Mouth is open while basking

[Lille]

He just got done eating some breakfast and is now basking with his mouth open. Is that okay? Or is something wrong? I was watching him eat his breakfast and everything was going okay until he was done and went near his basking light.

 

[jannb]

They open their mouth when to hot. What's your basking temp?

 

[Vince]

Normally this means they are too hot. Depending on the size of what it is he ate could be the issue as well. Sometimes if my cham eats a monster silk worm he will sit there and open up with his head tilted up to let it slide down his throat.
Dont know if this is your problem just throwing it out there because you said you just watched him eat.

 

[Lille]

Okay, my basking temp is a little under 90 degrees right now. It's alittle cold inside the house today. He ate medium sized crickets and a couple of mealworms. First he did drink alot and sat with his head up for a while after drinking, then he went back to normal and ate his food and then went to bask and put his head back up.

And I'm stupid and forgot if needed my clamp light I use for his basking bulb does have a dimmer, but being under 90 should I dim it a little?

[EDIT: He seems to be opening and closing his mouth now, should I go ahead and turn his light down a bit?]

 

[NewOwner]

How close can he/she get to the light? (Inches)

And is he/she shedding? I know mine opens her mouth to loosen the uncomfortable parts on her head/neck

 

[Lille]

I have a plant for him to climb on to get to his basking area, I keep it trimmed back so he's not too close, so I'd saw he's like 4-5 inches away from the bulb. He just shed like a month ago. It seemed like when he walked away from it he closed his mouth again. I'm going to turn the bulb down a bit. BTW I'm using a 75w bulb.

 

[Julirs]

What are you housing him in?

 

[Lille]

Right now, the wrong type of cage. I have him in a terrarium and I have to leave the door open or cracked open to provide proper ventilation and control temp and humidity. I am working on finding a proper cage and will be ordering it soon. His ambient temp is between 75-80 degrees with a basking temp a little under 90 right now due to the house being kinda cold today.

It seems like when he gets away from the basking light he's normal again.

 

[Syn]

Well something's too hot. They drink more and open their mouth normally when they are too hot.

 

[Lille]

I'm ordering a new cage today, and suggestions on who to go through?

 

[Kays04]

LLLReptile... I just got my new aluminum screen cage from them and it's fantastic... Shylah loves her new home... I couldn't find anywhere else that had the kind of prices they do. I even went to the local petstore where I get some of my supplies and she even said she's never seen a cage like that for that cheap. Good deals!

 

[Syn]

I agree, I like LLL because they are affordable and don't try to rip you off.

 

[Julirs]

Do you have a digital thermometer to measure temps-the guage style analog thermometers will do no good. Defintiely order a cage from LLL-at least the 18X18X36-they have the best prices. Where did you get your cham out of curiosity?