Very New Owner - just 4 days

ajmess said:
The basking lamp I was told to purchase at the shop was in fact a mercury vapor,


:eek::eek::eek:.... I believe your problem is.... Photo Kerato Conjunctivitis! That Murcury bulb was frying your little guy. I got a bad bulb for my first cham years ago and the same thing happened!! Thats probably not a real shed either.... He got burnt and is peeling. I went thru this!!I thought my guy was gonna die for sure. he got better within a few days after I got rid of the bad bulb:) He is in my avitar. This happened just a few days into him getting here too!!! His eyes shut and started peeling....I freaked and called the seller... I did a google search and found out about it. It is caused by over exposure to UVB, if your guy was too close he was affected. A vapor bulb at 100 watts has to be a good distance away, and never on little guys. You should see improvement soon... since you have changed your bulb;) There is a pic of my cham with this condition in the thread (Are they safe now? Compacts) .... post #23 He climbed rite out onto you because he wanted out!! Dont beat yourself up over this either!.... But I would go straight down and tell the pet store about thier bad advise! I bet thier cage isnt set up with that bulb, or if it is..its a good distance above the cage
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I am so happy to hear that somone has experienced this as well. I put a 40 watt bilb in there yesterday and tonight when I misted he opened his eyes (YAAAAAAAY!) I cannot tell you how happy that made me. He has started to get his color back, his green is greener if that makes any sense. I think he may have even changed color a bit, a little brownish to match his tree.

So, can anyone weigh in on the feeding part? Should I let him take it upon himself or use the syringe with reptiboost? Also I read something about baby food on the leaves, has anyone had any success with this?
 
glad we were able to help i had a feeling that was the problem i use the murcury vapour but never on young chams only my adults and only my males
 
ajmess said:
I am so happy to hear that somone has experienced this as well. I put a 40 watt bilb in there yesterday and tonight when I misted he opened his eyes (YAAAAAAAY!) I cannot tell you how happy that made me. He has started to get his color back, his green is greener if that makes any sense. I think he may have even changed color a bit, a little brownish to match his tree.

So, can anyone weigh in on the feeding part? Should I let him take it upon himself or use the syringe with reptiboost? Also I read something about baby food on the leaves, has anyone had any success with this?
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the baby food on the leaves is a good idea i use the baby food in a syringe for baby beardies that arent eating lol so i cant see it being much different i use the chinken bay foor and mixed veggie for the beardies
 
Do you recommend trying to help him eat the reptiboost? Or letting him eat on his own? I read in a care sheet (from Jan I think?) that you could brush baby food like applesauce on the leaves to help sustain him. He hasn't eaten any of the mealworms I have provided either.

I have to think it's about 100x worse then a human having a sunburn - ouch!
 
Okay I will try that. I'm super hesitant to make him gape, he is probably stressed out already and I certainly don't want to make it worse.
 
Thank you so much again. I am SO happy I found this place, I don't believe he would have made it to today otherwise. I am hoping he will continue to improve. Thanks so much again!
 
ajmess said:
Thank you so much again. I am SO happy I found this place, I don't believe he would have made it to today otherwise. I am hoping he will continue to improve. Thanks so much again!
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When my guy got that done to him, he started back eating once he could see his food again. Im sure his eyes are still a bit blurry....But luckily this conjuctivitis isnt permanent in a few days he will be back to normal. As soon as I saw you said you had the vapor bulb I knew exactly what was wrong with him. You were smart to take others advise and got a new bulb and fixture:D That little guy would not have taken any more days under that bulb
 
photo-2.JPG

Does he look like he is getting better?

I misted this morning and I think I may have made him a little mad, he gaped and his colors became very intense. Should I take this as a good sign? I figured him showing some emotion was a good thing.
 
ajmess said:
View attachment 53166

Does he look like he is getting better?

I misted this morning and I think I may have made him a little mad, he gaped and his colors became very intense. Should I take this as a good sign? I figured him showing some emotion was a good thing.
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Yep..... Are his eyes fully open yet? Hard to tell from that pic. Try seeing if he will take a crick from your fingers or small meal worm. You may wanna spray him with some Repti shed, its got aloe and stuff to sooth his skin more than just water would. I only say this because his skin may have got burnt a little, but his shed doesnt look like the flakey peeling my guy had when he got toasted:eek: If you can..... find him some juicy type feeders. Keep us updated..... Dave
 
He has one eye completely open, the other is partway open. Tried the mealworm but I think I may be making him a little nervous. I'll get some reptished if I can find a place that is open today. Fishing is big around here so I bet I can find him some other type of feeders.
 
ajmess said:
He has one eye completely open, the other is partway open. Tried the mealworm but I think I may be making him a little nervous. I'll get some reptished if I can find a place that is open today. Fishing is big around here so I bet I can find him some other type of feeders.
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Good idea.... He will be hungry and thirsty. I bet when he can see good again he will dive rite in;)


Oh yeah..... Its easter sunday.....:eek:
 
Updating

Hello All, my little guy seems to be doing better however, I still have yet to see him eat anything. I have been able to get a little bit of the repti-boost and some baby apple sauce into him but not much at all. Any suggestions on very small food items?
 
The smallest feeders would be fruit flies, pinhead crix, or roach nymphs. But, if he is not opening his eyes much of the time he won't hunt them. Basically you need to keep him going with liquids until he is ready to hunt on his own. A tip...if he does start drinking when sprayed or dripped on, do it with plain warmed water to start the swallowing response and then add the supplemented liquid, Pedialyte or whatever you are using. He will be more likely to swallow it this way and you won't have to stress him by forcing it.

He is extremely young...whether we want to hear it or not, such young hatchlings often don't survive no matter what we do. But, for pet shops they are cheaper to buy, house, and sell (tiny equals cuter) than older juveniles who had more care and feeding invested in them by the breeder.
 
Thanks, I spoke with his vet today and she pretty much said the same thing. She didn't think it was wise to bring him in and gave me her suggestions based on my descriptions and images. She thought he is perhaps 6-8 weeks old, she just keep doing what I am doing and hopefully he will come around but he is even too small for her to try to do anything with. :( I am going to keep doing what I am doing and hope for the best. Is there anyone here that has experience with such young Chams?
 
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