Blowing up chin abnormally(?)

[DaringCham]

About a week ago, my Veiled Cham who is now 8 months and has been in my care for almost 2 months now, is blowing up his whole chin then letting the air out as if he can't keep it blown up(I don't know too well on how to explain it so I've attached 2 pictures, one of him not blowing his chin up and then one of blowing his chin up) He's blown up his chin as a go away type thing & it was fine but then he blows up his chin abnormally. He doesn't seem to have his mouth open which could mean upper respiratory infection. He also swallows a lot like he had just eaten something that won't go down but he didn't eat anything for a good 10 minutes & I fed him a few wax worms which are tiny. He's also been keeping his color a darker with little tiny black spots. Just in case those might of been mites, I sprayed mite spray on him that I got from the pet store. He doesn't come out a lot anymore, he use to try to grab on to my arm so willingly when I was trying to do something in his cage or he would get on the screen cage trying to get me to open the door so he can get out(I don't want him crawling on the cage because he's already gotten swollen toes that I have to take him to the vet for). I have plants of stuff for him to climb on, including a long driftwood piece, fake plants, a long vine going through his whole cage so he has a lot to climb on without getting on the cage screen. Btw the whole cage is screen, it's a smaller cage like a 3 foot tall maybe, I want to build a lot bigger one, at least a 5 foot which I can't find anywhere. That's why I'm building one but I have no clue how to build one just yet. ANY HELP WITH ANY OF THIS WOULD BE VERY APPRECIATED! Pictures attached- as you can see his color is a brownish color(the red is because my infrared light is the UVB to heat him up) & the picture with his chin blown up, his whole chin is blown up not just down the middle like usual!

 

[carol5208]

He still could have a respiratory infection. Is he pointing his head upward alot? They will swallow when they have one also. It might not have gotten bad enough yet where he has to open his mouth to breathe. Also, I would not be spraying things like mite spray on him. I have not seen any cases on here of chameleons getting mites, and the spray may be harmful to him. The black spots are normal and are probably from stress. I would have him checked out by a vet. Blowing out his chin and swallowing is not normal. If it is a RI you want to treat it before it gets too bad. Have you looked inside his mouth at all?

 

[MissLissa]

...the red is because my infrared light is the UVB to heat him up)

I think you may be confused: infrared lights do not offer any UVB for calcium absorption, and they can cause issues with chams. I would replace that with a regular white light heat bulb, or even an incandescent bulb.

If you could fill out the "how to ask for help" form, that would be great! It will help us determine what might be going on more accurately. You can find it here:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/

Just copy and paste it to this thread, and fill it out as best as you can.

 

[jajeanpierre]

They sometimes need to rearrange their tongue so will do some funny things with their throat.

He looks like he has a swelling in his bottom jaw near where the two jaws meet. Maybe the photo, but....

 

[brownie64]

Does he do this when you are near him or all the time? Because they puff up that includes their lower jaw when they show aggression. And yah the red light isn't a UVB bulb and it needs to be tossed like Misslissa said.

 

[DaringCham]

I have the white incandescent bulb and the infrared. I had a blue one, then replaced it with the infrared. Should I go back to the blue one? I am a little confused on which is which. I noticed him pointing his head up today like where he was diagonal. When I take him to the vet I'll have them look for upper respiratory infection again. The mite spray I was told would help, I won't use that anymore then! He like does then yawning looking thing where he opens his mouth really big then shakes a little bit, then I have "glanced" in his mouth and it looked pretty normal to me.

 

[DaringCham]

• Your Chameleon - 8 month old Male cham in my care almost 2 months
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? At least once a day usually more. (He runs onto me before I can close the screen)
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? Mainly super worms with potatoes, All-Bran and oats as subtrate. He eats about 6 worms usually. I feed him one or two wax worms daily, sometimes missing a day. He gets bored with food very often. I use to do crickets but he won't touch them. I've tried leaving them in there a couple hours and they usually find a way out or onto the cage floor. & I put more worms in there when he eats all the ones I put in the before.
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I dust them with reptivite once a week usually on Wednesdays. (I'm hoping to change over to Rep-Cal's herptivite as it has beta carotene instead of vitamin A. Also I have calcium I believe the brand is exo terra. D3 free
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I spray the leaves at least twice a day usually it's 4 times. I have the little dropper that's drops water slowly all day. I have never once seen him drink which worries me but I don't see any signs of dehydration.
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? He was tested a week ago for parasites.. None. Brown with a very dark what seem to be a green color at one tip.
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. I had him checked out at the vet about 3 or 4 weeks ago for a general exam (I got him from a pet store so I wanted to make sure everything was good) doctor said he looks pretty good. The vets around here don't really have any experience with chameleons so I'm trying to get from many sources on the Internet as well as the vet.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? - all screen, demensions are probably 3 ft L x 2 x 2 maybe
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? 12 hour cycles, I got the chameleon kit that pet stores sell. I'm not right by the cage. I know I have one white bulb that's 50 watt and an infrared I believe is 75 watt.
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? I have a temp gauge on the side of the cage. It says around 85 but I put a thermometer that has a probe on the end of it with a really long string and it measured around 95 on the leaves by where he bask
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? I have a hygrometer and temp gauge in one on the side of the screen - humidity levels are around 50 which is what the meter tells me. When the lights turned on one morning it said 70 & I've read that should be at 0. How do I get it there? I mist to keep the levels at 50
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? I have a pothos plant, he doesn't get on it because he barely goes to the floor of the cage so I took it out. If I want him to stay still for a second I'll put him in the pothos but then he gets out of it
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? In my room, along the wall of the door but on the other side. No traffic unless my family comes in to see him. I have an over head fan but I never use to because of the fear of him getting to cold with it on. The bottom of the cage is about 4 feet off the ground so top is probably 6.5 to 7 feet high
• Location - Where are you geographically located? FLORIDA

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about. REFER TO MY FIRST POST

 

[brownie64]

Ok lets see you are going to need a UVB bulb that is preferably of the linier type, and get rid of the infrared bulb they are not needed at night, and they aren't useful as a heat lamp because your cham won't recognize it as a heat source. You have basically got two heat sources going on at the same time, and he is probably overheating. from the fecal description he looks to be dehydrated too. You might try a 30 minute shower that can sometimes help. You should try to get him to eat a variety of feeders, and only use wax worms, and mill worms as occasional treats. For a full grown adult veiled you enclosure should be 4'-2'-2'. Your humidity should be about 40% with it being around 70% after misting with a drying out in-between. The best way to check your temps is with an infrared heat thermometer you can pick one up on ebay for around 10 dollars. Chameleons aren't really a social pet per say make sure you aren't stressing him out handling him that often. You really should look for a qualified reptile vet ones without experience are all but useless.