all the sudden she,s gaping

Fate X

New Member
now my veiled with the eye shutting is gaping her mouth from time to time , she is still strong tho ,still eating and drinking and trying to bite.
 
An open mouth would make me think that she is to hot. Animals do that because the evaperating saliva helps cool the air as they are breathing in and lowers their core temperature. I do not really know what to think with her eyes shut. I would check the temperature anyway.
 
i checked her cage temps yesterday and under her basking lights was 96.8 so i turned one of the 40 watt dayglo's off,its a esu 24 compo i have done this before when its hot. today i took the 40 watt dayglo out and put a reptisun compact 5.0 in.


details

she is under 3 flourescent tubes 2 24" reptiglo 5.0 1 18" retisun 5.0 and now i added a reptisun 5.0 compact flourescent. and a 40 watt dayglo for basking

cage esu fresh air habitat 30"x30"x18"
live schefflera, bendabranches,plastic vines etc.
good drainage , mist system, thermometer on cage
basking temp is about 96 f.
zoomed dripper on about 1 1/2 hrs per day
lights are on timer
eating gutloaded crickets and superworms .

her appitite is healthy , her personality is normal.
 
I do not think you should be using that many flourescent tubes. Just one of those you name should do a good enough job for her. To much uvb could cause a range of problems. To much uvB can cause eye strain and even damage in any animal.
 
Jordan said:
To much uvB can cause eye strain and even damage in any animal.
Florescent tubes produce nowhere near the amount of UV that real sun would. If you have enough vegetation in the cage this isnt a problem in my opinion.

By the way, its specifically uvA that causes eye damage- similar to snowblindeness in the artic because unlike UVB, UVA is highly reflective (snow).
 
i been watching her all day and it loks like somethings in her eye, she rolls it when its closed like shes trying to clean it, after i turned off the other 40watt dayglo she got her mouth closed now.

can i get something for her eye at a drugstore as i will be at the shopping center tomorrow and thinking about somekind of eyedrops might help.
 
I have you tried giving her a shower or a good long misting. The water running over her might help her to free it herself. My chameleons usually do this little closed eye swish around when I get them wet, if it is something small it might just roll out with the water.
 
an open mouth may also be an indication of a respiratory infection... lymorg had one when i got him, a set of antibiotics cleared it right up!
 
here eye problem seems cleared up its been open all day but her mouth is still open , if i mist her she shuts her mouth but then she opens it later her cage thermometer which is located on the top of the cage attached to the outside reads 90 f under her basking light reads 97 f with a digital temp guage i turned off her basking light in case shes to hot the thing is the other cages are about the same temp and everyone else got there mouth shut.
there is a white stuff around her nostril ive seen the salt like stuff before , i dont kno if this stuff is dead skin from shedding recently or salts or fliud



about how much does it cost for a vet trip for antibiotics ?
 
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Hi Fate,

Is your chameleon showing normal coloring while gaping? Where in the cage is your cham showing this behavior - under the basking light or elsewhere? Is the head pointed upwards? Are you sure your temp gauges are working correctly?

I only know of three reasons (i'm sure there are more) a chameleon might show similar behavior: heat regulation, respiratory problems, defensive behavior.

The cost of a vet visit will vary by location. The following website is a great place to start looking for a qualified vet: arav.org. Once you find one close to you, give them a call and ask for an estimate. I rarely meet an unfriendly veterinarian staff.
 
her right nostril has something on/in it looks like dead skin maybe. i'm gonna check her color , earlier her right eye was closed again for a few minutes.

there are only 2 local vets who see chameleons ,i spoke to them about this issue and the cost is within what i can put on my credit cards. i also spoke to someone who has a reptile store here and she said it cold be the heat we were talking about vets and the thing is veileds dont like being moved much and mine are rarely handled so it could make her worse to take her to a vet.
so im gonna take her when shes not getting better which would be monday.its a dilemma of sorts because shes not in terrible shape she just had a bowel movement today and shes eating ,behaving fine.as far as the heat none of the others got open mouth issues, another thing is there is no mucus on her nostrils .
i decided to take it day by day ,if she does not get better soon meaning 2-3 days then monday i will be getting her checked.

i noticed her looking like shes diving down, she on a branch facing down with her mouth open.

this is what im looking at for cost:
40 $ for the checkup
50 $ for a xray
bloodtest they not sure cause they gotta send them etc.
so im figuring about 250 $ which is well worth the money.


all right i just took her out and held her while looking at her theres something around her right nostril it looks yellow and it looks like its blocking her up,she had trouble with her last shedding dead skin stayed around more time then usual plus it had a yellowish color i thought might be from the sand digging while laying her eggs back then, actually both splinter and lucky had yellow colored sheddings but lucky shed faster , splinter had spots of skin left on her belly for a couple weeks which is unusual. her color looks ok. her eye is not closed that much,its open most the time.
the issue is her right nostril i believe i been spraying her lots today and the mist systems been on.
shes not coughing .

also something i just noticed but might have been there is that her wing seems swollen then again so is lucky's i noticed the males wing is more thin.???
 
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hmm, i thought I replied to this last night...

How are your cham's colors? Is she pale while basking? Where in the cage is she gaping- under the basking light or elsewhere? Do you see any mucus when she is gaping?

Without pictures I can only assume the matter blocking her nostril is simply a salt deposit.

I think taking her to the vet is a great idea - the sooner the better.
 
her wing would be her crown her color is green when her mouth is open i was gonna take a picture but i don't want to stress her, today her cage temp is 86 f probably a little warmer under the compact 5.0 at 9 am i went up to check her n her mouth was closed and she was up high in the cage this afternoon i went up and her mouth was open for a breif time 2-3 minutes, her right eye was also closing from time to time now i turned off her basking lights yesterday and they never went on today shes just under her flourescent's 5.0.
i will be going up to moniter her very soon to see if she ate all her crickets and give her some superworms. she had a bowel movement this afternoon.
she is still able to move easily around her cage.

as far as mucus if you mean her nostrils no theres nothing i seen, her mouth has a small amount of slimey stuff at her mouth hinges not much though.

does anyone know why her shedding skin was a yellow color , ever heard of it before?
 
How are your cham's colors? Is she pale?

If she has respiratory problems, lowering the temperature will not help her condition. In fact, most people slightly raise their temps if they suspect URI. I recommend taking her to the vet asap; why wait until Monday?
 
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shes not pale and her mouth is not open as much as yesterday.i was just upstairs with her for over a hour and her mouth was closed the whole time she ate 2 superworms at the same time. ive heard of raising the temp a little when they got URI but im not sure she has it so i lowered it a little its still 86 f in her cage, shes not at the bottom as much either.i would have to wait until monday because i don't own a vehicle . i have a license to drive though.
 
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