Lifting head up or basking?

[ThatOneDisease]

Hello! I just wanted to ask to make sure because I couldn't find it on here-

I gave my nosy-be panther cham a hornworm not too long ago and I think it may have been too big?- he did eat it and it did take him a second but after he went up to his basking branch and did this

Is this a normal pose? Or should I start to worry? He doesn't have any abnormal health issues in the past nor right now. Again, feel free to ask me anything in case you think it's a worry
(also sorry for the space free in the cage, I had some plants that needed to be removed to fix them that usually are back there)

 

[ThatOneDisease]

He just did this- he seems to have it open for maybe 4-5 minutes before closing it and doing it again 10 mins later. And when it's open I hear soft popping sounds? It sounds like it's from his mouth, not the nose. With that being said his head is straight not lifted.

And i pretty much mist constantly (as I don't have my drainage set up just yet, my mist king isn't on) to make sure it's humid enough and he's hydrated, but could this mean dehydrated?

Also after some really really long scrolls through this forum, he doesn't have any symptoms so far of respitory? His sleeping is very quiet and sleeps with his head straight and curled with the rest of his body. And there's no noise from him during the day. I just wanna make sure that I'm touching all bases because I'm actually going to Orlando for a trip in a few days and I wanna know just in case if I have to bring him along(the closest reptile vet is in winter park :/)

Edit: I also saw that he could be too hot? So I did turn the AC down a bit to 74 so that makes his room at about 75-76, so a little cooler

 

[MissSkittles]

Mine have assumed that pose at the times when I’ve given them a larger feeder. If the worm was the cause, he should have resumed his ‘normal’ positioning within a few minutes. The rule of thumb is any feeder larger than the space between their eyes is too big for them. If your guy is still holding his head up like the first pic and/or still gaping, this shouldn’t be. If he is making any noises while breathing, it’s a good time for a vet visit asap.
Moving forward, you may want to err on the side of caution and feed smaller feeders. It’s much better to waste a hornworm or other feeder than cause any sort of distress.

 

[ThatOneDisease]

Mine have assumed that pose at the times when I’ve given them a larger feeder. If the worm was the cause, he should have resumed his ‘normal’ positioning within a few minutes. The rule of thumb is any feeder larger than the space between their eyes is too big for them. If your guy is still holding his head up like the first pic and/or still gaping, this shouldn’t be. If he is making any noises while breathing, it’s a good time for a vet visit asap.
Moving forward, you may want to err on the side of caution and feed smaller feeders. It’s much better to waste a hornworm or other feeder than cause any sort of distress.

Yes, of course. Yeah this quickly taught me to just toss hornworms or any feeder that's too big. Before I left for work, he did not do that pose and no more sounds. Still opening his mouth however and I did cool down his temp by pulling up the heat lamp a little bit by 2 inches. Thank you again, Skittle