pygmy cham eyes

[defiantNX]

Has anyone ever seen their pygmy chameleon, or any chameleon for that matter, poping its eye out and scratching it? It is really nasty and the first time I saw it, i thought it was swollen or something. Im wondering if it is just itchy or if it has something wrong with its eye or what? I had 3, 2 died and had white bugs on them after they died and the last keeps rubbing its eyes on stuff. Could there be a connection? maybe mites around its eye?

[knighty]

i dont keep pygmys, only yemens, but that is not a good sign. the first thing i would do is remove the cham, strip and clean the viv, plants, vines ect with a mild bleach solution, and then steralise all decoration items and replace the substrate.the eye problem could be related to the bugs or could be an infection, do you have a herp vet near you? if so i would get the cham down there asap. the only other thing i would suggest is to take some readings of temps and humidity.

[defiantNX]

thanx, do you know if dart frogs can get mites?

[Uziel]

Some parasites attack the eyes, take it to the vet.

[Robert13]

typically chams will clean their eyes but thats usually during misting and they simply just rotate them in their sockets, sometimes even make bubbles...and the fact that hes scratching with hands cant be good. take the advice above and get him checked out and clean the hell out of the cage!

[darc]

knighty mentioned a bleach solution, but if it's mites/insects, you might try the dry ice/CO2 fumigation method and kill all the little invertebrate buggers without using harsh chemicals that could affect your cham's (he did say mild, but I'm paranoid and try to avoid all chemicals with my herps).

But, like several other's said, I'd take the remaining lil guy to a vet and see what they have to say.

Let us know how it ends up,
-darc