Help, my yemen chameleon keeps hissing at night

[denvour]

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?

I am so sorry I forgot to attach it. :/

• Your Chameleon - yemen, male, 3years old. He has been in my care for 2 years
• Handling - he hates being handled but came out for the first time pretty much since I got him today
• Feeding - large locuse around 7-10 every other day. I feed them bug food that I get from the pet shop and lettuce
• Supplements - arcadia dietary supplements, one without d3 on every feeding then one with d3 2 times per month
• Watering - I hand spray home everyday 2 per day, I do see him drink some of it
• Fecal Description - they are the same as they have been for the past 2 years he has never been tested for parasites
• History - he is a rescue, before I got him he was in a small 45×45×45cm cage and suffered a very severe burn to the top of his head, by the time I got him there was nothing I could to to help that and the burnt part fell off but the open wound got better very well
Cage Info:
• Cage Type - glass cage with mesh top, I believe it's 45×60×90 cm
• Lighting - I do not know the exact brand of lighting off the top of my head but he has a heat lamp and a 10%(i think its 10%) uvb bulb is lights are on between 7:30 am and 7:30 pm
• Temperature - his basking temperature is always about 30⁰c.
• Humidity - his humidity levels are about 60%
• Plants - all his plants are artificial
• Placement - no one is in the area where his cage is between 8am-4pm after that I am in the room but normally not close to him. The top of his cage is about 45 ish cm from the ceiling.
• Location - the uk- Britain

 

[denvour]

Welcome to the forum!

Regarding the hissing…is his nose up in the air when he’s doing it? How many times does he do it before he stops? What’s the basking temperature in the cage? Is the cage near a window? What’s the nighttime temperature? Do you use a fogged or mister at night?

Hello, is nose is never up during the day and I dont think it is when he is hissing but im not 100% sure as it is too dark to see, the about of times he does it is completely random but by 11pm i dont hear it anymore. His basking spot is 30⁰c. The cage is not near a window. The lowest I have seen the temperature go at night was 13 degrees but for the most part its about 20-16 normally. He doesn't have a fogger i hand spray him 2 times during the day

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi. I’ll go thru your husbandry in a bit. I do have some suggestions to improve your care.
The night hissing is odd. Does he only hiss or make any noises at night? Do you ever hear any during the day? You say he never holds his head up, like he’s stargazing? No bubbles or thick ropy saliva? Those are all respiratory infection signs. I would think if he has an RI, he’d be showing the symptoms during the day as well.
Once in total darkness, chameleons generally fall asleep. I wouldn’t expect him to wake up or stay awake and start randomly hissing. So he would be doing it in his sleep, which is strange. I assume all creatures dream, and maybe he is dreaming? I would think if this were possible, we’d be more aware of it happening. Btw, I need to warn you that I tend to think wayyy out of the box and into the realm of strangeness so might propose some crazy sounding ideas.
What time do you feed him? Is it early in the day or later? If it’s later, perhaps he hasn’t had ample enough time to digest his food and somehow it’s partially constricting his lungs? I don’t know if this is even a possibility. How is his tongue? Any issues with it? Is he able to shoot it out a decent distance? The airway is in the very front of the mouth, so maybe a tongue with lax muscles could cause a whistling noise? Do you use any various scents in or near his room? Scented candles, room or other sprays, perfume/cologne, hair spray, cleansers, etc? Chameleon lungs are like tissue paper and scents or chemicals in the air can easily irritate them. Does he have any abnormal lumps or bumps anywhere on his face, eyes or casque? Are his nostrils clear or does he get snalt buildup? What is your faux background made up of? Any live plants? I’d like to see some more pics of him from a front facing and other angles, as well as of your entire enclosure.

 

[denvour]

Hi. I’ll go thru your husbandry in a bit. I do have some suggestions to improve your care.
The night hissing is odd. Does he only hiss or make any noises at night? Do you ever hear any during the day? You say he never holds his head up, like he’s stargazing? No bubbles or thick ropy saliva? Those are all respiratory infection signs. I would think if he has an RI, he’d be showing the symptoms during the day as well.
Once in total darkness, chameleons generally fall asleep. I wouldn’t expect him to wake up or stay awake and start randomly hissing. So he would be doing it in his sleep, which is strange. I assume all creatures dream, and maybe he is dreaming? I would think if this were possible, we’d be more aware of it happening. Btw, I need to warn you that I tend to think wayyy out of the box and into the realm of strangeness so might propose some crazy sounding ideas.
What time do you feed him? Is it early in the day or later? If it’s later, perhaps he hasn’t had ample enough time to digest his food and somehow it’s partially constricting his lungs? I don’t know if this is even a possibility. How is his tongue? Any issues with it? Is he able to shoot it out a decent distance? The airway is in the very front of the mouth, so maybe a tongue with lax muscles could cause a whistling noise? Do you use any various scents in or near his room? Scented candles, room or other sprays, perfume/cologne, hair spray, cleansers, etc? Chameleon lungs are like tissue paper and scents or chemicals in the air can easily irritate them. Does he have any abnormal lumps or bumps anywhere on his face, eyes or casque? Are his nostrils clear or does he get snalt buildup? What is your faux background made up of? Any live plants? I’d like to see some more pics of him from a front facing and other angles, as well as of your entire enclosure.

Hello,thank you for any suggestions, he is only hissing and making noise at night, the only times he hisses in the day is if im annoying by being too close. He doesn't really hold his head up during the day it stays in a pretty normal place unless there's food in his cage. Ive managed to get a better look into he mouth, there's no bubbles that i could see but his saliva is a little thicker than it use to be. I feed him earlier in the day so he has time to hunt for his bugs. He has had no problems shooting his tongue though he is missing bugs more often than he use to. There is candles in the room but they have never been lit and I never use any air freshener in his room to make sure that there's nothing to irritate his his lungs. There's no lumps or anything anywhere. There is a small amout of salt around his nose. I'm not 100% sure what the backdrop is made of I will have to check in the morning, there is no live plants and he never has had any. I will attach some photos of him and his cage here but if you want more I will take them tomorrow as his lights have gone off. All the photos are from today

 

[MissSkittles]

Your Chameleon - yemen, male, 3years old. He has been in my care for 2 years
• Handling - he hates being handled but came out for the first time pretty much since I got him today Pretty standard for veileds. It probably won’t change his dislike of being handled or attitude much, but building and maintains trust with him is always a good thing. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/building-trust-with-your-chameleon.2396/
• Feeding - large locuse around 7-10 every other day. That seems like a lot of feeders and I’d expect him to be obese, but he isn’t. He looks a good healthy size to me. I feed them bug food The gels, powders or what? that I get from the pet shop and lettuce Most lettuce lacks decent nutrition and is mainly just hydrating. Attaching feeder and gutloading graphics. Variety of both is key.
• Supplements - arcadia dietary supplements, one without d3 Is this a calcium? on every feeding then one with d3 Is this too a calcium? 2 times per month What about multivitamins?
• Watering - I hand spray home everyday 2 per day, For how long each time? Should be for about 2 minutes each time and right before lights go on and then off. I do see him drink some of it You are either fortunate (most are secretive drinkers) or he needs more hydration opportunities. I would say to add a dripper for about 15-20 minutes per day. Easiest way to do this is poke a small hole in the bottom of a plastic (disposable type) cup and sit it on top of the enclosure.
• Fecal Description - they are the same as they have been for the past 2 years he has never been tested for parasites It’s never a bad idea to get a fecal done. Usually a vet visit is required.
• History - he is a rescue, before I got him he was in a small 45×45×45cm cage and suffered a very severe burn to the top of his head, by the time I got him there was nothing I could to to help that and the burnt part fell off but the open wound got better very well Poor guy!
Cage Info:
• Cage Type - glass cage with mesh top, I believe it's 45×60×90 cm This is a bit too small. The standard minimum is 60x60x120 cm. Even though glass enclosures seem to be the preferred in the UK, I suggest getting an all screen one. It can very easily modified as needed with something as simple as a shower curtain to cover the back and sides. The ventilation is much better and greatly reduces risks of respiratory infections. It isn’t just the heat and high humidity that causes them, but poor or impaired ventilation can also add greatly to the risk.
• Lighting - I do not know the exact brand of lighting off the top of my head but he has a heat lamp and a 10%(i think its 10%) uvb bulb 10.0 is much too strong. You want either a ReptiSun 5.0 or (my preferred choice) Arcadia 6%. Have you ever changed your uvb bulb? They need to be changed yearly. If you have and it’s not yet time to replace, to compensate for the too strong bulb, you can raise the light about 7-8 cm from where it currently is. You want the distance between the 10.0 and basking area to be about 28 cm. Once you get the 5.0 or 6%, then the distance should be about 21-22 cm. *avoid knock off brands! They are not reliable in the amount of uvb they put out. is lights are on between 7:30 am and 7:30 pm 12 hours is perfect
• Temperature - his basking temperature is always about 30⁰c. Perfect
• Humidity - his humidity levels are about 60% Too high. This needs to be brought down to between 30-50%. Until you are able to upgrade him and/or get a screened enclosure, you should at the least add a small fan to the top to draw the air out (not blow in) to better promote air circulation.
• Plants - all his plants are artificial Afraid I’m going to tell you to replace them all with safe live ones. Pothos (aka devil’s ivy) is perhaps the best plant for chameleons. Very easy to grow and propagate more, no special light needed and safe when nibbled. If you place one on the enclosure floor and train it to grow upwards, the vine and leaves will grow bigger. This is a great source to help you. https://chameleonacademy.com/plants/ The problem with artificial plants and veileds is veileds do like to nibble their plants. It takes only one nibble to cause a potentially fatal bowel obstruction. Also, being able to safely nibble and enjoy live plants adds enrichment to their lives, is more aesthetically pleasing to us and will also help clean the air. You can start simple with one nice bushy pothos and take some clippings to start some more. Tradescantia Zebrina is another great plant but not as sturdy for being walked upon.
,
• Placement - no one is in the area where his cage is between 8am-4pm after that I am in the room but normally not close to him. The top of his cage is about 45 ish cm from the ceiling. All sounds good. Any other animals in the room/home?
• Location - the uk- Britain
I notice you have a soil substrate and need to ask about it. It looks like a rather thin layer and I don’t see any drainage layer or other indications that it’s a proper bioactive set up. I’m guessing it’s there not just to absorb excess water from misting, but for poo collection and look nicer. There’s a few problems with this. As it stays wet from misting, it is going to keep the humidity too high. This can also create growth of mold and bacteria which can make both your guy and yourself sick. As you seem to put the feeders loose in the enclosure, they will be walking on the substrate and carry on their feet the poo and whatever mold, bacteria or anything else growing there. Then your guy eats them. Not good. You can either remove all substrate and keep the floor bare, making sure to towel up excess water from misting promptly. Or, you can remove and trash all that is currently there and start fresh with a true and proper bioactive arrangement. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/intro-to-bio-activity.2429/ The drainage layer and way to remove excess water is essential. I would also advise using a feeding station. Not only will it help keep the feeders contained, but your guy will always know where to find his food. While hunting for it is a great form of enrichment, I would do that with specific feeders, like placing some silkworms on branches for him to find or letting some black soldier fly larvae pupate into flying treats.
I can’t say that any of your husbandry might be responsible for the night hissing or that it isn’t. The things that I see could maybe contribute to it would be the humidity level and possibility that your substrate is growing some molds or other yuckies that is making him ill.

 

[denvour]

Your Chameleon - yemen, male, 3years old. He has been in my care for 2 years
• Handling - he hates being handled but came out for the first time pretty much since I got him today Pretty standard for veileds. It probably won’t change his dislike of being handled or attitude much, but building and maintains trust with him is always a good thing. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/building-trust-with-your-chameleon.2396/
• Feeding - large locuse around 7-10 every other day. That seems like a lot of feeders and I’d expect him to be obese, but he isn’t. He looks a good healthy size to me. I feed them bug food The gels, powders or what? that I get from the pet shop and lettuce Most lettuce lacks decent nutrition and is mainly just hydrating. Attaching feeder and gutloading graphics. Variety of both is key.
• Supplements - arcadia dietary supplements, one without d3 Is this a calcium? on every feeding then one with d3 Is this too a calcium? 2 times per month What about multivitamins?
• Watering - I hand spray home everyday 2 per day, For how long each time? Should be for about 2 minutes each time and right before lights go on and then off. I do see him drink some of it You are either fortunate (most are secretive drinkers) or he needs more hydration opportunities. I would say to add a dripper for about 15-20 minutes per day. Easiest way to do this is poke a small hole in the bottom of a plastic (disposable type) cup and sit it on top of the enclosure.
• Fecal Description - they are the same as they have been for the past 2 years he has never been tested for parasites It’s never a bad idea to get a fecal done. Usually a vet visit is required.
• History - he is a rescue, before I got him he was in a small 45×45×45cm cage and suffered a very severe burn to the top of his head, by the time I got him there was nothing I could to to help that and the burnt part fell off but the open wound got better very well Poor guy!
Cage Info:
• Cage Type - glass cage with mesh top, I believe it's 45×60×90 cm This is a bit too small. The standard minimum is 60x60x120 cm. Even though glass enclosures seem to be the preferred in the UK, I suggest getting an all screen one. It can very easily modified as needed with something as simple as a shower curtain to cover the back and sides. The ventilation is much better and greatly reduces risks of respiratory infections. It isn’t just the heat and high humidity that causes them, but poor or impaired ventilation can also add greatly to the risk.
• Lighting - I do not know the exact brand of lighting off the top of my head but he has a heat lamp and a 10%(i think its 10%) uvb bulb 10.0 is much too strong. You want either a ReptiSun 5.0 or (my preferred choice) Arcadia 6%. Have you ever changed your uvb bulb? They need to be changed yearly. If you have and it’s not yet time to replace, to compensate for the too strong bulb, you can raise the light about 7-8 cm from where it currently is. You want the distance between the 10.0 and basking area to be about 28 cm. Once you get the 5.0 or 6%, then the distance should be about 21-22 cm. *avoid knock off brands! They are not reliable in the amount of uvb they put out. is lights are on between 7:30 am and 7:30 pm 12 hours is perfect
• Temperature - his basking temperature is always about 30⁰c. Perfect
• Humidity - his humidity levels are about 60% Too high. This needs to be brought down to between 30-50%. Until you are able to upgrade him and/or get a screened enclosure, you should at the least add a small fan to the top to draw the air out (not blow in) to better promote air circulation.
• Plants - all his plants are artificial Afraid I’m going to tell you to replace them all with safe live ones. Pothos (aka devil’s ivy) is perhaps the best plant for chameleons. Very easy to grow and propagate more, no special light needed and safe when nibbled. If you place one on the enclosure floor and train it to grow upwards, the vine and leaves will grow bigger. This is a great source to help you. https://chameleonacademy.com/plants/ The problem with artificial plants and veileds is veileds do like to nibble their plants. It takes only one nibble to cause a potentially fatal bowel obstruction. Also, being able to safely nibble and enjoy live plants adds enrichment to their lives, is more aesthetically pleasing to us and will also help clean the air. You can start simple with one nice bushy pothos and take some clippings to start some more. Tradescantia Zebrina is another great plant but not as sturdy for being walked upon.
,
• Placement - no one is in the area where his cage is between 8am-4pm after that I am in the room but normally not close to him. The top of his cage is about 45 ish cm from the ceiling. All sounds good. Any other animals in the room/home?
• Location - the uk- Britain
I notice you have a soil substrate and need to ask about it. It looks like a rather thin layer and I don’t see any drainage layer or other indications that it’s a proper bioactive set up. I’m guessing it’s there not just to absorb excess water from misting, but for poo collection and look nicer. There’s a few problems with this. As it stays wet from misting, it is going to keep the humidity too high. This can also create growth of mold and bacteria which can make both your guy and yourself sick. As you seem to put the feeders loose in the enclosure, they will be walking on the substrate and carry on their feet the poo and whatever mold, bacteria or anything else growing there. Then your guy eats them. Not good. You can either remove all substrate and keep the floor bare, making sure to towel up excess water from misting promptly. Or, you can remove and trash all that is currently there and start fresh with a true and proper bioactive arrangement. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/intro-to-bio-activity.2429/ The drainage layer and way to remove excess water is essential. I would also advise using a feeding station. Not only will it help keep the feeders contained, but your guy will always know where to find his food. While hunting for it is a great form of enrichment, I would do that with specific feeders, like placing some silkworms on branches for him to find or letting some black soldier fly larvae pupate into flying treats.
I can’t say that any of your husbandry might be responsible for the night hissing or that it isn’t. The things that I see could maybe contribute to it would be the humidity level and possibility that your substrate is growing some molds or other yuckies that is making him ill.
View attachment 363552View attachment 363553

I'll try it give him a few less bugs and see how he does with them.
For the bugs I give the gels (i was told they were good by someone from the pet shop) but I dont know if they are. I'll be sure to feed them some other things that are on the list.

The Supplement without d3 Is calcium and the one with d3 Is multi vitamin. I'll definitely spray him for a bit longer as at the minute I'm only doing it for about a minute, and I'll sort out a dripper for tomorrow.

I know the cage is a bit small but when I got him I was in a better financial position and just got him a bigger one as soon as I could and thats the first one I could get, the plan was to upgrade a few months later, but I lost my job so couldn't afford it and still can't. This is also one of the reasons that he has a glass cage, the other is just because it's very cold in the winter and it wouldn't keep enough heat.

He is due for a new uvb bulb next month but I'm going to get it as soon as I get paid at the end of this month and I will get the one you suggested if it is available.

I'll buy a small fan tomorrow and try to lower the humidity. I'll start looking into where I can get some live plants from. Also there is no other animals in the house.

His substrate is wood chips, it's spot cleand whenever I see anything and all the substrate was changed a few days ago so it is fairly fresh, I'll definitely look into a bioactive set up. I'll be sure to look into the feeding station thing aswell.

Overall, I'm going to do all the smaller easier to do/cheaper things over the next day or 2 as well as research into plants and the best places to get them from.

I am finding out that I have been misinformed about a lot of things with his care, I was told that tank was big enough by the shop I got it from (i assume they wanted a quick sale) even though I was gonna get him a bigger one anyway. Also those same people said he humidity shout be around 70 and mine was to low! I'm so glad I listened to my gut on some things rather than them. Same place also told me the substrate was perfect because it helps with higher humidity.

I cannot thank you enough for all your advice I'll be sure to update when his condition (hopefully) improves.

 

[MissSkittles]

Sorry that the pet store misled on different things. Very often it isn’t malicious to get you to buy more, but rather the spread of old or incorrect info. Sadly, far too many go thru the same and there’s many here who started with buying everything wrong and then had to spend again to buy the right stuff.
The various bug gels will hydrate your bugs and keep them alive for a time, but that’s about it. I’ve no idea how expensive things are there, but here (for now at least) produce like mustard or turnip greens are inexpensive. What many people do is make a purée of the various veggies and then freeze like ice cubes and then you can grab & thaw a cube for your bugs. I keep a bag of frozen mixed veggies for ‘emergency’ bug food.
Maybe you know someone - friend, family, neighbor, etc who has a pothos and would be willing to give you some cuttings and then you can start a plant from them. Stick the cuttings in a glass of water and in a short amount of time, roots will develop and then you can plant it. Philodendron isn’t on the safe list, but it has the same toxicity qualities as pothos and I use them interchangeably. I don’t think it’s as tasty as pothos since my girl doesn’t nibble philodendron.
One of the reasons that I asked if you have any other animals is because you could maybe set up a free range area so your guy can have some time in a larger area. They do enjoy looking out windows. You would have to supervise him the entire time, but it would only be for an hour or less. They are super quick when they want to be and good at hiding.
Many make their own feeding stations. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy and a tall deli cup zip tied in one place would work. Just add drainage holes in case you mist it.
I wish I had the answer as to why your guy is hissing at night. Even some of my crazier ideas don’t hold up.

 

[LizardLurkin]

I am so curious about this guy. Any updates?

 

[denvour]

I am so curious about this guy. Any updates?

Hello, he is still hissing at night but it's a lot more quiet than it was before so I think that's a good sign

 

[LizardLurkin]

What a curious quirk. If you ever figure out a cause I'd be interested to know.