Terramycin
- Thread starter MattGian
- Start date
werecat
Established Member
Hello,
I'm sorry to hear your chameleon is having eye troubles. They are no fun. I am assuming you were prescribed the Terramycin by a vet. I would first consult with the vet to see if you should continue with treatment longer or if they have other options. You may need to give it more time although I believe that if there is not improvement within a couple of weeks it means that the chameleon is not responding to the treatment. That is what my vet told me.
There are a couple of other things you can do that will help her clear out her eye and flush out any junk. These will not help cure the infection but will give some relief to the cham and keep discharge from building up.
1. Give the cham a long warm shower (once a day or a few times a week). The technique is detailed in this post although I modify it using a spray bottle instead of a removable shower head.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/ataraxia/594-shower-chamber-treatment.html
2. Flush the eye in question with sterile saline solution (once a day). Below I've pasted in the technique I was taught and have used on my chameleon.
Below is my description of the eye flushing technique if you've never done it before. This was shown to me by both my chameleon vet and a senior forum member:
First, you want to use a sterile saline solution specifically for eyes, like contact solution. You will see many such solutions contain many chemicals and ingredients. You want one with the least amount of stuff in it if possible. Avoid anything with the chemical: thimerosal. I was told a good rule of thumb is that when you open the box, if the bottle has a red cap it is not safe for in-eye use, but if it has a white cap it is safe to use in the eye. I'm not sure where you are located, but I'm in the US and the one I got is from Costco (Kirkland brand). It was recommended to me by another forum member who has dealt with chameleon eye issues in the past. You want a squeeze bottle with a small opening as you will be squirting a stream of liquid fairly forcefully into the eye.
The technique:
(If you can make this a two person operation it will work better. One person holds the cham, the other squirts) While we have tried doing this with the chameleon standing upright, it works better to turn the chameleon on his side. He will hate this. (Some wrap the cham in a towel to make this easier and keep them from squirming. We don't since the towel freaks Egon out even more). *Tip - you want to hold the chameleon firmly enough to disable most squirming but not so hard you are squishing him. I try to make a firm "cage" with my fingers but I don't necessarily bear down on his body too much.
With the chameleon on his side and the eye facing up at you, squirt a firm stream of liquid into the eye. You must be more firm than you would think as the stream must fill/inflate the skin of the eye turret. This is how my vet does it and it is the only way to be effective. If the turret does not inflate then there is really not enough liquid getting under the skin to flush the eye. The stream may even come out the chameleon's nostril and this is ok. I used to think it was bad, but my vet corrected me, saying this is helping to clear anything out of the nasolacrimal duct (which would occur if there was an infection). The squirt should last for a second or two. You can stop once the turret inflates (it will go right back down). We usually repeat once so that we get two good squirts in. Allow him to stand upright as soon as you are done since the side position is very uncomfortable for them. We were told to do this as often as once a day for a week, but even one or two treatments may help if it is just debris.
Also, I like to monitor him for a few minutes after treatment just to make sure there are not complications like choking on the liquid. This has never been an issue, but I think it's good practice.
I hope this issue clears up for your girl quickly!
I'm sorry to hear your chameleon is having eye troubles. They are no fun. I am assuming you were prescribed the Terramycin by a vet. I would first consult with the vet to see if you should continue with treatment longer or if they have other options. You may need to give it more time although I believe that if there is not improvement within a couple of weeks it means that the chameleon is not responding to the treatment. That is what my vet told me.
There are a couple of other things you can do that will help her clear out her eye and flush out any junk. These will not help cure the infection but will give some relief to the cham and keep discharge from building up.
1. Give the cham a long warm shower (once a day or a few times a week). The technique is detailed in this post although I modify it using a spray bottle instead of a removable shower head.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/ataraxia/594-shower-chamber-treatment.html
2. Flush the eye in question with sterile saline solution (once a day). Below I've pasted in the technique I was taught and have used on my chameleon.
Below is my description of the eye flushing technique if you've never done it before. This was shown to me by both my chameleon vet and a senior forum member:
First, you want to use a sterile saline solution specifically for eyes, like contact solution. You will see many such solutions contain many chemicals and ingredients. You want one with the least amount of stuff in it if possible. Avoid anything with the chemical: thimerosal. I was told a good rule of thumb is that when you open the box, if the bottle has a red cap it is not safe for in-eye use, but if it has a white cap it is safe to use in the eye. I'm not sure where you are located, but I'm in the US and the one I got is from Costco (Kirkland brand). It was recommended to me by another forum member who has dealt with chameleon eye issues in the past. You want a squeeze bottle with a small opening as you will be squirting a stream of liquid fairly forcefully into the eye.
The technique:
(If you can make this a two person operation it will work better. One person holds the cham, the other squirts) While we have tried doing this with the chameleon standing upright, it works better to turn the chameleon on his side. He will hate this. (Some wrap the cham in a towel to make this easier and keep them from squirming. We don't since the towel freaks Egon out even more). *Tip - you want to hold the chameleon firmly enough to disable most squirming but not so hard you are squishing him. I try to make a firm "cage" with my fingers but I don't necessarily bear down on his body too much.
With the chameleon on his side and the eye facing up at you, squirt a firm stream of liquid into the eye. You must be more firm than you would think as the stream must fill/inflate the skin of the eye turret. This is how my vet does it and it is the only way to be effective. If the turret does not inflate then there is really not enough liquid getting under the skin to flush the eye. The stream may even come out the chameleon's nostril and this is ok. I used to think it was bad, but my vet corrected me, saying this is helping to clear anything out of the nasolacrimal duct (which would occur if there was an infection). The squirt should last for a second or two. You can stop once the turret inflates (it will go right back down). We usually repeat once so that we get two good squirts in. Allow him to stand upright as soon as you are done since the side position is very uncomfortable for them. We were told to do this as often as once a day for a week, but even one or two treatments may help if it is just debris.
Also, I like to monitor him for a few minutes after treatment just to make sure there are not complications like choking on the liquid. This has never been an issue, but I think it's good practice.
I hope this issue clears up for your girl quickly!
werecat
Established Member
One more thing. Since you said pus is building up in her eye, if this continues and does not clear out with showers and flushing you will need to bring her in to the vet. Reptile pus is not as fluid in consistently as our own and does not clear up on its own very easily. If it builds up it usually needs to be surgically removed by a vet. Hopefully this will not happen for your girl.
