Sunken eyes

Ohhaiscarlett

Ohhaiscarlett

Member
I have an 18 month old Panther cham and the first time I saw him in the shop and since I've bought him he looks like he has slightly sunken eyes. I know he's drinking because his urates are white, and he's definitely eating a varied diet of locusts, crickets, morio worms, calci worms, wax worms and roaches. He has calcium powder on them and then calcium with d3 powder once a week. His temps are fine. I am awaiting the results of the fecal exam for him, but was wondering if there is a possibility that his eyes may just be like this? I've attached a photo to see what you all think.
 

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alphakenc said:
I will suggest feed him some hornworm and silkworm to boost his hydration.nice looking cham:)
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Thank you but I cannot get hold of hornworms or silkworms as I am in UK and nowhere will ship them to me. I have already tried looking for them. And thanks, he knows he's beautiful ha
 
Try increasing the mist time along with shower method,the eye look slightly sunken,hopefully you can correct them in time since his pooping urates is normal white color,but take it as a precaution:)
 
alphakenc said:
Try increasing the mist time along with shower method,the eye look slightly sunken,hopefully you can correct them in time since his pooping urates is normal white color,but take it as a precaution:)
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I'm lucky because he drinks straight from the most bottle, so I do this as often as I can for him as well as increasing the misting time. I will try the shower method.
 
His body looks a little dehydrated.

That said, I have one quad that has a very prominent brow ridge, and his eyes always looks sunken.
 
Ohhaiscarlett said:
how can you tell from his body? do you think this could be similar situation?
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It's not something I can point and and say, look here this is what I don't like. It's sort of the sum of everything, not one single thing.

When I look at your chameleon, I see sunken eyes. I see dry skin that is tight to the body. I can see creases in the skin. His skin almost looks shrink wrapped on him in places. Look especially around the base of his tail

A hydrated chameleon will have plump skin that moves freely over the muscles and skeleton. It won't have that dry look, although a chameleon that is about t o shed will have dry looking skin.

I don't think it is because he is skinny.

I hope that helps..
 
poke a hole in the bottom of a cup and put water in it and place it on top of the cage so it will drip on to leafs make sure hes drinking plenty
 
What concerns me most is that he drinks directly from the spray bottle. The majority of chams wont drink in front of people so it's a sign he's not getting enough hydration and is desperate for a drink by the time you start misting. How often are you misting and for how long? I mist 3 times a day for one minute to keep humidity up and I'm still thinking about increasing it.
 
oneillchameleons said:
What concerns me most is that he drinks directly from the spray bottle. The majority of chams wont drink in front of people so it's a sign he's not getting enough hydration and is desperate for a drink by the time you start misting. How often are you misting and for how long? I mist 3 times a day for one minute to keep humidity up and I'm still thinking about increasing it.
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He does also drink from the leaves when i mist his viv. I mist him around 4-5 times a day for around a minute, so he has plenty of chances.
 
Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Panther Cham, 18months, I've had him for two months.
  • Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? when I open the door and he climbs onto my hands
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? crickets, locusts, waxworms, morioworms, roaches, and calciworms. how ever much he wants to eat. I feed him daily around 4pm and leafy greens, carrot peelings and kale
  • Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? komodo calcium with d3 twice a week and calci-dust every other day.
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? dripper and hand misting. 4 times a day for a minute. yes I sometimes see him drink.
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? mostly white urates and healthy brown (similar to healthy photos posted on the forums) currently awaiting results of a fecal exam.
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. Bought fro a pet shop and i know nothing beyond this point. (his eyes were the same when I first saw him in the petshop.

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? wood and glass combo.
  • Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? arcadia usb 15w bulb, prorep 100w basking spot lamp. turns on at 7am and off at 7pm using the dimmer.
  • Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? starts off 80F and goes up to 90F at midday, then back down to 80F through the night(basking) lowest temp is 80F. I use the ISTAT PULSE+
  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? kept between 50% and 70% by hand misting and dripper. The ISTAT PULSE+ measures humidity.
  • Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? no live plants.
  • Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? on a desk no fans, and the window is always closed. top of case is around 6ft.
  • Location - Where are you geographically located? UK

hope this helps.
 
Ohhaiscarlett said:
He does also drink from the leaves when i mist his viv. I mist him around 4-5 times a day for around a minute, so he has plenty of chances.
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I almost never see my chameleons drink, so considering he drinks from a spray bottle and you see him drink a lot tells me something is amiss. If I ever see any of my chameleons drinking, I am worried unless there is an obvious reason such as they just laid a clutch of eggs.

If he has always been this way, I wonder if he has something else going on like chronic kidney failure Unless you have him in a hot desert where he will dehydrate quickly because of the hot, dry air, he shouldn't be dehydrated considering how much water you provide. To be honest, though, I doubt you are hand misting for a minute. That's a lot of water and pumping! If he is drinking every day off leaves that are misted to the point of forming droplets and he looks dehydrated, I think something is not right. Personally, I would take him to a reptile vet and look at his kidney function.

Dehyration, whether low chronic level dehydration or accute such as what happens with imports, is a major cause of kidney failure.

Good luck.
 
Hi i have had my chameleon for a baby and he is 2 years now he drinks from the spray bottle so i would not worry there.. I purchased a female chameleon about 3 months ago and she is about a 1 and half years old.. she is so different from my male chameleon she will not drink from the spray bottle and she is very shy..

I had a look at your pics and i think you are worrying a little to much.. If you have the right humidity and they are the right temp and getting vitamins and water then you are doing everything right..

Just a couple of questions

what does his enclosure look like? Is he sleeping in the day at all?

hope he is getting better
 
Your supplement schedule should be as follows:

Calcium without d3 every feeding
Calcium with d3 every two weeks
Multivitamin without d3 every two weeks (not at the same time as calcium w/d3)

Your temps may be too high if the ambient temp is getting up to 90 degrees
Ambient temp should be around 74 degrees with a basking spot of around 84

Other than my preference for screen enclosures those are the only issues I can see. High temps would definitely dry a Cham out faster.
 
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