Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my young veiled cham starting shedding this week, a shed that seemed to take too long. I have been taking proper care of him since i acquired him, but hes having eye issues. his eyes are barely open and he has stopped eating. I've used eye drops but the problem isnt getting any better. before he started the shed he seemed totally fine. There doesnt appear to be any shed stuck in his eyes.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
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Blue Tongue Skink
Savannah Monitor
Ball Python
Jungle Carpet Python

Hey,
I really suggest getting his cage humidity up..When they shed,cage humidity is most important to help them out with their shed..How long has he not been able to open his eyes much and how long has he not eatten??Has he been drinking??Drinking is the most important thing if hes not eatting..Do you have any pics??If he doesn't improve really soon I suggest to take him to the vet..Don't wait too long..Good luck and hope everything works out.
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Jonny Blaze
1.0 Nosy Be Panther--Diego
1.0 Bearded Dragon--Vinny
0.1 Yorkshire terrier Brandy,10 years old
1.0 Golden lab-Dusty R.I.P May 16,2007,14.5 years old
1.0 Black lab "wiggler",2 years old
s136.photobucket.com/albums/q173/jonnyblaze_04/?sc=3

Chameleons can go down hill fast...so I would get it to a vet ASAP.

You said..."hes having eye issues. his eyes are barely open and he has stopped eating. I've used eye drops but the problem isnt getting any better"...what brand and type(linear/tube or compact) of UVB light are you using?

You said..."my young veiled cham starting shedding this week, a shed that seemed to take too long"...shedding problems can be associated with vitamin imbalances. What are you dusting with and how often? Please be specific. Also, what do you feed to the insects? Be specific please.

You said..."I have been taking proper care of him since i acquired him"...this answer is not specific enough to give you help...I need answers to the above questions and the following. What is the temperature in the basking area? Is he pooping? Do you use a substrate?

He actually died today...

I was using a 5.0 repti-glo tube lamp.

I dusted the crickets with Fluker's Repta-Calcium about every other feeding. The crickets were fed a mix of greens(kale, collard, etc), apple wedge, and Fluker's Orange Cube.

The basking spot reached 90 degrees. he was pooping until he stopped eating. and yes i used reptibark for substrate, but the crickets were offered out of a container with a feeding perch.

And I never took him to a vet, but i took to the store where i purchased him. i was told that once the eyes close up like that its really hard to do anything about it because of how small and delicate the cham is. he said my best shot was raising the humidity as much as possible (which I was already doing) and try giving the cham some eye drops. the guy there has alot of experience keeping chams.

Thanks for input. I hope to try this again in the future with an older chameleon that i would like keep primarily outdoors. i would like to here your input on this situation, and any advice for the future that you would like to share.
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Blue Tongue Skink
Savannah Monitor
Ball Python
Jungle Carpet Python

I'm so sorry that you lost your little chameleon. Its always heartbreaking when they die.

You said..."I never took him to a vet, but i took to the store where i purchased him. i was told that once the eyes close up like that its really hard to do anything about it because of how small and delicate the cham is. he said my best shot was raising the humidity as much as possible (which I was already doing) and try giving the cham some eye drops. the guy there has alot of experience keeping chams"...often they do die when they get to the point of shutting their eyes...but a visit to the vet might have found the problem and he might have lived.

You said..."i would like to here your input on this situation, and any advice for the future that you would like to share"...your husbandry didn't seem to be bad. You do use different products (light and supplements) than I do...so I don't know from experience if they are good or not. I also don't use substrate with arboreal chameleons.

Here are some sites that you might like to read, and if you have any other questions, just ask. I will do my best to answer them...
http://www.adcham.com/
http://www.chameleonnews.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/20060502074401/www.chameleonjournals.com/vet/index.php?show=5.Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/20060421082042/www.chameleonjournals.com/vet/index.php?show=6.Vitamin.D3.and.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/index.htm
http://www.chameleonforums.com/supplementation-mbd-1-a-2451/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

Hey there,
Sorry for your loss..I would be devestated if something happened to my cham..One thing you always need to do with them is to watch them for a period of time everyday to see if they're acting normal..When mine had a mouth infection,that is how i figured out something was wrong cause he was acting different..I also know that it was a cricket leg that made the cut that caused the infection which is why I believe he won't eat crickets anymore really..I hope you are doing ok,it's really sad he didn't make it..Sorry again..
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Jonny Blaze
1.0 Nosy Be Panther--Diego
1.0 Bearded Dragon--Vinny
0.1 Yorkshire terrier Brandy,10 years old
1.0 Golden lab-Dusty R.I.P May 16,2007,14.5 years old
1.0 Black lab "wiggler",2 years old
s136.photobucket.com/albums/q173/jonnyblaze_04/?sc=3