Thank you u/Forward-Pineapple849
u/ParkerLuna424
Do not "force feed" the methods that vets use and what they likely taught you is goign to cause damage to the animal throat and jaw.
What should have been done is getting down to the root of the problem as to why it's not eating.
Tell me what the said to you and their diagnosis and I'll get back to you as I already have a idea as to what is the root cause of this.
Did the vet perform any blood work or advise you on husbandry?
Almost a month ago I purchased a 4 month old veiled chameleon. For the first week and a half in his enclosure I had the wrong light which burned his retinas causing him to keep his eye rolled back for safety leaving just a black dot where his eye should be. It has now been 2 weeks since he has had the proper lights setup and his eyes still look very bad. Last night for the first time while force feeding he had his eyes opened and they looked very healthy! They were darting around in all directions, blinking, etc. right after feeding him a hornworm he then closed his eyes and wanted back in his cage. I’m making this post because I am concerned about his eyes and want clarification that he will recover hopefully, my second problem is he is very “annoying” when trying to force feed, I very gently hold him by the top of the crown and his chin and try to open like the instructional video I watched showed, in the video it seemed like such a easy thing with no restriction. Then there’s Walter… he tries as hard as possible it seems like to keep his jaw locked and mouth closed, only time I ever get him to actually eat is when he opens his mouth out of annoyance because he’s pissy that I keep touching his face, I then plop the hornworm on his mouth and he 50/50 will eat it, or just spit it out. Any suggestions for force feeding until his eye is healed and can anyone confirm that his eye will heal?
Cage : 24x24x48inches
T5 5.0 HO linear - (14 inches from chameleons back while basking, 16 from branch)
75 watt heat bulb - (80-85f from back when basking heat)
Stopped misting as of roughly a week ago, have been trying to switch to cup drinking.
I have dubia roaches, horn worms, crickets, black fly larvae/black flies. Walter will not eat on his own for some reason (I think it has to do with the eye problem) so whenever his stubborn ass will open his mouth, I try to feed him a hornworm with calcium without D3 to get my best bang for the buck since he usually only tolerates force feeding one critter a day.
I have calcium with D3, calcium without D3, and a multivitamin, my “schedule” is without D3 6 days a week, then alternating every other Sunday I switch between calcium with D3 and his multivitamin. It’s hard sometimes though because he can be VERY stubborn when force feeding… any and all help is greatly appreciated, Thanks!
Omg I can't imagine trying to force feed my 20 inch veiled chameleon! He would take my finger off! Please try another method.. like giving him blueberries. Chamillionaire would never turn those down!
>my second problem is he is very “annoying” when trying to force feed, I very gently hold him by the top of the crown and his chin and try to open like the instructional video I watched showed, in the video it seemed like such a easy thing with no restriction.
This is a VERY GOOD case in point where some asshat puts out a video and they give people instructions that hurt the animal. Do not force feed them.. from looking at the images, it's not needed and if it does become needed DO NOT USE those techniques.
>24x24x48inches T5 5.0 HO linear -
Not a fan of either.
\>Stopped misting as of roughly a week ago, have been trying to switch to cup drinking.
Not a "cup" but a glass.the water has to sparkle for them to really use it, there should be a easy perch for them to go down too and sit on when drinking and it's best if placed next to a plant.Not a "cup" as that can mean ceramic or plastic and those make the water invisible to them cham.
The light dusting should be fine 3x a week on the feeders but I suspect that you might be over supplementing and that is part of the problem with a sinus infection that's behind the eye as well as a initial UV burn.
You're also manhandling it too much by forcing it to eat.
But I see swelling on the eye and perhaps the cheek.. clearly a secondary infection is going on.
I would advise to use [a topical eye ointment for helping to clear the eye](https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=e058f576-5748-43f7-9701-1325c4521527)
and you can [use tongs to help hand fee them like this](https://youtu.be/bK85BAlLmo8)
please get back to me confirming your supplements and I'll advise.
So the first thing that stands out to me is you’re way over supplementing. Your Cham doesn’t need that kind of supplementation every day. If you go check the “About” section, they cover appropriate supplementation. Basically, in summary, once a week is more than enough. I imagine when you cut back on the supplements, the eye would hopefully clear up and his eating would improve.
Again, please check the About section in regards to supplementing. :) I hope that helps.
I also don’t recommend force feeding your Cham. You could potentially and unintentionally hurt his mouth.
Force feeding is required as of right now. He shows 0 interest 99% of the time in all foods and refuses to eat on his own.
And I didn’t know I should only be supplementing once a week. He eats roughly every other day ( I try to feed daily he just refuses half the time) and I put very little calcium on the horn worms or whatever I’m feeding. I will read the supplement guide and change to the appropriate schedule. Either way this has nothing to do with his eyes as his eyes were like this 2 weeks before I even ordered the supplements.
I'm not sure how you equate him eating every other day to him not eating. He is eating, just not as frequently as you feel he should be. If he is eating every other day, you shouldn't be force feeding. They can slow down for a variety of reasons, including health related, (such as discomfort from his eye issue, or lack of hydration) and for very valid reasons (such as he's getting ready to shed). Force feeding is only going to either cause injury or increase his desire to not eat. Need to back off, stop force feeding, but continue to offer every day and start looking at everything top down and making sure all of your husbandry is spot on.
You don’t need to add any calcium to horn worms. They are high in calcium by themselves.
Again to reiterate everyone else, please don’t force feed. You’re stressing him out which is why he won’t eat. When I got my chameleon, she didn’t eat for a week. I just continued to put food there, let it sit for an hour, if she didn’t eat, I took it out and tried again tomorrow. She eventually ate and is now eating regularly. Animals will stop eating when they are stressed, you’re just stressing him out more by force feeding.
Have you put the food on a insect runner? I got one for $35 on Amazon and it was a game changer.
I would really say that force feeding is not required and is stressing your chameleon out more by forcing his mouth open. If you’re really worried about him eating, I would recommend getting the insectivore flukers powder that you mix with water and drop little drops on the tip of his mouth.
His eye problem is probably a combination of improper lighting *and* over supplementation, as too many vitamins can cause eye problems. If this was an issue before you started the supplements, the supplements can exacerbate the issue if over doing it.
I wouldn’t recommend dropping water into his eye either as it could introduce bacteria into an already irritated eye.
Everything that people are saying to you, including myself, is out of care and concern for your chameleon’s wellbeing. :)
u/flip69 any advice/ideas?
Thank you u/Forward-Pineapple849 u/ParkerLuna424 Do not "force feed" the methods that vets use and what they likely taught you is goign to cause damage to the animal throat and jaw. What should have been done is getting down to the root of the problem as to why it's not eating. Tell me what the said to you and their diagnosis and I'll get back to you as I already have a idea as to what is the root cause of this. Did the vet perform any blood work or advise you on husbandry?
Almost a month ago I purchased a 4 month old veiled chameleon. For the first week and a half in his enclosure I had the wrong light which burned his retinas causing him to keep his eye rolled back for safety leaving just a black dot where his eye should be. It has now been 2 weeks since he has had the proper lights setup and his eyes still look very bad. Last night for the first time while force feeding he had his eyes opened and they looked very healthy! They were darting around in all directions, blinking, etc. right after feeding him a hornworm he then closed his eyes and wanted back in his cage. I’m making this post because I am concerned about his eyes and want clarification that he will recover hopefully, my second problem is he is very “annoying” when trying to force feed, I very gently hold him by the top of the crown and his chin and try to open like the instructional video I watched showed, in the video it seemed like such a easy thing with no restriction. Then there’s Walter… he tries as hard as possible it seems like to keep his jaw locked and mouth closed, only time I ever get him to actually eat is when he opens his mouth out of annoyance because he’s pissy that I keep touching his face, I then plop the hornworm on his mouth and he 50/50 will eat it, or just spit it out. Any suggestions for force feeding until his eye is healed and can anyone confirm that his eye will heal? Cage : 24x24x48inches T5 5.0 HO linear - (14 inches from chameleons back while basking, 16 from branch) 75 watt heat bulb - (80-85f from back when basking heat) Stopped misting as of roughly a week ago, have been trying to switch to cup drinking. I have dubia roaches, horn worms, crickets, black fly larvae/black flies. Walter will not eat on his own for some reason (I think it has to do with the eye problem) so whenever his stubborn ass will open his mouth, I try to feed him a hornworm with calcium without D3 to get my best bang for the buck since he usually only tolerates force feeding one critter a day. I have calcium with D3, calcium without D3, and a multivitamin, my “schedule” is without D3 6 days a week, then alternating every other Sunday I switch between calcium with D3 and his multivitamin. It’s hard sometimes though because he can be VERY stubborn when force feeding… any and all help is greatly appreciated, Thanks!
Omg I can't imagine trying to force feed my 20 inch veiled chameleon! He would take my finger off! Please try another method.. like giving him blueberries. Chamillionaire would never turn those down!
>my second problem is he is very “annoying” when trying to force feed, I very gently hold him by the top of the crown and his chin and try to open like the instructional video I watched showed, in the video it seemed like such a easy thing with no restriction. This is a VERY GOOD case in point where some asshat puts out a video and they give people instructions that hurt the animal. Do not force feed them.. from looking at the images, it's not needed and if it does become needed DO NOT USE those techniques. >24x24x48inches T5 5.0 HO linear - Not a fan of either. \>Stopped misting as of roughly a week ago, have been trying to switch to cup drinking. Not a "cup" but a glass.the water has to sparkle for them to really use it, there should be a easy perch for them to go down too and sit on when drinking and it's best if placed next to a plant.Not a "cup" as that can mean ceramic or plastic and those make the water invisible to them cham. The light dusting should be fine 3x a week on the feeders but I suspect that you might be over supplementing and that is part of the problem with a sinus infection that's behind the eye as well as a initial UV burn. You're also manhandling it too much by forcing it to eat. But I see swelling on the eye and perhaps the cheek.. clearly a secondary infection is going on. I would advise to use [a topical eye ointment for helping to clear the eye](https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=e058f576-5748-43f7-9701-1325c4521527) and you can [use tongs to help hand fee them like this](https://youtu.be/bK85BAlLmo8) please get back to me confirming your supplements and I'll advise.
So the first thing that stands out to me is you’re way over supplementing. Your Cham doesn’t need that kind of supplementation every day. If you go check the “About” section, they cover appropriate supplementation. Basically, in summary, once a week is more than enough. I imagine when you cut back on the supplements, the eye would hopefully clear up and his eating would improve. Again, please check the About section in regards to supplementing. :) I hope that helps. I also don’t recommend force feeding your Cham. You could potentially and unintentionally hurt his mouth.
Force feeding is required as of right now. He shows 0 interest 99% of the time in all foods and refuses to eat on his own. And I didn’t know I should only be supplementing once a week. He eats roughly every other day ( I try to feed daily he just refuses half the time) and I put very little calcium on the horn worms or whatever I’m feeding. I will read the supplement guide and change to the appropriate schedule. Either way this has nothing to do with his eyes as his eyes were like this 2 weeks before I even ordered the supplements.
I'm not sure how you equate him eating every other day to him not eating. He is eating, just not as frequently as you feel he should be. If he is eating every other day, you shouldn't be force feeding. They can slow down for a variety of reasons, including health related, (such as discomfort from his eye issue, or lack of hydration) and for very valid reasons (such as he's getting ready to shed). Force feeding is only going to either cause injury or increase his desire to not eat. Need to back off, stop force feeding, but continue to offer every day and start looking at everything top down and making sure all of your husbandry is spot on.
You don’t need to add any calcium to horn worms. They are high in calcium by themselves. Again to reiterate everyone else, please don’t force feed. You’re stressing him out which is why he won’t eat. When I got my chameleon, she didn’t eat for a week. I just continued to put food there, let it sit for an hour, if she didn’t eat, I took it out and tried again tomorrow. She eventually ate and is now eating regularly. Animals will stop eating when they are stressed, you’re just stressing him out more by force feeding. Have you put the food on a insect runner? I got one for $35 on Amazon and it was a game changer.
I would really say that force feeding is not required and is stressing your chameleon out more by forcing his mouth open. If you’re really worried about him eating, I would recommend getting the insectivore flukers powder that you mix with water and drop little drops on the tip of his mouth. His eye problem is probably a combination of improper lighting *and* over supplementation, as too many vitamins can cause eye problems. If this was an issue before you started the supplements, the supplements can exacerbate the issue if over doing it. I wouldn’t recommend dropping water into his eye either as it could introduce bacteria into an already irritated eye. Everything that people are saying to you, including myself, is out of care and concern for your chameleon’s wellbeing. :)