misted the crap out of the enclosure and he seems to be drinking now. thanks for the help guys. really appreciat it.

found a cheap wire enclosure two hours a way. getting it this weekend

ill keep you guys updated

 

[Jordantheblind]

there are bumpb on the back of its heels so i am fairly certain its a male then. it seems to have perked up quite a bit. moving more frequently now after misting. still eyes closed though.

took it outside today to play on a tree.
here is a pic of the set up i have for the next few days.

 

[Wykd]

cool

Whats the temp on that basking spot? Just curious as the guy is going high but far from the light/heat source. Is that a dripper on that side?

Put that branch and him in the shower and do the warm shower for about 15 minutes for a cpl days and yeah being outside between 10-2 is great for them health wise if the temp is right.

 

[Jordantheblind]

not sure of the temp. couldnt get a temp gun. but its hot. i only turned it on for a few minutes. seemed too hot to me.

and that is just him sitting in his normal spot.

ill do the shower now. thanks for the advice

 

[carol5208]

Not sure how no one else has noticed, this looks like a Female? Can you see bumps on it's back heels? If so it is a male but if not you have a female and she is quite fat looking which may not be good.

the females don't have the stripes, he just posted another pic of it, definitely a male

 

[Wykd]

You need to put a thermometer on that basking spot and check the temp to the suggested veiled cham's temp range. get that temp right in that spot andthe rest the tank should fall closer to where it needs to be since its glass and you are misting. You may have to do something to get that lamp off the cage or smaller bulb etc... Thats the hard part on suggesting bulb wattage, different setups need different wattage to get the temp right depending on basking spot location and tank size.

The temp of that cage is very important though.

Also if you do not have a drip system built then get one setup from a water bottle or something but he will need some water source during the day while your away at work.

not sure of the temp. couldnt get a temp gun. but its hot. i only turned it on for a few minutes. seemed too hot to me.

and that is just him sitting in his normal spot.

ill do the shower now. thanks for the advice

 

[justjumpit621]

the females don't have the stripes, he just posted another pic of it, definitely a male

Yeah just saw the last picture. The first 2 looked more female but he was probably super stressed.

 

[Jordantheblind]

google says average temp from 95-105? sound right?

its about 70 in the house right now. the cage feels to be slightly warmer than room temp so i will be leaving the light on for a while

 

[justjumpit621]

google says average temp from 95-105? sound right?

its about 70 in the house right now. the cage feels to be slightly warmer than room temp so i will be leaving the light on for a while

You want to have it about 100 at the basking spot but mid 70's towards the bottom because he needs to be able to cool down. Watch out while he is in the glass, tanks tend to keep the heat in. If you can put a fan across the top so it pulls the air out of the tank and circulates it.