Chin Puffing and Opening Mouth

A

akmihelle

New Member
I am a fairly new Chameleon owner to a 3-4 month old female Veiled Chameleon named Athena. Ive had her about a month now and shes been doing great eating 5-9 small crickets a meal and some small Dubias dusted with calcium and multivitamin. Basking temp is 85-95 degrees and ambient is 70-83 degrees. Her poops have been great but she will puff out her neck just randomly, the room will be quite and ill sit away from the cage just watch her puff her neck out, i know they do it when they're stressed or angry but i also noticed today she opened her mouth really wide kinda like she was having an issue swollowing or gagging? The feeders are no bigger than the space between her eyes and i mist 4-6 times due to the humidity in my home and also have an automatic mister set to mist every 3 hours for 45 seconds and also have a dripper that drips 1 drop per second. My humidity ranges from 50 to 70 percent. Has anyone else experienced this before? And should i be as worried as i am??
 
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I've read, this may not be right, but people have said their chams could of aspirated the water when drinking? I've never experienced this with my cham. Someone else on here can definitely jump in and help you!!
 
Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - Translucent Veiled Chameleon, Female, 3-4 months old. Has been in my care about a month now.
  • Handling - Have only held her twice since i got her.
  • Feeding - She eats small Crickets and Dubias gutloaded with veggies and cricket diet. 5-9 Crickets and usually 3 Dubias. She was eating twice aday ( once in the morning an hour after lights on and once in the late afternoon 4 hours before lights out. But recently have added a 3rd feeding durring mid day because she was so eager to eat durring the other feedings.
  • Supplements - Ill dust the crickets with half ZooMeds ReptiCalcium with D3 daily and half Zoo Cal Herptivite Multivitamins for 2 of the meals and the recent meal ive added i dont dust.
  • Watering - Dripper, automatic mister, and manual misting. I have the dripper on constantly, automatic mister mists every 3 hours for 45 seconds, and i mist 4-6 times a day due to my humidity in my home.
  • Fecal Description - Its white and brownish/black. Ive noticed she does only poop 1-3 times every other day. No she has not been tested for parasites.
  • History - I ordered her from an online breeder.

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - She is currently in a ZooMed Screen Cage with cloroplast on the sides to keep in SOME humidity. 16x16x30. Once shes bigger i am currently building a vivarium out of a large curio cabinet but will take time due to the fact i will be adding in safe live plants.
  • Lighting - UVA Brand is ZooMed 50W and UVB is a ZooMed 5.0. Scedule is 10am-10pm
  • Temperature - Basking is 85-95 degrees Coolest spot in the cage is 70 All round ranges from 70-80 degrees. I use 2 main thermometers that stay in the cage. Currently workin on getting a 'laser thermometer'
  • Humidity - Humidity stays at 50-70%. I use a mister and room humidifier to maintain this. I use two different humidity gauges.
  • Plants - No live plants currently.
  • Placement - Cage is located in my room in its own corner. No fans but an airvent aross the room. Cage is set about 30 inches from the ground.
  • Location - Georgia, USA

Current Problem - She has been puffing her neck out and i havent noticed any visible stressor that would cause this she opened her mouth really wide earlier today as if she was struggling to swollow. Her feeders are no bigger than the space between her eyes. She also will just sit on her rope and bask and wont move much around her cage, but the cage is smaller than id like so i dont know if thats an issue or not for her at this age. I know i probably sound crazy but i am really concerned.
 
First the supplementation, you should be dusting with calcium without D3 every day, calcium w/D3 twice a month, and the multivitamins twice a month as well. That's the supplement schedule my cham is on. Maybe 95 could be too high for her and also her age, my max basking temp would be 87. And also just a tip if you do have any trouble with humidity for the future you can add in some plants that are safe for her, they help with the humidity(y)
 
Thank you so much!! Will be changing that now! And the basking temp only gets past 85-90 when its hot in my room. Thank you so much for the advice! Glad ive turned to an online forum vs hearing different things from different people.
 
You are over doing it with the supplements, how I would do it is calcium without D3 dusted once daily when there that young and calcium with D3 once every 3 weeks, and a multivitamin every 3 weeks on an opposite schedule as the D3. You are feeding a lot I know it’s young but I would just stick to around 6-9 small crickets a day fed in the morning so he has time to bask and digest if your feeding dubias daily also then cut down to about 4 crickets and a couple small dubias that’s will be plenty! Also a basking temp of 85-95 is way to hot you usually want at least 6 inches from the top of your veileds head to the heat source/top of cage. 80 would be plenty of a basking temp I would raise the lamp up and drop that temperature down. If humidity is an issue go out and buy a cheep pothos plant and sit it at the bottom it helps a lot! That way you don’t have to over mist. To much spraying and your increasing the chances of a respiratory infection.
 
Thank you so much for that information. As a new Chameleon owner i want to make sure i am doing everything right and i will make all changes needed to do so. Again thank you!
 
All these posts and no one has answered her original concerns! But first let me say that I agree with the husbandry changes above.

Occasionally opening her mouth is nothing to worry about, if it’s happening frequently then that’s something that should get reviewed. I’d say that your elevated temperatures are the most likely cause of her gaping. Get the temps down and give her a week, if she is still doing it or it starts to happen more frequently check back in over here and we can work it from there.
 
I agree with the above posts. Do you notice any noises when you cham puffs up and opens its mouth? If he is not making any popping/crackling noises while breathing then he could just be stretching to get ready for a shed.

My male usually moves to his basking spot first thing in the morning after lights go on and will sit there puffing up for no reason. Once hes done that a few times he settles down and chills until feeding time.
 
I immediately switched over to one without D3 and lowered my basking spot which now doesnt go over 85 and also reduced her to 6-9 crickets in the morning only. She just shed last week, a nice clean shed with no issues, but no noises when she opened her mouth and she only did it once, but it did scare me knowing how delicate they are.

I did have a question for the live plants. I heard pothos can be toxic when eaten in large number so that being the only live plant in there, would she eat it and possibly get sick? Is there any better plant alternative vs a pothos that isnt toxic at all i can use? And should i do a complete soil change or just top 2 inches?

Im sorry i have so many questions but i am a new Cham owner and want to make sure im giving her the best care possible.
 
akmihelle said:
I immediately switched over to one without D3 and lowered my basking spot which now doesnt go over 85 and also reduced her to 6-9 crickets in the morning only. She just shed last week, a nice clean shed with no issues, but no noises when she opened her mouth and she only did it once, but it did scare me knowing how delicate they are.

I did have a question for the live plants. I heard pothos can be toxic when eaten in large number so that being the only live plant in there, would she eat it and possibly get sick? Is there any better plant alternative vs a pothos that isnt toxic at all i can use? And should i do a complete soil change or just top 2 inches?

Im sorry i have so many questions but i am a new Cham owner and want to make sure im giving her the best care possible.
Click to expand...
Chams are a lot tougher than most people give them credit for. They only become delicate when exposed to bad husbandry over a long period of time.

There is nothing wrong with pathos. I use them extensively and my chams munch on them almost daily with no ill effects. But there are many other options, do a search for “safe plant list” and you’ll get all the options you can use.

Top 2 inches is enough, just be sure to put large rocks on top of the dirt you replace. The rocks must be bigger than your Cham could swallow. The purpose of the rocks it to keep your Cham from accedently ingesting the dirt or any thing else that could cause an impaction.

And never apologize for asking questions, it’s what we’re here for. Questions are how you keep your Cham healthy!
 
People forgot to tell you that you need to clean the pothos or any plant you may put in your cage. This is how I clean mine... I take the plant and remove all the dirt. Then I have a bucket that I put a little Dawn in and water . Turn the plant upside down and swish around the leaves in the bucket. Remove and rinse the plant well. Replace the soil with a organic one and repot. Cover the top of the soil with rocks and you are good to go. This process removes any chemicals they might have put on the plant before you bought it and the soil has no chemicals now
 
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I noticed today She has white crackling on her sides... and got a picture of her puffing up this morning and of the white. Can someone tell me if the 'crackling' is normal?
 

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akmihelle said:
I noticed today She has white crackling on her sides... and got a picture of her puffing up this morning and of the white. Can someone tell me if the 'crackling' is normal?
Click to expand...
Blew your pic up so we can see it better.

It looks like she has very dry skin between her scales but I’ve never seen anything like that before. Curious to see what other members have to say...
4E34CC18-0650-4649-A605-386212087B06.png
 
How would i help with the dry skin and what causes it? My humidity stays manily in the 60s and never goes below 50. Im going to pick up plants today to help maintain it a bit better. Could it be dehydration? Thats one this ive been trying to prevent and even installed a second dripper. :unsure: It only really shows this much when shes this specific color also
 
Also, this picture was taken on a Samsung and zoomed in. So in person its not as intense or white ive noticed with all my reptiles it intensifies their skin alot
 
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