Help! Infected eye?

[bsash]

My male Jackson's chameleon's eye is very swollen. I am going to be taking him to a vet, but they specialize in mostly snakes, iguanas, and monitors, not chameleons. I am just looking for some advice in how to treat/ make it more comfortable to live with until then. Please, any advice would be very helpful right now.

As you can see, it is twice the size of the other eye. It has only been like this for two days, I have been trying to find out what it is with out such luck.

 

[LauraB]

It could be anything from MBD to stuck shed or injury or vitamin A deficiency or even parasites (if it's a newly acquired WC animal)

Just glancing at the bottom pic, it looks like his limbs are possibly swollen and "lumpy". That could definitely be MBD.

What lights do you use? What supplements do you use? What are highest and coolest temps in his enclosure? What are your humidity levels and how often do you mist?

 

[bsash]

It could be anything from MBD to stuck shed or injury or vitamin A deficiency or even parasites (if it's a newly acquired WC animal)

Just glancing at the bottom pic, it looks like his limbs are possibly swollen and "lumpy". That could definitely be MBD.

What lights do you use? What supplements do you use? What are highest and coolest temps in his enclosure? What are your humidity levels and how often do you mist?

His limbs are not swollen and lumpy, he does have a bit of stuck shed though, I haven't noticed any on his eye though. He is also captive bred, I bought him from FLChams. As for the lights, I use two of the Zoo Med 5.0 compact fluorescent bulbs, they are in my "hood" on the top of the cage. Those two bulbs keep the top of my cage at about 85-90 degrees and the coolest at the bottom of the cage is 70-75 degrees. My humidity is from a fogger in the water fall I have, which maintains the cage humidity at about 80-85%, but I do mist once or twice a day. The supplement that I use is a dust that gets sprinkled on the crickets called "Rep-Cal with vitamin D", which I do once or twice a week, and I feed him 3-4 times a week.

Thank you, I appreciate you trying to help!

 

[LauraB]

Nice of you to say, but I obviously didn't help much!

Here's a care sheet below that might be helpful - you might also want to research the compact UVB lights. I've never used them, due to alleged over exposure causing photo-kerato-conjunctivitis - it's been reported that swelling and closed eyes can be symptoms - but I do use Zoo Med 5.0 linear fluorescents on my cham cages. What size is your enclosure?

http://chameleonnews.com/10JulManchen.html

 

[bsash]

My enclosure is an exo-terra 18x18x24 enclosure. Thanks for the care sheet!

 

[geck123]

i had a veiled chameleon who got a swollen eye from a hornworm that bit him while eating it.the vet punctured and drained the eye,and told me to roll a q-tip around the effected eye for 3 days to make sure the eye was completely drained.the chameleon was nearly 7 years old,and the age as well as the constant stress,i think is what killed him.he died less than a week later.

 

[bsash]

i had a veiled chameleon who got a swollen eye from a hornworm that bit him while eating it.the vet punctured and drained the eye,and told me to roll a q-tip around the effected eye for 3 days to make sure the eye was completely drained.the chameleon was nearly 7 years old,and the age as well as the constant stress,i think is what killed him.he died less than a week later.

My chameleon is only 9-12 months old... I also only feed crickets, I was told not to feed anything else. However, know crickets can bite, I'll try cleaning it. I gave him a warm shower and he can open his eye not, but it is still swollen.

 

[LauraB]

Always a good idea to only feed the amount of crix a cham (or anything else) can eat at one sitting. Crix definitely will nibble on sleeping chams. If you have crickets free-ranging when your cham is sleeping, then drop some fresh greens into the bottom of the cage so they will eat that, not your cham

I might also remove one of the compact UVB lights. With that size cage, one linear 5.0 is sufficient.

Glad to hear he can open his eye!

 

[bsash]

I do only feed the amount he eats, never any left over. He eats 2 dozen every other day or every two days, so 3-4 times a week. Twice a week they are dusted. Also, the only reason I have two of the compact UVB lights is to keep the heat up at the top of the cage. Is it bad to have too much UVB? The lights are on a timer, they run for nine hours a day, from nine a.m. to six p.m., if so could I replace the other with a regular house bulb? I have not been able to find a heat bulb that does not put out too much heat.

 

[LauraB]

Just use a low wattage house bulb for heat. I've been using those for years - way cheaper in the long run and just as effective. Jackson's don't need the higher temps that Veileds or Panthers need (you probably already know that).

I can't substantiate the allegations that compact UVB lights will cause photo-kerato-conjunctivitis, but I've read enough data that I don't want to use them. I use one 5.0% linear bulb on each of my smaller cages, 2 on my larger (larger than 18 x 18 x 24) cages, replacing them every 8-9 months.

 

[bsash]

Yeah, I know, that is actually what is hard for me as my house temperature alone almost never drops below 72-75 degrees because it is still running off of radiator heat. Therefore, it is hard not to make the cage too hot, that's why I was using two of the UVB bulbs. I will get a better UVB bulb and see if that helps. I always replace them, even if they haven't blown out after 7 or so months. The one I have is only a few months old, maybe 2-3 but if it could possibly be hurting him it is not worth not spending the money.

 

[flyty808]

did your chams eye ever get better?

 

[bsash]

did your chams eye ever get better?

Actually, yes, his eye did get better... but sadly he passed away. It was out of no where, he was looking great and acting normally, so I am unsure as to what happened.