Possible panther eye problem?

[Alanalouisa]

Chameleon Info-
Chameleon: Small Blue Bar Ambilobe Panther Male
Handling: Once a day to go outside and soak in UVB sunshine, about 10 minutes
Feeding: Gutloaded pinhead crickets with cricket aid, dusted with Repcal Herptivite every other day and Repcal Calcium with D3 daily, about 10 crickets per day.
Watering: Spraying down 3 times a day for about 6-7 sprays each with filtered water, as well as a drip cup with filtered water left to drip for about 5 minutes twice daily.
Fecal Description: Dark brown with white urate
History: We just bought the little guy on Saturday (it is now Tuesday), he seemed fine until I noticed his eye yesterday (Monday). This weekend we had Santa Ana super dry heat weather and Sunday I bought him the Exoterra Fogger to put a little more humidity in his enclosure for the weekend, and Monday it was left on a bit too long and his humidity level was about 85% at night.

Cage Info-
Cage Type: Combo, 16x16x30
Lighting: Reptisun Tropical UVB 5.0, Zoo-Med Basking spot lamp 75W 8:00am-6:30pm
Temperature: Basking- 90'F, Floor- 75'F Overnight- 68'F. In cage thermometer
Humidity: Fluctuates from 40%-90%. Measured by dual thermometer. Created by misting, when really low I will turn on the fogger for ideally 30-45 minutes unless really dry outside.
Plants: no live plants, but we use the Zoo-Med Repti-Bark on cage floor.
Placement: He's placed on top of an Ikea Expedit 2x4 shelf about waist high in our bedroom. Window is parallel to the cage, yet he's by the bedroom doorway which is left open. No heater vents above. Also placed under sunroof.
Location: Northern San Diego County, California.

Current Problem-
I bought our first Chameleon on Saturday from LLLReptile and he seemed to be super active and happy. As soon as I set up his cage he seemed to be great and ate right away and everything seemed okay. This weekend was super hot and dry so I let our cage get a little more humid than I should have to compensate for the dryness coming through our house from outside. (I even drove 30 minutes out of my way Sunday from a BBQ just so I could mist his cage one more time, but ended up buying a fogger just so he wouldn't be too dry).

Monday, I noticed our little guy's right eye seems a little different than his left. It's not "sunken in" but it seems to not be as bright and open as the other eye. The skin seems to be dry so I'm hoping he's just starting to shed and maybe some skin got in his eye? He still uses it to look around, but doesn't seem to be able to move it at as wide of a spectrum as his left. The eye ball seems to inlay a little bit further from the lid as well (if that makes sense?). I took him out this morning and tried to flush it with a dropper full of warmer sterile water and then used a wet cotton swab to help cleanse the area as well. I was starting to get worried it was a sign of dehydration.

He kept it closed quite a bit and was really unhappy with me for majority of the day. He seemed to be very dark brown almost black and sat somewhat near the basking light and didn't move around much. (I read that it could be he was trying to soak up the heat and was just "basking", but I also have a hunch he could have been very stressed from me trying to cleanse his eye). Even through all of that he still hunted for his crickets and ate about 5 of them. He defecated and he lapped up a lot of water from his screen and vine. I noticed the lower he was from the light the brighter he became, so I ended up turning off the UVB for a couple hours in case it was too much for him, but it didn't seem to make any difference in his colors.

I'm starting to get worried and I don't know how long I should wait to see if it's something minor. I don't want to risk it. I've been reading up on the different options of a vitamin A deficiency or even too much humidity and moisture could lead to an RI and that those could be the first signs, so I'm not quite sure what to think, or is he still just trying to get used to the cage and maybe that's why he was unhappy all day? When I took him outside the past couple days he was flashing bright colors and today he still stayed a bit darker than what I've seen from before. Or maybe I'm being neurotic since this is my first chameleon and I know they are sensitive pets and I'm just being cautious when I notice anything out of the "norm."

Anyways, thanks for reading, I hope that I can get some sort of advice. Tomorrow I plan on just letting him be but to still peek and see how his eye is and monitor how he's doing unless I should take him to the vet asap. Is there any other signs I should look out for??

(Pictures- 1- Cage and setup from today, 2- Him being moody and almost black and you can notice his bothered right eye, 3- His left eye which seems fine, 4- His right eye in its "closed" state, 5- His right eye when it's opened, taken monday.)

 

[Alanalouisa]

Progress

So this morning he was seeming normal in his colors and turned dark once I opened his cage to feed him. He went after the crickets and ate, then when I misted him this morning he ran straight for the water and lapped it all off the screen. He seemed fine, yet his eye was closed nearly the entire time. I turned on his fogger to keep the humidity up in case he was shedding.

The past 10 minutes he turned all white and is in his basking spot. I don't know if I should turn the heat off (it is 90'F right where he's basking)? Is this a sign of critical illness or possible shedding?

 

[Jaden]

You have a few errors in your husbandry. First, you will probably need to change your supplements. Most people suggest calcium no D3 daily, multivitamin twice a month, and calcium with D3 twice a month. Also, most commercial gutloads are not very good. If you don't gutload well, your cham might not get as much nutrients, especially if your only feeding crickets. Another forum member, Sandra Chameleon, has a great blog on gutloading. I noticed a bowl on the bottom of the cage as well. If that is to catch the dripper, I would put screen over it. It will get very dirty from poop and insects. Last, I would recommend removing the wood chips. He could become impacted if he eats one while shooting at a cricket.
Jaden

 

[Alanalouisa]

Thank you!! I noticed the supplement thing too after looking at some forums. I actually just got back inside from taking the wood chips out from the bottom and replacing it with a puppy pad so it soaks up all the humidity. I will put a screen over the drip dish too tonight. At petco I noticed they didn't have any calcium powder without the d3 so I'm about to be off to lll again to grab some. I also grabbed some different gut loading gel, one that is calcium fortified by flukers, would that help as long as I also gut load with fresh veggies as stated? If it's not the best I would rather take it back before I open it. So far the little guy seems a bit happier since I removed the wood chips. All of the crickets moved upward and he was so happy eating them all and turned green again!

 

[cambech]

i wouldn't use the fluker's gel. it's fortified with calcium. If you're already supplimenting with calcium on his feeders this could be detrimental to his health. just use the vegies as you described to gutload your crickets and change up your supplementing as Jaden recommended. That's all you need. try not to use any of the commercially bought gels cubs or gut loads as they can get you and your little guy into trouble. keep an eye on "his eye". if he continues to keep it closed often, you may want to make a visit to the vet. Also, are you sure that your temps in the cage aren't too high for him. sounds like he could be overheating a bit. make sure your bulb used for basking isn't too high a wattage. good luck!

 

[Alanalouisa]

Okay awesome advice you two, thanks! His basking bulb is 75W and it gets to almost 90'F at the highest point of his cage. I'll move his vines and plants just a half inch further away from the top just in case. I'll also go return the Flukers. I just put in some fresh carrots, flax seeds, bok choy, apples and bee pollen into the cricket keeper and they are going crazy over it.
As for my cham- his spikes on top are definitely starting to shed. I think he may have had a piece of his skin caught in his eyelid because the whole lid is starting to peel now as well as the rest of his head. I've turned on his fogger twice today to bring up the humidity and he ran right underneath it the second time. This was right after I took the cage outside to clean the bark and it was so dry. Anyways, I think we're right on track now, if his eye isn't fully shed by friday I'll take him out to the vet. He needs a welcome to your new home checkup anyways! Thank you both for getting back to me and helping me with my husbandry!