Panther issue

[chameleonneeds]

(sorry the title should read panther eye issue)Hi guys. This is my first time encountering this problem and I was hoping anyone with experience with this may point me in the right direction for treatment? Any clues might be appropriate for me to mention to my vet in deciding exactly what it is thats wrong with these little guys and the appropriate treatment.

The previous owner used reptisun 5.0 and 2.0 linear tubes for UVB source, so I think I may rule out the fact that it isn't from UVB, but it might still be possible? I acquired these captive bred 3-4 month old Ambanjas yesterday and this is how they arrived to me, the seller obviously knew but did not mention a thing. It has been a mission to firstly get these animals to me. They were all kept together while with him and they are together in a cage with me. They stay outdoors most the time but I move them inside when it gets too cold. When they are inside they are under a 5.0 uvb tube and a 50watt spot lamp.

Baby 1, the largest, has both her eyes puffy like this and her eye sockets are also droopy. I have not seen her eat, only drink. She is also roaming the cage a lot and rubs her eyes quite a bit.

Baby 2 eyes arent as puffy but eye sockets are significantly droopy. Sorry this isn't the best picture to show what I am talking about. The above picture of baby 1 shows the droopy socket which this baby also has.

Baby 3, both eyes seem poofy, eye sockets not as droopy but his right eye is usually constantly closed. He had what looking like a bit of a film over his socket and I could see his eye beneath, each time after putting saline in, he would open in and keep it open for a bit only to later keep it closed again.

I have put saline solution in all of their eyes aswell as given them long showers outdoors and in the shower with warm water.

Like I said, I am taking them to the vet tomorrow morning so any possible clues to the problem could help me quite a lot.

-Tyrone Holmes

 

[jannb]

Hi Tyrone, it's nice to see you back on the forums. Your new little ones are cute. I hope you can get the eye problems fixed. Hopefully your vet will have some answers. I'm thinking it might have something to do with their lighting. I've had veiled babies before that had sensitive eye to the lights especially new UVB bulbs. I started using older UVB bulbs that were not putting out much UVB and that seemed to help. I had one baby that had to get natural UV only until she was about 6 months old because everytime I put her under a bulb she would start rubbing her eyes and closing them. Outside she was fine. Keep us posted on what your vets says.

 

[chameleonneeds]

Hi Tyrone, it's nice to see you back on the forums. Your new little ones are cute. I hope you can get the eye problems fixed. Hopefully your vet will have some answers. I'm thinking it might have something to do with their lighting. I've had veiled babies before that had sensitive eye to the lights especially new UVB bulbs. I started using older UVB bulbs that were not putting out much UVB and that seemed to help. I had one baby that had to get natural UV only until she was about 6 months old because everytime I put her under a bulb she would start rubbing her eyes and closing them. Outside she was fine. Keep us posted on what your vets says.

Thank you for the re-welcoming Jann, I started keeping some veileds again and recently bought these panthers. I also feel it could be lighting but I have treated them with some ofloxacin, an antibiotic eye drop. These are supposed to be CBB from germany but I have my suspicion that they are wild imports. That could indicate their poor health - possibly being wild caught, the indoor lighting used (5.0 tubes) proved to harsh on their eyes? Or possibly during the illegal import - they were exposed to a lengthy time of heat and dry conditions.

I will continue with the treatment and have my eye out for any other symptoms that might show up. I have thought maybe the smallest one has a RI, but not sure at this point. It is so difficult and stressful trying to treat such small chameleons - especially with administering oral medications. I gave them all very small amounts of heptonic and liquid calcium with my vet recommended for animals that have not been eating and are under numerous forms of stress. I hope that they make it through this, if I can just get them to start eating properly for a couple weeks then I will begin a panacur deworming cycle to also eliminate those.

Would anyone suggest I do panacur now as I know parasites do more damage during times that the chameleon is under stress, deworming could decrease physiological stress but at the same time will add psychological stress.