Panther chameleon still won't open eyes

[Daniel Martin]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Male panther chameleon, About 1 year old and I've had him for about 6 months.
• Handling - 4 times a week
• Feeding - I feed him crickets and super worms. About 6 crickets and 4 super worms. I don't feed him them both on the same day. Crickets 5 days a week and superworms 2 days a week. Calcium without D3 5 days a week. Calcium with D3 2 times a month and reptivite 2 times a month. I givethe crickets lettuce, carrots and repsahy bug burger.
• Supplements - all three supplements Are zoo med. without D3 5 days a week. Then one day without supplements. Then every Sunday he gets either with D3 or reptivite.
• Watering - I fill up a sprayer with tap water and spray his cage for about 2 Minutes. I see him drink and usually spray water into hismouth. I run the drip system 3 days a week.
• Fecal Description - poop is brown and no undigested incest parts in it. Urate is mostly white however for about 4 months he has had a little green in too and the vet checked him for parasites which he had none.
• History - got him from a pet local pet store which got him from I breeder I have met.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - large reptibreezescreen cage. Having a custom cage Biult now. Dimensions about26×26×48.
• Lighting - changed to a regular 75 watt house bulb for a little bit. 10.0 UVB in bulb. I run both lights from about 7:00 to 8:00 our just when it gets dark. the UVB is usually run every other day
• Temperature - around 87 fromtop to about 72 on bottom. About 68 lowest night and measured with thermometer.
• Humidity - don't know humid-Levels but there is a towel on two sides of cage to keep some humidity in.
• Plants - no live plants
• Placement - cage is at corner of my room near a air vent. Top of cage is about 1 foot from ceiling and bottom of cage is about 3 feet from floor.
• Location - Georgia piedmont region away from city.

Current Problem - so after the vet he got a vitamin A shot since he was having eye troubles and he was showing about 75% of vitamin A diffitionancy symptoms. He also got eye drops which the vet said give twice a day. I have gotten him to eat two worms and drink but his aim was WAYYYY off. The vet appointment was last Wednesday which is when he got the A shot and when I started the eye drops on him. He has shown no signs of improvement really and still wants to close eyes almost always. Never active unless I give him a long warm misting. ( by shower ) and then give eye drops so he can see. He then closes eyes after ten minutes and stops running around. He also acts like he is oblivious or ignoring me and food when it's around him. I don't know what to do. Please ask if you want more info

 

[Geckoflora]

I'm new to the hobby myself, so I'm not super experienced, but I had a similar problem a few months ago! Plus another member gave me some helpful advice for a different problem yesterday.

The air vent next to his cage could be problematic, as a the draft from it can cause problems for you chameleon, so maybe try moving it away from there? Also, I believe you should be running your UVB every single day for a 12 hour period.

Again, I'm no expert, and there are loads of people more experienced than me. I'm just relaying information I was told by another member in case you don't get any other replies for awhile!

 

[kelly_girl199]

Switch to a 5.0 UVB.I had a pather getting eye infection from sensitivity to UVB.Once I moved the UVB lamp to the side and away from the cage his yes stopped being so iritated. Lights may just be too strong for him.

 

[Daniel Martin]

Switch to a 5.0 UVB.I had a pather getting eye infection from sensitivity to UVB.Once I moved the UVB lamp to the side and away from the cage his yes stopped being so iritated. Lights may just be too strong for him.

I haven't even really been using the 10.0 that much. Also the problem started even when I had a 5.0 on him. And do you know where to get a 5.0 linear UVB

 

[kelly_girl199]

Amazon Reptisun brand

 

[kelly_girl199]

How close to the cage is the bulb?

 

[kelly_girl199]

@Andee

 

[kelly_girl199]

If to

I haven't even really been using the 10.0 that much. Also the problem started even when I had a 5.0 on him. And do you know where to get a 5.0 linear UVB

Of you are only running the UVB bulb every other day I would very well propose MBD as a very very probable cause. He needs it every single day 10-12 hours a day.

 

[kelly_girl199]

Also he needs much more than crickets and mealworms. Go to Linda's gone buggy or rainbow mealworms and order him a variety pack. Black soldier fly larvae are high in calcium, butterworms too. Hornworms are great for hydration. Get a cup of 25 stalls and start feeding them 1-2 a day, and within a week they will be big enough to really start feeding him. Silkies are the best but eberyone is sold out right now. isopods are high in calcium as well. Roaches are a great alternative to crickets. You can easily gut load those. They offer a lot of "meat" as well. It's a leaner bug.

 

[kelly_girl199]

How old is your UVB bulb?

 

[ChamLB]

The age of the UVB bulb would help, also I use only purified water, never tap water.

 

[KrazyZen]

one of my older female panther had the same issue what i did was gave here steam baths every day and she got better every new day after . how does your chameleons nasal area look ? is it clear?

 

[KrazyZen]

Also he needs much more than crickets and mealworms. Go to Linda's gone buggy or rainbow mealworms and order him a variety pack. Black soldier fly larvae are high in calcium, butterworms too. Hornworms are great for hydration. Get a cup of 25 stalls and start feeding them 1-2 a day, and within a week they will be big enough to really start feeding him. Silkies are the best but eberyone is sold out right now. isopods are high in calcium as well. Roaches are a great alternative to crickets. You can easily gut load those. They offer a lot of "meat" as well. It's a leaner bug.

just like kelly_girl said black soldier fly larvae are great for feeding they don't even need dusting another name they go by are phoenix worms and nutrigrubs ... i use them and dubia roaches myself.

 

[Daniel Martin]

Switch to a 5.0 UVB.I had a pather getting eye infection from sensitivity to UVB.Once I moved the UVB lamp to the side and away from the cage his yes stopped being so iritated. Lights may just be too strong for him.

I haven't even really been using the 10.0 that much. Also the problem started even when I had a 5.0 on him. And do you know where to get a 5.0 linear ibn.

How close to the cage is the bulb?

The UVB is about a foot.and I don't run it every day

 

[Daniel Martin]

How old is your UVB bulb?

It's new like a week old.

 

[kelly_girl199]

It's new like a week old.

It needs to be on 10-12 hrs EVERY day. I can almost bet your guy is developing MBD. I had a baby previous to the guynI have now due to several circumstances did not survive. He developed MBD.Couodnt use his tongue properly at all. Shot and missed alot.Wouldnt hardly eat or drink or move much.He also was developing eye infections. How are you gutloading his feeders? and like I said you need to ordernhim variety asap. The more you can do to get him back on his feet the better.Ask your Doctor about liquid calcium.

 

[kelly_girl199]

It's new like a week old.

for sure put some organic fresh carrot in with your feeders now.The betta carotene will help your guy absorb the calcium to his weak bones if he is developing problems like that.MBD can affect more than just bones, it affects muscles as well.It can affect overall health. Once the immune system is down other probems can and will occur. Also stick some orange in with crickets too.

 

[Daniel Martin]

O

It needs to be on 10-12 hrs EVERY day. I can almost bet your guy is developing MBD. I had a baby previous to the guynI have now due to several circumstances did not survive. He developed MBD.Couodnt use his tongue properly at all. Shot and missed alot.Wouldnt hardly eat or drink or move much.He also was developing eye infections. How are you gutloading his feeders? and like I said you need to ordernhim variety asap. The more you can do to get him back on his feet the better.Ask your Doctor about liquid calcium.

Ok my guy is showing all the symptoms yours did. So Phoenix worms?

 

[Daniel Martin]

for sure put some organic fresh carrot in with your feeders now.The betta carotene will help your guy absorb the calcium to his weak bones if he is developing problems like that.MBD can affect more than just bones, it affects muscles as well.It can affect overall health. Once the immune system is down other probems can and will occur. Also stick some orange in with crickets too.

Ok thank you. But he doesnt even want to eat. What should I do?

 

[kelly_girl199]

Ok thank you. But he doesnt even want to eat. What should I do?

did your vet run tests to prove it was Vit A?Or X-ray him for bone density?