Mouth open

[bleudolphin]

When I turned on the lights to my veiled's cage this morning I noticed that when he come out of his hiding place that his mouth was open. I thought that it was because I was misting his cage which is 30" wide X 30" deep X 5.5 feet tall. I am in the process of switching him over to silkworms as his staple with crickets thrown it too. I put his worms in his food container like always. I also put a couple worms on some near by branches. He came up ate 1. Normally he eats a couple worms and a cricket or two then wonders around his cage. He has only closed his mouth a few time since I turned on his lights which was at 7:30 this morning. Should I be worried? Or just keep a close eye on him. His basking area is 85 and with cooler areas down to about 72 at the very bottom. Just wanting to make sure that there is not a real problem.

 

[dodolah]

When I turned on the lights to my veiled's cage this morning I noticed that when he come out of his hiding place that his mouth was open. I thought that it was because I was misting his cage which is 30" wide X 30" deep X 5.5 feet tall. I am in the process of switching him over to silkworms as his staple with crickets thrown it too. I put his worms in his food container like always. I also put a couple worms on some near by branches. He came up ate 1. Normally he eats a couple worms and a cricket or two then wonders around his cage. He has only closed his mouth a few time since I turned on his lights which was at 7:30 this morning. Should I be worried? Or just keep a close eye on him. His basking area is 85 and with cooler areas down to about 72 at the very bottom. Just wanting to make sure that there is not a real problem.

what is the temp of the enclosure?
chameleons sometime open their mouth when it's too hot

 

[bleudolphin]

As I stated the basking area is 85, then is varies with the bottom being 72

 

[Jeweledchameleons]

dodolah,
Gave the temps in his post -so it's not a overheating issue.
unless they're all wrong and he's would also be blanched.

I had mine (logan) do that when it was thirsty,
but then he knew that I could give him water via medicine dropper
so the communication was very clear with me what was on his mind.

you're sure it's not aggression?
If they're walking towards you with their mouth open it doesn't sound like that at all
there's lots of things that could be happening -including a slight respiratory infection.

Got a pict?
is there excessive mucus or whistling/ gurgling sounds with his breathing?
you really need to know what to look for... they'll show you and let you know
but you've just got to be able to read them.

 

[bleudolphin]

Well I just checked on him and his mouth is closed. He doesn't seem to be wheezing. Yesterday was the first day that he ate mostly silkworms. Is it possible that I feed him to many. He was eating about 12 crickets a day, yesterday I gave him 8 silkworms. There are still about 4 crickets roaming around his cage. Could he possibly have an upset stomach? I was not sure how many worms to feed.

I am pretty sure it is not aggression. I have been watching him from acrossed the room.

Yesterday he also started going down and sitting on the rim of the pot of one of his plants. He stays down there for maybe 5 mins then goes back up to the top. Yesterday he did this 3 time. Today he has done this once.

 

[bg77]

My guy does that when #1 in the am, maybe it is part of his waking up deal...#2 when the temp gets a little warm.

What type of thermometer do you have?

 

[bleudolphin]

I have 2 probe thermometers. One at his basking area and 1 close to the bottom

 

[Jeweledchameleons]

it's quite possible that he's evaporating excess water from his system.
Nothing's wrong if that's the case but you'll want to give them something
not as juicy to eat next time.

 

[PardalisGirl]

Just keep watching........

I would just keep a close watch on your cham. I have had a couple of chams get a little indigestion when they had more than a couple of arge silkworms after eating primarily crickets. I would maybe cut back on the number of silkworms and increase them slowly. Sudden changes in food may be the problem. Some chams can get diarhea from gorging on silkworms. I wonder if chams get gas like people do? Does anyone here know the answer to that? LOL