My chameleon says rawr...

ChamomilleCame

ChamomilleCame

Avid Member
Lately, my cham has been opening his mouth even when im not there. I wasn't sure what it was, but there's a board with photos and I flipped all of them around. Today he literally opened his mouth a bit more than half and inch! (the cham is an inch and a half O.O) I need help ASAP.
Thanks!
 
The basking is like 85 degrees and the bottom is 77 degrees-ish. The strange thing is he doesn't go to the bottom when he opens his mouth, he just stays there.
 
Seems really on the warm side for jacksons especially a baby if thats what you have. DO you have a good temp drop overnight into the high 60's at least. I think you should work on lowering day time temps a bit for better results.


Is this the same chameleon that doesn't move much from your other thread? If so I advise you to fill out the how to help form that we provided in last thread for you. It'll give everyone an a basic idea on what you are working with.
 
Thats a little too warm, you may want to drop the basking temp to about 80 and the bottom should probably be somewhere around 70-72
 
Is it a Jackson's baby?

If so, then, yes...too warm. 80 would probably be the max for a baby... Let the bottom fall to 70. He's probably "gaping" to cool down.
 
camimom said:
Raise his basking light higher, or depending on room temps, you can turn the basking light off completly.
Click to expand...

Completely shutting off the chameleons basking light is not a permanent solution. That is a quick fix, your chameleon needs its basking light. Living in tropics sounds like it will be hot all the time. You need to locate the coolest area that you can find to house him. Heat rises so he might need to be housed on the bottom floor of your home or you need to make sure his cage is lower if not. I use cool mist humidifier that shoots a constant mist and cool air. Also use the lowest wattage bulbs. 40 watt seems to be a good wattage for them. Some do keep them in higher temps but I advise learning to keep at lower temps as they seem to do better naturally. Also direct your basking light so its not directly pointing down somewhat on an angle. In the summer there is no getting around not having an Air conditioner. If I don't have one I could not keep these animals. I don't know if you have an A/c running already or not.

There is a few good articles from members I think you will benefit from. I will look for them and attach them here. Your chameleon will appreciate you taking the time to look over these articles.

Enjoy you chameleon Jackson's are awesome.

http://www.chameleonnews.com/10JulManchen.html

Here is a video from a member on here Justin "jdog" explaining how he has successfully raises his Jackson's chameleons.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKTbUaOQ0aA&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
 
Last edited:
JackP308 said:
Completely shutting off the chameleons basking light is not a permanent solution. That is a quick fix, your chameleon needs its basking light. Living in tropics sounds like it will be hot all the time. You need to locate the coolest area that you can find to house him. Heat rises so he might need to be housed on the bottom floor of your home or you need to make sure his cage is lower if not. I use cool mist humidifier that shoots a constant mist and cool air. Also use the lowest wattage bulbs. 40 watt seems to be a good wattage for them. Some do keep them in higher temps but I advise learning to keep at lower temps as they seem to do better naturally. Also direct your basking light so its not directly pointing down somewhat on an angle. In the summer there is no getting around not having an Air conditioner. If I don't have one I could not keep these animals. I don't know if you have an A/c running already or not.

There is a few good articles from members I think you will benefit from. I will look for them and attach them here. Your chameleon will appreciate you taking the time to look over these articles.

Enjoy you chameleon Jackson's are awesome.

http://www.chameleonnews.com/10JulManchen.html

Here is a video from a member on here Justin "jdog" explaining how he has successfully raises his Jackson's chameleons.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKTbUaOQ0aA&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
Click to expand...

While I dont have a jackson, I do have a veiled, and I kept my basking light off all summer. it was too hot and no matter what wattage bulb i used ( i did try lower wattage and moving the light farther away) I couldnt get his temps lower (at the time I didnt have ac so that wasnt an option) I did keep the light on his cage though for days where it wasnt as hot.
I also turned on his basking bulb in the morning for a few hours to help him warm up after sleeping and i turned it on about an hour before i was going to feed him and kept it on for an hour after he ate.
He used to gape cuz he was hot, but when i turned the light off (only his basking, not his uvb) he stopped. and he suffererd no ill consequences from it.
 
We are all here to help, but I think the OP really needs to concentrate on locking down better husbandry on her specific Chameleon and not removing a key component to a chameleons setup. The links and the info are there, its up to the people to use it. I try and recommend what I believe the best husbandry practices that have been proven, not a quick solution that may work.
Best of luck with your little guy post some pictures of him and his set up if you'd like. They remind me of mini dinosaurs.
 
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