Downsizing Chameleon Cage

[HeliGoddess]

Thanks for the information. I think I may actually just go with something different, but for now I'm not doing anything because my chameleon has a really bad looking swollen eye. I am taking to a herp. vet on Thursday, but I'm really worried about him and he really doesn't look too good. He is still eating and moving around his cage a bit, so I think it is just an eye infection, but eye infections kill chams!!!! I'll keep you guys updated on how he is doing and what the vet says.

[Frilleon]

Wow, sorry to hear that! My veiled has had some eye issues in the past. They were all shed related and just took some extra care in weting the eye. From my experiance if your not spraying the cham enough in very low humidity enviroments you can run into shed issues, this typically shows in eye and foot infections in chams. I have a misting system in my cages with at least 3 sprayers in each cage. Have not had any issues since. The other cause (which I hope it is not) that I just heard about is your light. Some of the new high output light bulbs have been giving reptiles bad eye infections. Basicly they are sunburning the lizards eyes. There is a ton of info. out there now on it and groups are in fact gathering info. to tell the light manufacturers. This has been very fatal to a lot of reptiles so I hope it is not that. Please keep me informed of the issue and I hope all ends up well.

Thanks for the information. I think I may actually just go with something different, but for now I'm not doing anything because my chameleon has a really bad looking swollen eye. I am taking to a herp. vet on Thursday, but I'm really worried about him and he really doesn't look too good. He is still eating and moving around his cage a bit, so I think it is just an eye infection, but eye infections kill chams!!!! I'll keep you guys updated on how he is doing and what the vet says.

[HeliGoddess]

Well, according to the Herp. Vet. it looks like one of two things; an eye infection or there is a small gland that drains the tear ducts from the eye socket down into the back of the throat, which could be plugged up. So far he is going to be treated like he's got an eye infection. We put him on Baytril, a reptile antibiotic, and he seems to be making some good progress. I am concerned that my lights could be a small contributing factor because I've heard that compact fluorescent bulbs can cause problems because they distribute the UVA and UVB in a wierd way, which can possibly cause metabloic imbalances or immune system problems which can lead to eye infections and other problems. I switched from the Mercury vapor heat bulb to a basic heat bulb, and I am hoping to get linear fluorescent tubes in the near future, so that shouldn't be too much of an issue any more, but as I said he is making great progress, and looks like he will make a full recovery.

[thez_yo]

So... do we get pics of your cute chameleon or not? :3

[HeliGoddess]

My chameleon is looking a lot better, and doesn't seem to be having any more problems with his eye now that I've been using an antibiotic from the herp. vet. And, yes here are some pics:












---------- Post added at 03:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:33 PM ----------

Sorry, I couldn't get the photos to show up on my screen, so if they aren't showing up on yours, here's a link to them:

http://s1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd440/aacp123/Chameleon%20Pics/

[thez_yo]

Aww what a cutie! Here's help with posting:

[HeliGoddess]

Thanks, I can usually get the photos to show, but for some reason it wasn't working for me today.

[Frilleon]

Glad to hear you lizard is getting better! I live by the Mercury vapor bulbs as they last longer and the UVA/UVB output is better. You just really need to heed the 12-16 inch distance with them.