breathing problem! please help!!

[nicole.v]

hi everyone! i have female veiled cham that’s 6 months & today i noticed that she was breathing heavy & would open her mouth for a minute or less. i mist her daily & she’s kept in a humid enclosure. she eats good & drinks her water. she does not sleep through out the day & she’s actually very active. any help?

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi and welcome. Sorry your cham is having a problem. Very hard to offer any help without more details. If you could answer the following, it would give a much better idea of what may be happening and the best way to help your cham.

Here is some recommended information to include when asking for help in the health clinic forum. By providing this information you will receive more accurate and beneficial responses. It might not be necessary to answer all these questions, but the more you provide the better. Please remember that even the most knowledgeable person can only guess at what your problem may be. Only an experienced reptile veterinarian who can directly examine your animal can give a true diagnosis of your chameleon's health.


Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• 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?
• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------

Please Note:

1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
2. Photos can be very helpful.

 

[nicole.v]

• she’s a female veiled chameleon, 6 months & i been having her for nearly 6 months.
• i hold her for about 1hr or less every other day. (she doesn’t turn a dark color)
• i feed her medium mealworms , wax worms , crickets , oranges & romain lettuce. i feed her 6-8 insects a day. i dust her crickets with vitamins & calcium.
• she has a little dripper & a mini reptile mister.

•she has a 30”x30”x18” zilla screen cage.
• Zoo Med 60w heat lamp.
• her humidity stays at 60-70
• her cage is by my window.

 

[MissSkittles]

• she’s a female veiled chameleon, 6 months & i been having her for nearly 6 months.
• i hold her for about 1hr or less every other day. (she doesn’t turn a dark color)
• i feed her medium mealworms , wax worms , crickets , oranges & romain lettuce. i feed her 6-8 insects a day. i dust her crickets with vitamins & calcium.
• she has a little dripper & a mini reptile mister.

•she has a 30”x30”x18” zilla screen cage.
• Zoo Med 60w heat lamp.
• her humidity stays at 60-70
• her cage is by my window.

Ok...only partial info to go by but will do my best to offer you help. Usually chameleons will open their mouths and gape if they are too hot or if they have a respiratory infection. You don’t say what your temps are so I can’t say if she’s too hot or not. Being in front of a window can add additional heat to her enclosure and make it too hot. Breathing heavy makes it look more like a respiratory infection though. Have you noticed any stringy saliva or popping noises when she breathes? Those are signs of respiratory infection which she would need to be seen and treated by a vet for.
With the info you have provided, I do see definite corrections to make and suspect there are others that you didn’t say anything about. I just got called in to work so can’t address those at the moment, but will when I get the chance. For now, check out Neptune the chameleon on YouTube.

 

[nicole.v]

Ok...only partial info to go by but will do my best to offer you help. Usually chameleons will open their mouths and gape if they are too hot or if they have a respiratory infection. You don’t say what your temps are so I can’t say if she’s too hot or not. Being in front of a window can add additional heat to her enclosure and make it too hot. Breathing heavy makes it look more like a respiratory infection though. Have you noticed any stringy saliva or popping noises when she breathes? Those are signs of respiratory infection which she would need to be seen and treated by a vet for.
With the info you have provided, I do see definite corrections to make and suspect there are others that you didn’t say anything about. I just got called in to work so can’t address those at the moment, but will when I get the chance. For now, check out Neptune the chameleon on YouTube.

i haven’t heard any type of noises coming from her. her normal temperature stays at 70.
also she just breathes out heavy once in a while, it’s not daily. but thank you for the advice!

 

[MissSkittles]

Sorry about that...when work calls, I have to run.

• she’s a female veiled chameleon, 6 months & i been having her for nearly 6 months. She’s got to be older than 6 months unless you received her as a hatchling. She will lay infertile eggs and is at the age that she is needing a lay bin. Is best to keep it as a permanent part of her enclosure. It needs to be at least a 12-14” x12-14” container. Fill to about 8-9” of washed play sand. It needs to be kept moist enough to hold a tunnel without collapsing.
• i hold her for about 1hr or less every other day. (she doesn’t turn a dark color)
• i feed her medium mealworms , wax worms , crickets , oranges & romain lettuce. i feed her 6-8 insects a day. i dust her crickets with vitamins & calcium. Attaching feeder and gutload graphics for you. At her age you will want to start cutting back on her feeding to eventually about 4 med sized feeders every other day. This will help reduce both the frequency of her laying and number of eggs she lays. Egg laying takes a great deal out of them and shortens their life spans. Not to mention, large clutches increase chances for egg binding. This is a great article. http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/keeping-female-veiled.html
Supplements should be phosphorus free calcium without D3 at every feeding except one per week. That one weekly feeding you want to use calcium with D3 and the next week use a multivitamin, rotating the two every other week.
• she has a little dripper & a mini reptile mister. She should be getting misted for at least 2 minutes, 3 times a day.

•she has a 30”x30”x18” zilla screen cage. I’m assuming you mean 18x18x30”. Either way, it’s too small. She’s ready for her adult enclosure which should be a minimum of 24x24x48”.
• Zoo Med 60w heat lamp. What about uvb? If you have the screw in uvb, that doesn’t provide adequate levels. She needs a linear T5HO with a 5.0 (or Arcadia 6%) uvb bulb. Adding that pic below to clarify for you.
What are her basking temps? They should be around 80-82*.
• her humidity stays at 60-70 This is too high. Humidity should be between 30-50% during the day. At night when it’s cool, it can go much higher.
• her cage is by my window.
Does she have any plants? Are they fake or live? Can you post some pics of her and her whole enclosure to give a better idea?

 

[kinyonga]

Photos of the chameleon please,

 

[NashansCamos]

yes photos are the best way for us to tell whats wrong