Veiled cham right eye shut

rkruse3

New Member
Greetings! I am not new to reptiles, but am new to chameleons. This guy is my first one. I got gizmo a few weeks back and have noticed two "problems" since that time that may or may not be related.

The first was what appeared to be a blister on his casque. I had a 75 watt heat light sitting on top of the mesh and thought that he was have burnt himself when he was climbing on the screen. I have since suspended the light above the mesh.

The second, that happened three days later, is that he keeps his right eye closed. He can open it, and does when you approach on that side and he can't see you otherwise. There does not appear to be anything in or around the eye. I have lightly misted him, thinking that it may wash any irritant out of his eye. I have also turned off the UVB light today thinking that maybe that was the problem (have read such things on older postings).

For the basics. I have a 36*18*18 screened enclosure. I have been feeding crickets, mealworms, and superworms on a rotation dusted with Fluker's calcium with D3. I recently started the multivitamins (Exoterra) since they were back-ordered when the cage came in and out at the pet store (go figure!). Either way, I don't think a week and a half without multivitamins would cause too much harm?? I gut load my worms and such on grains and veggies. I have a 10.0 reptisun 26watt bulb suspended 12"-14" from the closest branch. I just switched from a 75watt flood type bulb to a 125 watt brooder lamp over the corner of the tank (thinking that the flood bulb was getting him too hot?) Since the bulb change he has had very nice poos (before they were equally as nice). I mist the entire tank to the point of run off at least once a day. I check the tank to see if the water has dissipated and mist again if needed. Basking temps are around 90 and the cool end of the tank is right at 70. At night i do not use any heat and the temps are probably in the mid 60's. Also, he is in my bedroom away from kids and other pets. I do not handle him at all. I try to let him be as much as possible.

I will include some pictures. ANY help would be appreciated. Like I said, I am new to the chameleon thing.
 

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He gets calcium with D3 every feeding? He should be getting it only twice a month or so and then without D3 most feedings. I think that and a 10.0 in such a small cage is slamming him with D3. I'm not so sure they blister like us when burned but I could be wrong, maybe some kind of infection or virus.
 
Your supplementation schedule should be:-

Plain, Phosphorous free calcium at every feeding
Once every month dusting with D3
Once every month, dusting with a broad spectrum multi-vitamin and mineral powder.

Your chameleon may be shutting his eye as a result of a vitamin A deficiency, but to be honest? If he was mine, I would have him to a qualified herp vet to have a look at him and see what the problem was.
 
Thank you for your fast responses!

I went out and got some "vit A with retinyl palmitate". I applied a drop to his feeders this evening and will do so every other day for the recommended time frame.

Lazy Boy & ZiggyStarDust

Thank you! You are right. I have been out of the reptile field for a while and wasn't sure which calcium to get. Of course I erred on the wrong side! Never fails:)

In the past I use to use the multivitamin about once a week, but if you feel that once a month or so is fine, I have no problem adjusting that schedule.

Thanks again!!!
 
Thanks for the link on the Vitamin A! Unfortunatley, I am not sure if that answers my questions or just adds more:)

Since the time I last posted, he has gotten worse. Now he closes the other eye and only keeps his "bad" eye open half the time. He is also beginning to weeze when he gets worked up. I gently took him out of his enclosure(for the first time) so I can get a better look at him. I really don't see anything wrong. I attached another picture. Any suggestions would help:)

Also figured out how to resize photos to upload them.
 

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Thanks for the link on the Vitamin A! Unfortunatley, I am not sure if that answers my questions or just adds more:)

Since the time I last posted, he has gotten worse. Now he closes the other eye and only keeps his "bad" eye open half the time. He is also beginning to weeze when he gets worked up. I gently took him out of his enclosure(for the first time) so I can get a better look at him. I really don't see anything wrong. I attached another picture. Any suggestions would help:)

Also figured out how to resize photos to upload them.

My advice would be to get him to a vet..... you are saying that he has got worse - seriously if you don't want to risk him losing his sight then take him to a qualified herp vet. If he is wheezing then he may have a respiratory infection, but the very fact that he is having problems with his eyes would say to me that he needs a vet without delay.
 
Soooo...after consulting expert advice I found out that gizmo was severely dehydrated. I was able to sit him in a warm mist and he drank non-stop for at least fifteen minutes. This wasn't any different from what I normally do except that the water was on the walls and not the plants. Also, I added a drip system. Within the hours his eyes were open. By the next day he was "running" around like a madman again :) it looks like he should make a full recovery!
 
Thanks for the link on the Vitamin A! Unfortunatley, I am not sure if that answers my questions or just adds more:)

Since the time I last posted, he has gotten worse. Now he closes the other eye and only keeps his "bad" eye open half the time. He is also beginning to weeze when he gets worked up. I gently took him out of his enclosure(for the first time) so I can get a better look at him. I really don't see anything wrong. I attached another picture. Any suggestions would help:)

Also figured out how to resize photos to upload them.

Please share with me how you resized your photos because I have not been able to post any photos directly.

I just took my juvenile veiled to the vet because she hurt her right eye when she escaped for a few minutes and climbed up a Sago Palm outside. Before my vet looked at her, he said that usually eye problems are health problems not injury. He looked long and hard and did find the eye injury, which surprised him. She is on the mend.

The take away message for me was eye problems are most likely to be health/sickness problems, not injury.
 
I looked at the pictures of your enclosure and the plants seem very low. I wonder the blister on his casque is from a burn by trying to bask under the light by hanging off the screen at the top screen, too close to the hot light.
 
That is great! You should add a horizontal branch or two towards the top about 10 inches down below the lights. He has to be able to warm up and seems you branches are down way too far for him to do so.
 
http://www.picresize.com/
This is the picture resize site. It is free and easy. Just set the size to 250k or less.

Yes! I need to add branches higher up. I am doing that tomorrow morning. I am also adding a drainage system.

I have been looking at a lot of the enclosures on this site and noticed the higher cross branches.
 
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