Possibly Blind in Left Eye

[lllooneyyy]

Hello all, been reading for a while, but first time post. I must give you all credit, I have read a lot of exceptional material on this forum. I have seen, through posts, how it has helped readers. I have an issue that I haven't seen addressed. That may be because no one has seen or experienced it, so I figured that I'd throw it out and see if anyone can shed some light on the situation.

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Ambilobe Panther, male, 6 months old, have had for 2 months.
Handling - Once a day, in the morning, to administer meds prescribed by vet. Other than that, periodically.
Feeding - Crickets mostly and occasional meal worms. Have been using a feeding cup until this week. Gut loading with Flukers calcium diet and friuits and vegetables.
Supplements - ExoTera Calcium only (every day), ExoTera Multivitamin (Wed/Sat), ExoTera Calcium w/ D3 (1st and 15th of month)
Watering - Drip system all day, spraying cage 2-3 times per day. He has been drinking without issues.
Fecal Description - White urate, darker brown/green solid feces. Was very watery when giving meds. He has been to the vet for his condition, not sure if he was tested for parasites.
History -

Cage Info:
Cage Type - 2' x 2' x 4' screen cage.
Lighting - ZooMed Reptisun 10.0 24" fluorescent light, 2 100w heat lights. Lights on at 6am off at 6pm.
Temperature - 98 deg top, 72 deg bottom. Overnight 68 - 70 deg. Measured with an infrared thermometer.
Humidity - 50% at top, 65% at bottom. Maintained by live plants and daily spraying. Measured with humidity gauges at top and bottom of cage. Get's a shower once or twice per week.
Plants - Have 2 Ivy (Pothos) plants. Small at top, large at bottom.
Placement - Cage located in corner of room. No fans, vents have been closed to that area. Bottom of cage is 2 ft off floor, top is 6 ft off floor.
Location - Located in south central Louisiana

Current Problem - Ed has had one eye larger than the other since he arrived. He was packaged correctly from the breeder, but breeder says that his eyes were not like this when he left them. I believe them. I was sent pictures before he left their place. When he arrived and was removed from his package, he was black and very angry. He was about 4 months old. He was so small for his big cage that I began cup feeding him. He did well, and all seemed to be OK with his mis-shapen eye. I took him to a herp vet to see if she could give more information and/or treatment for his eye. She said that she couldn't find any outward signs of an issue. No infection, no trauma, so she suggested it was a vitamin A deficiency and gave him a vitamin supplement to be received daily. He has been receiving it for 4 weeks with no visible change. I don't think it's working and am worried about vitamin A overdose. The vet didn't explain exactly what was in the supplement, so I'm cautious. This week I decided to do away with the feeding cup and let him hunt his crickets throughout the cage. He can hit them but he misses more than he hits. He will eventually get them all through out the day. It seems like he may be blind or impared in his left eye, the smaller one. I have noticed that he can be approached on the side of his bad eye (left), and he doesn't move or flinch, but he does for the other side. He also tries to always have his left side away from anyone that approaches him. I am just wondering if anyone has seen something similar to this. He is eating, drinking, growing, and his colors are changing beautifully. I don't have any question of him surviving, but if his condition is fixable, I think he would be happier seeing out of both eyes.

 

[zsazsa85]

Well, I can not help.. His right eye looks like when they rub their eye on a branch and it pops out.. But it should go back after a few seconds. Something must've happened during shipping then..
I would stop the vit.A now, if nothing has changed, it can hurt rather then help. If he seems healthy otherwise and it doesn't bother him, I would't worry too much about it.
Sorry to hear that though, it must be very frustrating..

 

[werecat]

Interesting. If he has been this way since you've had him I would suspect a birth defect. Does he ever keep the eye closed and/or rub it on a branch? My chameleon developed an eye issue at about 18 months and despite treatment has gone mostly blind in that eye. What you are describing as your cham's behavior is very similar to mine.

Some things I would say first is that your care seems pretty spot on although the Fluckers gut load is not very good. Try Cricket Crack or Bug Burger for better nutrition. Also, your highest day temps seem a little too high for a juvenile. It's not recommended to go higher than 82 degrees Fahrenheit for panthers under 8 months. Adults can go up to 95 degrees F but I wouldn't go much higher than that. Also, you use a 10.0 uvb light. While that is fine (many people use them with success) it might be too strong for your little guy. You could try switching to the 5.0 for awhile to see if there's any improvement. Before giving up completely, look into an exotic opthalmologist. They apparently exist although I never found one. Otherwise, have your herp vet give him another thorough look. That way you've done everything you can.

Our cham vet did three different treatments before saying that since he wasn't responding he was just probably one of the few who doesn't respond to treatment and that he was healthy otherwise. He lost most sight in the left eye and had some trouble with his aim for awhile when hunting. He has since adapted really well and is living a normal healthy life. He hunts on his own and we've never had to cup feed.

It really sounds to me like your cham might just be this way. If so, continue to make sure he is managing to catch enough food and is gaining weight and growing. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me. Good luck!

 

[lllooneyyy]

Thanks for the insight, Werecat. I will try 5.0 bulb and see if it helps and will also change to a different gut load.. The upper cage temp was measured on the top of the closest branch to the lights. The general temp in the top of the cage is not as high. He seems to have a sweet spot where he likes to hang out and I don't want to change that on him by adjusting temps. He travels all around the cage and sleeps in different places at night, sometimes toward the top and other times toward the bottom. He is relatively accurate with his tongue at short distances (3"-4"), but can't hit anything past that. He's eating well, and growing and shedding. I will remember about the exotic ophthalmologist, and may look into it, but it sounds exceptionally pricey. The next step will be back to the vet in a few weeks. Thanks again.