Can you explain this behavior? Head waving, leg scratches side..

EvilLost

New Member
Hey all,

My little Clark has been doing this a few times now, at least 3 times that I have noticed. 2 of these occurred when I fed him MEALWORMS (on 2 separate occasions 2 weeks apart) and I *believe* he ate them whole/alive. Shortly afterwards (like within a minute, before he ate anything else) he did hte following:

-Shakes his head back and forth
-Repeatedly scratches his side with his back leg (as if he is trying to 'grab' his side)

I saw him do this one time the day after he ate the mealworms most recently as well.

He has another issue which I believe is entirely unrelated but I just mention it incase, his left eye seems to be closed sometimes during the day / swollen and I can't quite figure out why (I have treated him with showers, which he HATES getting wet in any way even misting, and terramycin which has helped in short term but the issue returns).


My theory is that it is occurring because he is swalling the mealworm whole/alive and it is bothering him from the inside. I don't believe this will cause him long term problems, but thats the best theory I got...especially found it amusing there si a similar thread recently being discussed.


Anyone know what else might be causing these actions?
 
Hey all,

My little Clark has been doing this a few times now, at least 3 times that I have noticed. 2 of these occurred when I fed him MEALWORMS (on 2 separate occasions 2 weeks apart) and I *believe* he ate them whole/alive. Shortly afterwards (like within a minute, before he ate anything else) he did hte following:

-Shakes his head back and forth
-Repeatedly scratches his side with his back leg (as if he is trying to 'grab' his side)

I saw him do this one time the day after he ate the mealworms most recently as well.

He has another issue which I believe is entirely unrelated but I just mention it incase, his left eye seems to be closed sometimes during the day / swollen and I can't quite figure out why (I have treated him with showers, which he HATES getting wet in any way even misting, and terramycin which has helped in short term but the issue returns).


My theory is that it is occurring because he is swalling the mealworm whole/alive and it is bothering him from the inside. I don't believe this will cause him long term problems, but thats the best theory I got...especially found it amusing there si a similar thread recently being discussed.


Anyone know what else might be causing these actions?


As far as the head shaking and side scratching, the mealworms may be to big for him and could be causing an irritation inside of him. From my experience the head shaking back and forth is a way to "work" down some larger prey items. And as for the eye, it could be a number of issues from humidity to something in his enclosure irritating it. Certain plants may cause this that are not cham safe. Something i do when I notice any of my chams having an issue is place the on a Schefflera and place them in the shower with warm water slightly steaming up the bathroom and the water slightly bouncing onto the plant from the walls or floor. But you have to make sure that there is absolutely no soap or chemical residue in the shower. I have my own shower for this type of stuff in a leased space. Good luck. You may try filling out the "Help" form as well.
 
if we are talking about a chameleon (you didnt say) the mealworms are hard bodied and would be hard to swallow and digest, it sounds like he was struggling to get it down his throat so was shaking his head.

maybe someone with a bit more experience will follow up.

mealworms are not good feeders for chams for that reason
 
lol @ferret

yea its my panther i got from LanceCham on these forums. Thanks for the response on the headwaving, but what about the back leg "scratching" his stomach/side? similar? I guess its possible

although it would be odd he would also do this the day AFTER he ate the mealworms when he wasnt eating at all

as for the eye issue, i will update my thread on the health forum but short answer is that he *HAAAAAAAATES* getting wet. whenever i mist him he literally closes his eyes and just starts moving around. I have tried to shower him once and he literally closed his eyes, ran to the top of the stick and, with eyes closed, continued to "go up" resulting in him falling (i was ready for this and he fell in my hand, but had I not been there to catch him he would have fallen to the floor of the tub :x) he does not look at all, always closes both eyes and just goes without entirely being sure he has a solid grip or there is naything there at all, he has almost fallen multiple times when i have misted him due to his panic run

i guess that wasnt so short
 
I think it's safe to say that it's a chameleon he's referring to since he's posted about his panther before and this is posted under chameleon husbandry on the chameleonforums...
i dont go trawling through peoples posts and i have seen ppl post about anything from beardies to snakes on this page..........smart arse
 
Has far as the eye and hating the shower I had a panther that did the same thing and one time I just stuck with it ( I put his entire cage in the shower ). I think he felt more comfortable he ran at first but after a few minutes when he calmed down and realized hey it's just water, he seemed as if he enjoyed it. Sometimes he still hides and sometimes he walked around in it:D I guess he enjoyes it sometimes and sometimes he doesn't.
 
Can you explain this behavior? Head waving, leg scratches side..

Umm.....Chameleon Macarena? :D

Probably nothing, itch or tickle and swallowing as suggested. :)

Gettin jiggy wid it!~ Cant touch this!
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Mine did the same after his first super worm, i think he swallowed it too fast and maybe it was still wiggling in his throat. He was shaking his head trying to get that sucker down!
 
I think that misting/showers is something they will gets used to after time. At first my chameleons hated it and now they don't move much when I mist them. They're use to it.

As for the weird behavior one could only guess.
 
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