Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,everyone I have had a Jackson cham for the last 3 years. He lives in a 3x3 cage with a live umbrella plant he eats supers false death heads lobster roaches butter worms silkies and horn worms. his ambient is 78 with a 85 degree basking with a 10 degree night time drop. The weather in Jersey has been Great. warm and sunny and he has been out for about a month maybe less. He is misted 3 times a day with an auto mister for 20-30 minutes. I have noticed on his right eye on the bottom it looks like a huge wrinkle and swollen. it is not closed or it doesn,t seem to bother him any suggestions or should I be concerned thanks Matt

Its swollen because hes been rubbing it against branches. You have to watch the humidity and high temp with a jackson. Check the eye for mites inside the rim. Or he can be having trouble sheding because of low humidity. He can also just have somthing in it you have to inspect the eye closely. Hope I helped.

what is the treatment for mites? and what do they look like. thanks Matt

Mites can be white,red,brown they look like skinny grain of sand. If you keep chameleons outside they can get them, Im not saying yours has them just take a close look. Soaking in a luke warm bath will take care of the body. For the eyes you can use a Q-tip and gently work them out of the rim. You can buy mite spray make sure its safe to use.

Generally if a chameleon is rubbing its eye on a branch, its either trying to clean it or clear away old shed or the air is too dry...or it has an infection. There are other possiblities too. I've never had a chameleon with mites....but that could be a possibility too.

If the eye is bulging out and goes back to normal after it stops rubbing it on the branch...that's normal.
If the eye stays bulged out, you should take it to a vet to find out what is going on.

I was looking at the bulge and under his eye it is hard.