Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My 3month old chameleon is having a few problems. His eyes look sunken and faroff, when ever i put crickets in his cage he goes to a high point in his cage and snaps at the air. He seems to want water but when every i mist him he shuts his eyes, turns black and tries to get away. Worst of all he has stopped eating. He also has one eye shut. I think it is calcium dust that got in his eye. Could he associate this with crickets and that is why he is not eating. If he doesnt eat what should i do? Give him veggies? Anyways im really starting to worry about him. He seems uninterested in everything but water, yet when i give him water he gets upset. Any help would really be appreciated. Please give me answers!

Help us help you. We need a LOT more info! This could be many things so we need to know what your setup is like, what the temp range (basking spot, cooler spots) from day to night is, what type of lighting (brands please), how long lights are on or off day to night, what you are gutloading and dusting with and how often, whether he can see any other animals or any reflections (stress). First, closed eyes can be symptoms of other health problems probably not calcium dust. He's not associating crix with dust. Next, are you spraying with hot water? Hot cools to warm on contact with the cham and will stress less than cool (cold) water will. Spray the plants around him and watch to see if he licks water off his face or off the surrounding leaves. To help us please do some basic care reading on these good sites...they may answer some of your questions and help eliminate the obvious problems sooner.
www.adcham.com, www.chameleonnews.com (good recent articles on veileds), www.chameleonjournals.com, www.calumma.com.

Check the "veiled hydration" thread for the "emergency" hydration techniques. http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=72490,72490

From what you describe, your cham is in bad shape and it will get much worse until the cham dies.

I am only assuming here, so please correct me if I am wrong.
Your watering methods are way wrong here.
Your chameleon is shutting its eyes because you are probably blasting him with a spray bottle. Chams won't do anything when they are stressed. Bundle this with an injured cham, and you have dire circumstances.

Give this cham the opportunity to rehydrate himself and clean his eye without you being in the room. (See the showering routine instructions)
Each day repeat this process until the situation gets better. (if it doesn't improve, or gets worse, see a vet!)

If you see that your watering method isn't working, change it. Every situation and cham is different, and sometimes it takes creativity to get a stubborn cham to thrive.
I am very happy to help you try to get through this, but please understand this can be 100% attributed to your care. (unless you got this cham in its current condition)

Sometimes you can re-arrange your cage to make your chams life easier. Put a vine closer to when your dripper is, or trim back your plants to let water get down through all the leaves and branches.

Invest a little time into getting better at providing what your cham needs from you.
Joe

He sounds very sick at this point. A vet could give him sub-cutaneous fluids at this point it may be needed. You could try a few drops of pedialyte several times a day and water several times. Spray him with very warm water to stimulate drinking.
Read amounts to give in a 24 hr period of time in a chart found in the article below.
http://www.icomm.ca/dragon/hydrate.htm
My vet told me 90% of the chams he sees in bad condition die from a lack of hydration that caused kidney malfunctions.
New owners don't realize how much spraying and attention to hydration they really need. When you combine that with over supplementation of calcium or vitamins the combination can be deadly since it puts a strain on the kidneys.
Also check basking spot and cage temps if they are too high your cham can dehydrate even if he is drinking. Also a good humidifier can work wonders for them. I use a small personal traveling humidifier right in the cage that I got at a Walgreens for about $30.00
One eye closed is a bad sign and you need to find the problem right away.