We purchased our first Chameleon (male Jackson chameleon) and have had him for exactly a week now. I just noticed this morning that he is opening his mouth really wide and closing it. It is kind of like he is stretching his jaw. I might just be acting like a nervous mother, but I have not seen him do this before. He is doing this about once a minute. He isn't making any gasping or wheezing sounds.
He is in an exo-terra (I know, I know I shouldn't use a glass terrarium). We have plans on moving him into a screen terrarium once he doubles in size. We are not sure of his exact age. He has been with a local trusted reptile store for 6 months. Tip of nose to vent is about 3-4".
Our biggest concern is humidity. We live in AZ where humidity is very low. This is why we chose a glass terrarium. The pet store kept him in a screen cage and I will be amazed if they are keeping the humidity between 50-70%. I know they have misters and foggers at the store, but I have never seen them use one while I am in the store. *shrug* I plan on calling them today to check on their terrarium parameters just to make sure mine are similar. The cage ranges between 67 - 85 F. The high end is only right under his basking light. Most of the cage is in the 70-75 F range. We are striving to keep the cage around 60% humidity, but it can drop a little during the day.
One mistake I have noticed I have done is left out a drainage section in the cage. I will remedy this, but I wanted to give Verde (the chameleon) two weeks to settle in before messing with the cage. I have a carnivorous plant setup with a drainage section and similar substrate and is stays at a constant 50% humidity without any misting.
This will solve part of my problem. Now after seeing this behavior, I might go ahead and get a larger glass terrarium just to provide better ventilation for the little guy. I do not want to move into a large screen terrarium before I am certain I can keep the humidity high enough in it.
Verde is not my first lizard. I also have two bearded dragon and three leopard geckos. He is my first rainforest lizard and I would hate for something to happen to him.
He is in an exo-terra (I know, I know I shouldn't use a glass terrarium). We have plans on moving him into a screen terrarium once he doubles in size. We are not sure of his exact age. He has been with a local trusted reptile store for 6 months. Tip of nose to vent is about 3-4".
Our biggest concern is humidity. We live in AZ where humidity is very low. This is why we chose a glass terrarium. The pet store kept him in a screen cage and I will be amazed if they are keeping the humidity between 50-70%. I know they have misters and foggers at the store, but I have never seen them use one while I am in the store. *shrug* I plan on calling them today to check on their terrarium parameters just to make sure mine are similar. The cage ranges between 67 - 85 F. The high end is only right under his basking light. Most of the cage is in the 70-75 F range. We are striving to keep the cage around 60% humidity, but it can drop a little during the day.
One mistake I have noticed I have done is left out a drainage section in the cage. I will remedy this, but I wanted to give Verde (the chameleon) two weeks to settle in before messing with the cage. I have a carnivorous plant setup with a drainage section and similar substrate and is stays at a constant 50% humidity without any misting.
This will solve part of my problem. Now after seeing this behavior, I might go ahead and get a larger glass terrarium just to provide better ventilation for the little guy. I do not want to move into a large screen terrarium before I am certain I can keep the humidity high enough in it.
Verde is not my first lizard. I also have two bearded dragon and three leopard geckos. He is my first rainforest lizard and I would hate for something to happen to him.
