Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Help please any one know whats wrong all the temps and cageing is good along hum is kind of low little dry around my place in the winter but just got a fogger whats wrong with her eye look at it.

http://www.[bleep]/photopost/data/500/3494DCP_0737small.jpg

OK her it is.

If both eyes look like this it might be dehydration. There are other signs of dehydration that might rule this out. Check for skin tenting. Take a fold of skin along the belly. Gently pull it away from the body in a fold. Release it. If the skin stays folded for a few moments your cham IS dehydrated. If the skin flattens out right away this is not the problem. If just one eye looks like this and dehydration is not the cause, you should have a vet examine this eye. It does not look normal. Is there any discharge or crustiness? I don't think it is a good idea to start dosing your cham with anything without a proper diagnosis. There are eye antibiotics you can get, but without knowing the specific problem you could do more damage. DON'T just start giving vit. A without knowing if there is a deficiency!! Vit. A is quite toxic in larger doses.

Is it one eye, both eyes, and how long has it been like this? This list can offer a plethora of advice on a myriad of subjects, but cham pathology is best left to veterinarians. Eyes are quite intricate, and eyelid closure could signal anything from the start of a hard shed, to an eye/eyelid infection, to a ruptured globe (worst case scenario). Review your husbandry, correct any problems, and find a vet to examine your chameleon's eye. Eyes are vital to a chameleon's livelihood, please don't wait to see if it will "get better". Try www.arav.org, then click members, then United States, for help locating a herp-friendly vet in your area, if you do not already have a vet in mind.

Good luck,
~Kerry

I've had this happen to my chams a couple of times. The most common things that can be causing it are:

Dehydration
Something in the eye
Eye infection
Lack of Vitamin A

For dehydration, give him a warm shower for about 30 mins a day for 7 days or so.
For something in the eye, you can use human eye irrigation solution to try to flush it out. May require a vet to do.
For an infection, you can get an antibiotic cream that you rub into it's eye which will usually clear it up.
For a Vitamin A deficiency, you need to make sure you are dusting with Herptivite vitamins on your feeders once a week. However, I usually give mine a single dose of liquid Vitamin A. An adult cham can only tolerate 400IU, and most storebought vitamin A capsule are 8000IU (ie. 20x), so I only smear a single drop onto a cricket and make him/her eat it. It is potentially dangerous, and might possibly kill the cham, but it hasn't hurt any of mine so far.

I mentioned this has happened to my chams before. Both times it was a Vitamin A problem. The 1/2 hour showers helped, but it was the Vitamin A that did the trick. Remember, it's just a single dose of about a drop. Takes about a week for the cham's eye to recover then, assuming this is the problem.

Good luck,
Paul
ps - I am not a vet...these are just my experiences.