Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a 3 week old baby orange veiled. During the day he will climb about 2 inches then stop and close his eyes for a good amount of time. later ill come back in the room and he will be in a different spot but still with both eyes closed. is he napping? also today i saw him rub both of his eyes along a branch but then he rubbed both sides of his mouth. what the hell is he doing? does he have something wrong with his eyes? please help anyone! thanks!

Are you providing mist for him? It will help wash out his eyes and could help with some eye related problems. I can't say what you are dealing with though.

I don't think chameleons nap, so I beleive you might have a dilema.
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1.1 Bearded Dragons
1.2 Maroantsetra Panther Chameleons
1.0 Long Tailed Grass Lizard
500 Escaped Crickets

Is this a baby veiled that you hatched yourself, or is this one that you received from someone else? What has your baby veiled been eating (what size and what type of feeders?), what sort of environment is he in?
His 'sleeping' and rubbing his eyes could be related. Perhaps he still has some afterbirth stuck on his eyes, maybe a bit of mucus membrane that is acting as a glue, preventing him from fully opening his eyes? Have you tried giving him a bath?
Have you spoken with the breeder to see if he had this condition before? How often do you mist him? Have you tried misting him with WARM water?
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi@yahoo.com

Daytime napping or lethargy in a chameleon is never a good sign. And closed eyes and irritated eye turrets could be indicative of an infection elsewhere that is manifesting itself in his eyes. I think a trip to the herp vet is in order. Perhaps Baytril could clear up an infection, but be careful with the dosage on such a small chamy.

Spiddy

Hey,

First of all, chamleons do not ever nap durring the day. As Spiddy was saying, when chameleons have a problem like an infection of some sort, prasites ect, the first sign is usually in the chameleons eyes. If only one eye was closed, I would say it is a possiblility, and a slim one at that. But since both eyes have problems, chances are that they don't have anything in them. I would not put him in the shower. Since he is so small, a single drop of water can cover his entire mouth and nostrils, drowning him. As Spiddy was saying, I would take him to the vet. However, most vets don't know too much about chameleons, so be sure to ask him on the phone about his chameleon experience. Since he is so small, (probably weighs 2-3 grams or so) giving him medicine will be very tricky. Talk to the vet and see what he has to say. Definetly post pics of the cham, and your setup.

Ank-Inc.
Adam.

Man i am so sick and tired of amauters not knowing what there doing . YOU should have researched this better. You probabaly have spray painted bamboo sticks in there that he is rubbing his eyes on and getting that in his eye. How often is he eating. what is his diet. Do you use declhoinated water? Do you have an I.Q.? A pulse? Get your cham to the vet before i eat it

Hey eye-eatchams4fun,

The fact of the matter is that he most likely is a begginner. Nobody starts out an expert, and in my opinion, there are NO experts in the field of chameleons, just people with more experience. No begginners will gain experience when there are people making them feel like crap. He does not necessarily need to take him to the vet. I hardly ever see my chameleons drink, but they are hydrated. If there is one thing I can't stand is when chameleon keepers call other chameleon keepers amauters. Experience is the best teacher, as Chris will soon find out.

Let us know how everything turns out Chris.

Ank-Inc.
Adam.

Also,

Thats if the chameleon is dehydrated. It can be quite a number of things making him close his eyes. Chances are that its dehydration, parasites or URI. All of these will be hard to treat for a 3 week old cham.

Ank-Inc.
Adam.

everyone thank you for all your help. i did have painted bamboo in the cage. i have now taken them out. i have seen him drink off a leaf with a dripper above it. he loves pinhead crickets and fruit flies. i have tried flushing his eyes with a warm mist but it did not seem to help. keep posting me information on what to do. ill try to get good pictures of him and get them on here.

P.s. i did alot of research before i got him. i know a good amount but nothing on eyes problems. sorry

thanks everyone else for the HELPFUL information!

The word 'amateur' is defined as:
A person who engages in an art, science, study, or athletic activity as a pastime rather than as a profession
from Latin 'lover from, to love'
Meaning amateurs are in it for the love, not for the money. That describes almost everyone here on this forum.
If you are 'sick and tired' of beginners' questions, please don't answer them. Your expertise and knowledge is lost on your condescension and sends the wrong message to those less informed who came here looking for some advise, not a brow beating.
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi@yahoo.com

I RAISE MY HANDS I READ AS MUCH AS I CAN AND STUDY THEM AS MUCH AS I CAN BUT AS IN ALL THING IN LIFE YOU CAN ALWAYS LEARN SOMETHING NEW IT IS SAD TO SEE PEOPLE HIGH ON THEIR HORSE DO YOU NOTICE THE RAL EXPERTS NEVER TALK TO PEOPLE LIKE IN THAT WAY BECAUSE IF YOU REALLY KNOW YOUR STUFF YOU LOVE TO TEACH PEOPLE NOT DEGRADE THEM I LEARNED ALOT!!LAST NIGHT WITH MY HERP VET AND AM THANKFUL THERE ARE PEOPLE ON THE FORUM WHO LUV CHAMS AND ARE EAGER TO SHARE RESPECTFULLY

Hi everybody(raises hand),

I think "eye-eatchams4fun" meant the word amateur as a begginner. I KNEW that Chris reaserched ahead of time, I just had a feeling. Just out of curiousity, how many chams do you have "eye-eatchams4fun"??? lmk

Ank-Inc.
Adam.

he died today at the age of 4 weeks. it seems he died from a cricket bite on his back leg. thanks for the help.

Good job rookie. I'm sure your chameleon is in a better place now.. And for all you "amauters" I have 12 chameleons, 6 panthers,4 veildes and 2 jackson, So if you guys ever need advice, my advice is to give them to me. Ill take better care of it mostly brecause you dont know what the hell you are doing. Thanks-

-Chameleon eater

Sorry to hear that Chris. Not every chameleon does good in captivity. Once they start going down hill, even the "experts" have a hard time reversing it. Do your best, stick with it, and your hard work will pay off. Don't be discouraged by such "experts" like eye-eatchams4fun.

You really are such an expert eye-eatchams4fun. 12 chams, wow. We will all come to you with all of our questions from now on, lmfao. Once again, there are no experts, especially somebody like you. Keeping chameleons is a learning experience. I got news for you, 12 chams isnt that much. I have over 30, got 2 more coming on Tuesday, and just ordered another 6. But its not a competition. I have a feeling that Chris did research chameleons quite a bit. He will learn from experience. It is a much better teacher than books, articles ect. However, reading will teach you the basics. But the secrets on making chameleons thrive is in experience. But, chances are, in Chris's case, the little 3 week old cham started going down hill, and there was nothing anybody could do. Including you and I.

"Ill take better care of it mostly brecause you dont know what the hell you are doing. Thanks-"

-Chameleon eater

Good one cham eater. Your a barrel of laughs...We don't know what the hell we are doing...lmfao. I don't know about anyone else, but I have been keeping chameleons since I was 11 years old. I never stopped. "You will catch more flies with honey, than with vinegar"

I am a strong bliever in "if at first you don't suceed, try, try again". I really hope that you get another cham Chris. You will never gain experience, if you listen to eye-eatchams4fun. Stick with it.

PS- how long, honestly, have you been keeping chams eye-eatchams4fun??

Ank-Inc.
Adam.

Ill take better care of it mostly brecause you dont know what the hell you are doing. Thanks-

-Chameleon eater

Oops, forgot to delete that last chameleon eater part. Disregard everything after "Ank-Inc, Adam." Thanks.

Ank-Inc.
Adam.

One last thing...

For such an expert eye-eatchams4fun, I'd think you would know how to spell the names of the chameleons you keep. It is "veileds" not "veiles".

Ank-Inc.
Adam.

Chris...I am so sorry you lost your chameleon.

How long have you been keeping chams eye-eatchams4fun??? lmk.

Ank-Inc.
Adam.

PLEASE post one here eye-eatchams4fun. How long have you been keeping chams, and what experience do you have with other species, ect. I really want to hear from you...hehehe

Ank-Inc.
Adam.