Need some help

[Pascal 2012]

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - Ambilobe Male, around three months of age have had him for two weeks
Handling - Never.
Feeding - Crickets 8-10 a day. Gut-loaded with cricket crack and oranges/apples.
Supplements - Repti-calcium with D3 4x a week (breeders recommendation). Multi Vitamin Powder once a week.
Watering - misting system goes off every three hours for thirty seconds
Fecal Description -Looks normal, Brown/black with white urate.
History- From screameleons


Cage Info:

Cage Type - Screen cage. about 2 feet high by 1 foot deep and 1.5 feet wide.
Lighting - Repti sun 5.0 uvb, 60 watt heat bulb. 9 am- 9pm
Temperature - Basking Spot 92, middle 85 bottom is between 75.Over night 72
Humidity -50-80%
Plants - Live plant (pothos), fake plants
Placement - Cage is in low traffic area, in a bedroom. Its about 3 feet off the floor. Its not really close to an air conditioner but it is going.
Location - Albuquerque, NM


Current Problem - puffing up, along with a pop noise from the throat


Lately I have been seeing my little guy (Pascal) puffing up quite a bit. he looks up opens his mouth almost like taking a deep breathe. At first I thought it was him saying "back off" but even when I'm away where he cant see me he does it. Then just a few minutes ago he made a pop (best way i can describe it) from his throat while puffed up. Can you guys help me figure out whats wrong.

 

[DavidBuchan]

I think he's just gaping because your temps are a bit high. Under 4 months and he should bask about 82F. Any reason you know the breeder recommended that d3 schedule? What's the d3 conc. in it?

 

[Pascal 2012]

I think he's just gaping because your temps are a bit high. Under 4 months and he should bask about 82F. Any reason you know the breeder recommended that d3 schedule? What's the d3 conc. in it?

I read that about the temps a few places but i followed everything that was given to be on the care sheet. and for the calcium it is calcium carbonate minimum 35% calcium maximum 40% and vitamin D3 minimum 400,000 IU/Kg

 

[DavidBuchan]

That's too much d3 compared to what is usually advised on the forum. Plain calcium everyday, with d3 twice a month, multivit twice a month is what is usual.
Or use repashy calcium plus, which is an all-in-one.
What did you read about the temps? That they should be lower or that he should be basking at 92F now?

 

[Pascal 2012]

That's too much d3 compared to what is usually advised on the forum. Plain calcium everyday, with d3 twice a month, multivit twice a month is what is usual.
Or use repashy calcium plus, which is an all-in-one.
What did you read about the temps? That they should be lower or that he should be basking at 92F now?

Some people say the temps should be around 80-85 then the breeders said 90-95. Also I thought about the temps being to high but he was doing it now before his lights go off for the night so he was in the cooler area.

 

[kinyonga]

It could be a respiratory infection since you are saying that there is a popping noise coming from him.

 

[DavidBuchan]

Some people say the temps should be around 80-85 then the breeders said 90-95. Also I thought about the temps being to high but he was doing it now before his lights go off for the night so he was in the cooler area.

Hmmm - Middle or bottom? I still think it's likely the temps, now I'm thinking about the 'pop' too and hoping there's nothing serious.....try lowering the temps and if it stops then problem solved
90-95 is too hot for an adult male. 65-70 is good for his cooler area. Sometimes young chams don't look for a cooler place, they just sit and complain they are too hot

 

[Pascal 2012]

It could be a respiratory infection since you are saying that there is a popping noise coming from him.

This is what I was thinking as well. He isn't really near a draft and I keep the cage pretty clean. Is there any way that I can help him get better?

 

[Pascal 2012]

Hmmm - Middle or bottom? I still think it's likely the temps, now I'm thinking about the 'pop' too and hoping there's nothing serious.....try lowering the temps and if it stops then problem solved
90-95 is too hot for an adult male. 65-70 is good for his cooler area. Sometimes young chams don't look for a cooler place, they just sit and complain they are too hot

How should I go about this he doesn't really like to climb onto my hands and I would not want to stress him out while moving everything around.

 

[DavidBuchan]

How should I go about this he doesn't really like to climb onto my hands and I would not want to stress him out while moving everything around.

Even if he's still a bit shy you could try to tempt him out with food. It's worth getting him out if you need to for lowering the temps. I don't handle my chams often, sometimes Rinty doesn't want to come out into the Sun but I take him out when it shines for his own good.
He'll probably cheer up a bit once you've actually got him out and you might get lucky and find he likes it.

 

[Pascal 2012]

Even if he's still a bit shy you could try to tempt him out with food. It's worth getting him out if you need to for lowering the temps. I don't handle my chams often, sometimes Rinty doesn't want to come out into the Sun but I take him out when it shines for his own good.
He'll probably cheer up a bit once you've actually got him out and you might get lucky and find he likes it.

Ok I will give that a try tomorrow! I can also post some pics of his enclosure tomorrow (lights are off now) so that you can critique it. Also should I change the supplements?

 

[DavidBuchan]

Also should I change the supplements?

I think so. I know screameleons are a respected breeder, but that advice is not what I hear from everyone on here. I don't know why it's different

 

[Pascal 2012]

I think so. I know screameleons are a respected breeder, but that advice is not what I hear from everyone on here. I don't know why it's different

See and I had been searching the forums before and kept coming across that, I then asked screameleons and they said multi once a week and calcium with D3 every other day