Why are my chameleon's eyes closed?

A chameleon closing their eyes during the day is usually a sign of sickness or stress. Let's go over a few different reasons why this might be happening and how to correct it.

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Time stamps:
0:00 Intro
0:09 Sleeping
1:25 Not enough hiding places
1:01 New chameleon
2:09 Handling
3:56 Incorrect UVB
7:00 Incorrect supplements
9:50 Upper Respiratory Infection
10:20 Injury
11:30 Dying
12:44 Outro
13:38 Blooper

[em]

Excellent video! TO ALL NEW CHAM OWNERS - I’d like to share a bit about a recent experience I had with my panther keeping his eyes closed during the day. I had a very difficult time figuring out why as his husbandry was/is pretty spot on (my breeder was actually stumped, too). Two things in particular were wrong:

Vivosun offers multi T5 fixtures with reflectors for each bulb. You can do what the OP has done with her cham cages - use one T5 fixture for UVB and a different T5 fixture or LEDs for the plant lighting (whatever works best for you! I just brought it up here in case anyone else new to chameleons decides to use a combination fixture like I did). I mentioned this earlier, but this would definitely be where the solarmeter 6.5 comes in handy (your cham needs a level 3 UVI at basking to ensure its body can synthesize D3 properly. The solarmeter 6.5 shows you at each point of your chameleon’s cage - highest, middle, lowest - what the UV index is).

2. Incorrect supplementation, particularly vitamin A. Neptune’s mom *really* means it when she says that this is your chameleon’s health, and you need to stay on top of dusting feeders with the proper amount of calcium/D3/vitamins. I was using Rep-cal Herptivite for my panther’s multivitamin (I’d used it for 2 months, in fact).. this ended up being a problem as REP-CAL HERPTIVITE DOES NOT CONTAIN PREFORMED VITAMIN A (preformed A is known as the active form of the vitamin, meaning your body can use it as-is). There has been a long debate on whether or not chameleons can convert beta carotene into preformed vitamin A like we can, which is crucial for eye health. That same debate has yet to prove anything one way or the other, so play it safe. Err on the side of caution and always, always ALWAYS assume that using a supplement with beta carotene will not be sufficient. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, do not use a multivitamin with beta carotene instead of preformed A. I ditched the Herptivite and am now using Repashy Calcium Plus LoD for both my chameleon’s preformed vitamin A and d3. Reptivite with or without D3 is a great supplement for Preformed A, too!

It did take some time, but between the corrections made to my cham’s lighting and supplements, it would appear as though his eye issues are improving. Not noticing closed eyes during the day anymore. <insert sigh of relief here>

[an-actual-cat]

It really is crazy how big of a difference properly supplementing your chameleon can be. I recently adopted a 3 month old panther chameleon. When he was introduced to his new enclosure, I noticed not only consistent eye closing, but he continually tried to chew on the wood of the branches withing his enclosure. After about a month of a set supplement schedule, his eye problems have vanished and he no longer chews on the branches. He's 4 months old now and is doing great! Great video!

[eduardobarron]

Mine did this when it I just got it, I was so worried. I thought I was doing something wrong, until I found out that once you bring them to your house they need to get used to it. (New environment)

[addid.]

my chameleon started closing his eyes during the day. i wasn’t sure what it was and i thought it was a respiratory infection so my dad gave him to somebody at his work. the guy at his work was very educated on reptiles and had many of his own at home. he said he would take it to a vet or find a cure himself. turns out having a chameleon just wasn’t for me 🤍

[dryclimateutah]

I feed my Chameleon BSFL. He's been sleeping a lot during the day and his eyes are closed. I've read that BSFL are highly nutricious; but the two things the Chameleon doesn't get from eating them are Vitamin A and Vitamin D3. If I gut load the BSFL with Carrots, will he get enough Vitamin A from their food? The Vet gave me some Vitamin A liquid to supplement him to help him recover. He's been hanging upside down at the top of the enclosure; I read that this is how they try to absorb more light. So, I've ordered a UVB light meter. But I also bought a new UVB lightbulb and plugged it in, just incase the current bulb is no longer emitting UVB. I'm pretty sure the problem is Vitamin A deficiency. I'll know for sure when my light meter arrives. I've read that if a chameleon becomes deficient in Vitamin A, he can't open his eyes. It's not necessarily because he's stressed. Anyways, pray for Pierre that he has a full recovery and that his owner (me) learns everything he needs to stay healthy. I got him in the Spring and he's been doing great for about 6 months. So this was unexpected.

[tigerlily]

I just had a power outage the other day, (only for 2 hours) my veiled chameleon was very angry, he hung upside and closed his eyes and fell asleep. I woke him up gently when the power got back on, he's all good now, was pretty scary to see during the day.

[ZacharyWhite]

My brother’s veiled Chameleon actually developed an eye infection in one eye, that’s why its eye would be closed. He had all the proper set up with his enclosure and was fed properly. He had to be given medicine from the vet.

[Extra_nose_fragrances]

My jackson does this i took him to the vet and they said he’s perfectly healthy.Not sure if it’s different with jacksons or not because he eats drinks and climbs around .i feel he’s super happy

[Lee.volver]

The Veiled chameleon I brought yesterday kept closing her eyes, so I was nervous and handled her more and washed them with saline solution. ㅜㅜ It was because of stress ㅜㅜ because of The chameleon beginner learned many things..!

[streakyguys_]

My chameleon is usually very active, especially for a chameleon, now lately he's been closing one or two of his eyes while sitting at the back of the cage and hisses or bites when interacted with. He almost died before a few months prior to this new behavior where he was demonstrating the exact same behaviours. My question is why he has become much less social and more distant and defensive

[somalol]

Im glad ive had no issues so far since its my first chameleon 😂

[alexismattson]

Yeah, I noticed that from my baby chameleon that it had its lights off but I didn’t know that that wasn’t concerned and it just died today😢

[tatumworden]

Now I feel bad for having them out for a few days running around on my arm and stuff. I didn't know that it was stretch them out thank you for the video.

[Manda人]

My girl died the other day. Miss her.
:'(. She was so freindly and woke me up in the morning by walking over to my bed.
please act quickly, even for the smallest detailes. "like closed eyes.
I have a male yemen i rescued. He is in a big enclosure with a lot of vines and hiding spots.
Love your channel. You helped me a lot with all the info💚

[jasongable]

Do you shut off the heat layou arent talking about the heat lamp? Our house is set on 72 degrees

[gracewerkheiser]

Love this video. I learned a lot from it. What song did you play in the background when you were talking about incorrect supplements?

[Susunmi.]

Her eyes are still closed how much time do I give her😢? For her to move around or see if she will move. Uv is directly on her moved the heat a little away, should I still mist the habitat?

[iantru]

help me! my chameleon seems healthy, eats well, mistking, full planted enclosure, t5 ho linear uvb, basically everything right in term of set up. but he is closing his eyes during mid day. is he doing it because the lights are too strong or because he is sick?

[TheVinylGeeks]

Thank you for this video. Suuuuper informative!

[marissabrown]

My chameleon had late stages if mbd. He was a rescue. His mbd got so bad that he couldn't open his mouth so I had to give him food and water by hand for the last 3 years he had lots of stress because of that and we thought of putting down sometimes but afternit got worse he would get better. But this time he was unable to open. His eyes and he was at the bottom of his cage wich was ordinary for him but we discosed taking him to the vet the next day but that night he died and I thought mabby he was just limp or needed heat so I left him alone but he was still in the same position in the morning. He was dead. He lived 5-6 years. We adopted him from a family member who rescued him. It was unsure if he was 2 or 3 at the time. He had a good life and loved this fake leaf that he had had since he was a baby.