gaping

krich76811

New Member
My 5 month old panther is gaping. She is in a screen cage I mist 3 times a day she had a dropper and eats crickets and worms.. I have no seen her drink...but she just started leaving her mouth open at times yesterday. .help
 
My 5 month old panther is gaping. She is in a screen cage I mist 3 times a day she had a dropper and eats crickets and worms.. I have no seen her drink...but she just started leaving her mouth open at times yesterday. .help
Is she gaping while basking? When a chameleon gapes it's usually a sign that it's too hot. So double check your basking temperature just to make sure the basking spot is not too hot. If it's too hot try and raise your basking bulb a few inches or change to a lower wattage. If your basking temperature is fine, check the ambient temperature in the rest of the cage. You want her to be able to move further down the cage and cool down if she's too hot. If the whole cage is the same as the basking spot then she's got no where to go and she'll overheat.
 
Is she doing this continuously or just every now and then when she's basking. If she's doing it every now and then just keep an eye on her. If she's got excess mucus in her mouth then she could be showing signs of a respiratory infection.

Symptoms to watch out for:
The presence of increased mucus in the chameleon’s mouth.
Weird noise accompanied with breathing (popping, crackling, purring, or cat-like sounds). Try to keep your ear closed to your chameleon and listen carefully for these sounds.
Labored breathing by gasping and opening its mouth even in the low temperature range. In the morning, chameleon does yawn like human. Such activity is normal.
Lungs often overly inflated.
Some swellings the forehead (between eyes) and even eyes (looked puffy) can occur.
Snoring during sleeping.

This information is taken from here http://chamworld.blogspot.co.uk/2008/01/upper-respiratory-infection-warning.html

If she is showing signs of an infection, then get her to a specialist exotic vet.
 
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