Veiled Cham Closing 1 eye

ImaLeaf

New Member
I just joined the site and im guessing this has been posted a lot but bare with me please. I got a male Veiled Chameleon about a month ago from tikitikreptiles.com He is around 3 months now. I have had no problems with him until about a week ago. I noticed he was closing his right eye at times so i was going to wait it out to see if a piece of shed was just lodged in there or something. Now im asking for some help. I read that this can be caused by dehydration, low humidity, or lack of vitamin A. I know hes not dehydrated because hes poop as no yellow in it and i spray his cage probably more then I should. That saying his humidity is around 60-70% during the day. These are the vitamins i give him during the week. Calcium with D3 once a week. Calcium with no D3 three to four times a week. Herpitive once a week. And Miner-All once a week. Is there no Vitamin A in any of these? Ive heard of showers but from what i have read they usually dont help. Should i try anyways? Also I have him in a 16x16x20 cage at the moment when should i upgrade? Could his basking spot be to close to the lights which can cause irritation ? I use a 60watt day heat bulb and a Reptisun 5.0
I really will appreciate some help. Thanks
P.S.- How can i upload a profile pic i couldnt find the button on my profile page lol
 
Well trying the shower can't do any damage so its worth a try. As for your supplements, you should be giving Calcium w/o D3 everyday and then the herptivite and Calcium w/d3 every two weeks. I just alternate the last two every other Saturday. You can try doin an eye wash which is just plain Saline soultion.
As for uploading pics, when you hit the quote button below, a new page will come up for you to reply, below that there is an attachment button to attach pictures.
 
Eyes are sort of a "tell" for chameleons...closed eyes mean there's a problem, but it's not necessarily with their eyes.

I really think you should fill out the dreaded "How to Ask For Help" form.

Because he's young, you're apparently new to chameleon keeping and he's closing an eye, I suspect there's a problem somewhere in your husbandry.

So, just copy the form in that link, paste it into a reply and add your responses.

P.S.- How can i upload a profile pic i couldnt find the button on my profile page lol

In your "User Control Panel" the first thing on the left is "Your profile" below that is a link "Edit profile picture". There you can follow the prompts to upload a picture.
 
Filled out Help Form

Chameleon Info:
Veiled Chameleon, around 3 months old, male, i have had it for about a month.
Handling - I take him out probably twice a day. I try not to handle him a lot.
Feeding - I am feeding my Cham about 6-8 small crickets a day around 3pm everyday. I gut load my crickets with the Luker's Thirst Quenchers and High Calcium cricket diet.
Supplements - I use Rep-Cal Herpitive Calcium with D3 and no D3 and I use Sticky Tongue Farm's Miner-All. Heres my schedule: Monday-Calcium with no D3 and with D3 Tuesday-Miner-All Wednesday-Calcium with no D3 Thursday-Herpitive Friday- Calcium with no D3 Sat/Sun - Calcium with no D3
Watering - I have a dripper that i fill up once a day. I spray him about 4 times a day. he runs away everytime he sees me do it. Yes, ive seen him drinking several times.
Fecal Description - Havent had him tested for any parasites. His feces are usually long with about 90% brown/light black color and the other 10% white.
History - Hes young so I dont have any history that is notable yet.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - All screen cage. 16x16x20
Lighting - I use a 60 watt day heat bulb and a Repti-Sun 5.0UVB both from ZooMed. I dont have a timer. Week days i turn on the lights around 7am and turn them off at 10pm. to long?
Temperature - The basking spot is around 88' and the lower spot of the cage is around 77'.It drops to about 68 degrees when he is asleep. I have a ZooMed Thermometer and Hygrometer. I cant find a way to keep the probes in the cage so i just hold it under the light about three times a week for a min to check the temp and humidity.
Humidity - My humidity is between 60-70%. I spray the cage around four times a day and theres a dripper that runs most of the day. I use my ZooMed Hygrometer.
Plants - Yes, I have a small ficus plant in the center of the cage.
Placement - No not near any air vents. Its cage is kinda close to a TV that is almost never on until he is sleeping and is away from people during the work hours. The top of his cage is around four feet above the ground.
Location - I live in Annapolis, MD its getting chilly here now.

Current Problem - He is closing his right eye at random times throughout the day.
 
I think 88 is a bit warm for a young one...I also think you are taking him out too much. Twice a week would be a better schedule.

I tend to go with the 12/12 schedule, but I don't know that it's a requirement. However, as it's an easy thing to do, you might try shutting down the lights at 7. If the enclosure is in a room where lots of light might disturb sleep, consider covering the cage (like a bird). I wrap mine up at 7 every night so they aren't bothered by my late night computer and TV use in the room.
 
There were some compacts on the market that caused eye problems. It's possible that there are still some of the older, bad bulbs on the market. People here generally recommend the Reptisun 5.0 linear tube as a UVB light that is known to be safe.
 
I would just like to add my 2 cents. I have the compact spiral uvb bulb.
I have had no problems with this bulb. yes its true there have been some problems in the past, Howevr i heard they hae been taken care of.
 
Alright I think my Compact Bulb is a newer version, but next time im at the store I will pick up a tube one. Thanks for Help. Hopefully thats whats been the problem or just some crude in there that will eventually find its way out with some help.
 
pics?

is he cleaning his eye more than usual? the eye squinting? any bulges?

if i were you and this is just going off of your care given.

change the bulb to a florescent tube.

read sandrachameleons blogs on gut loading.

If these two dont work.

lightly smear fish oil on the back of a feeder. try this for a few days.

Good luck with your chameleon.
 
alright thanks for advice. his eye has no bulges he squints sometimes but i have noticed hes doing it less and less. his eye just looks a little irritated. maybe he poked it on a leaf or something but im switching to the tube.
 
I have had issues with newer compact bulbs. They can be used, you have to make sure that it is not too close to him. Make sure the fixture is atleast 1foot away from him. The intense light from compacts can hurt there eyes if they are too close, I found that out the hard way.
 
If you have a good digital camera (probably not your phone) and can get as close as you can without freaking him out, you can crop to just the eye and it will probably be big enough to give people a good idea what's going on.
 
i dont have a digital camera. im going to try with my iphone later today again. pretty good zoom on it i guess.
 
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