Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have a panther which is about 3 months old or just over he had problems when i first got him with his eyes but i shrugged it off as being just one of those things as he seemed to eat and drink fine and didnt seem to bother him until about 2 weeks ago when i noticed a couple of problems..

sleeping more
rubbing of the eyes on twigs etc
and dislocating the eye to move it around

on seeing this he was off to the vets who in turn told me he where he had shed a piece of his shed had got inside his eyes and was obstructing them (both eyes) i was given eye drops which i was told twice a day in both eyes and hopefully it will work otherwise come back and we'll have to use critical care and have a rethink..

so the next week no joy and hes on 2ml of critical care a day (if i can get it down him as i dont wanna force him with the problems hes already got)

i called a good friend of mine who's well respected with chams over here (Rob lane) for those who know him and he told me to keep a mister on for a good 10 mins to make sure he drinks and hopefully will flush some of the eye drops/conjunctevitus away - he also said it'd be better to use in the infected eye only as it can be a bit greasy the drops and it can make his vision very blury which is understandable ..

im not sure if he's eaten much in honesty as the feaces gets washed away by the misting system - could anyone give me any other advice on how to pass him the critical care without physically opening it for him and stressing him further?
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4x Veiled Chameleon
1x Panther
Hollie/Willow > female veileds
Carling/Houdini > Male Veileds
Louey > Panther
Tolkien > Fischer Chameleon

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Edited signature file to remove unacceptable advertising. [phw 8/7/04]

When you say he's sleeping more, do you mean he is actually asleep (showing sleep colors and hard to rouse) or is he simply sitting still with his eyes shut but showing "awake" coloration? If he is really sleeping more, his eyes may be a symptom of other larger problems such as internal infection or disease, vitamin or mineral imbalance, etc. If he is trying to move around normally but his eyes are stuck shut (or he's unwilling to open them), the problem may be his eyes themselves. If there is discharge, probably an infection that the antibiotic should help. You can clean discharge off his eyes and help him keep them cleaner and more comfortable by the misting and using sterile contact lens rinse solution (saline) to flush away crusts. If he's drinking, you could drip Pedialyte onto his snout while he's swallowing. That should give him some electrolytes and glucose for energy. If you can get him to gape when he is touched or handled try putting crix in his mouth and letting him swallow on his own.

well hes too small to tell if hes sleeping or not to be honest - hes not moving around the viv arms stretched but his eyes do open which revealed a small scab like obstruction on the eye which i managed to remove today - hes not eating full stop and i cant get him to gape at me at all - hes on critical care but i dont wanna stress him more than he is already which is basically why im on here trying to get ideas of how i can get food in him without hurting him or stressing him more than need be.
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4x Veiled Chameleon
1x Panther
Hollie/Willow > female veileds
Carling/Houdini > Male Veileds
Louey > Panther
Tolkien > Fischer Chameleon

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Edited signature file to remove unacceptable advertising. [phw 8/7/04]