Open mouth again.... vet time?

[lurker9090]

(please ignore that water cup, this video was taken a few days ago when I initially saw his mouth open and I was attempting to get his hydration up by placing his flies in the water, it was removed right after)

I posted about how a few days ago my new 4 month old ambilobe panther chameleon had his mouth open on the cameras I have. I realized It was most likely because I misted his enclosure right before and it got too hot and humid.

Since then I stopped misting the enclosure during the day and now only do it before/after the lights are on/off. I have also began turning off the basking light at 4pm

Today I was in his room (which is also my bedroom, I wasnt standing infront of his enclosure, I was practically out of his eye site) and noticed his mouth open. At this point in the day his basking lamp was already off, and I had not misted since the early morning. So now I'm very worried.

To see if he was just scared of me, i left the room and watch the camera and he did it again. Theres no way it is too hot in his enclosure right now, I have an ac going every now and then.

I had a cold this week, I really thought it couldn't be passed to him but do you think that could have been possible? I haven't handled him but frequently handled his crickets/other feeders to practice trust feeding. I feel very stupid. I didn't know it was a cold until today. I thought that it was just because my family was visiting (they have pets im allergic too). Although when i posted about his open mouth a few days ago I was not sick.

While he was gaping his mouth, I heard no heavy breathing, and his face was not pointed up toward the ceiling. At one point I noticed the red skin under his neck infalte a bit like he does if hes scared/eating.

He has been eating very regularly, going to sleep/waking up like clockwork at 8am/pm. his poops/urates so far have all been hydrated - however today was the first day he did not poop/urate, besides that he looks healthy otherwise. Today he ate 15 crickets and 5 BSF.

I am worried visiting the vet will cause extra stress, would a stool sample show possible infections? Would it also be possible to test for parasites? How much would a fecal sample analyze cost? How much would an in-person visit cost? (in general) (im in British Columbia, Canada)
I had the money saved incase of times like these so I will pay whatever, I just would like ball park

Should I go to vet or moniter?

 

[MissSkittles]

Are you monitoring the temps with a thermometer? Even though the room may feel ok or cool to us, they have been sitting under hot lights and we need to remember that the heat rises, so he may be warmer than you if he’s up high. Btw, no, you can not pass your cold on to him.
I don’t want to tell you not to go to the vet as it could be something other than URI that needs veterinary attention. Unless he is having temps that are too warm for him, he shouldn’t be holding his mouth open like that, so something is going on. No idea what type of vet bill you could expect. Here in Florida the basic visit is around $60-75 and fecals are around $35-40. In other parts of the country, people have reported paying a few hundred for the same services. Call your vet and ask what the visit and fecals cost. Sometimes the vet will find nothing but a healthy chameleon, but the peace of mind that brings is priceless.

 

[elizaann2]

What are his temps at? I know you said they couldn’t be too hot for him with the basking light off but I’m still curious.

 

[lurker9090]

What are his temps at? I know you said they couldn’t be too hot for him with the basking light off but I’m still curious.

Im going to test today around the same time and see if it got too hot. I assumed it wasn't because I was so cold! My landlord runs central ac all day, and then I also have a smaller fan going periodically. I really didn't think a led light or uvb bar could produce a lot of heat but it could totally be possible. In the mean time I emailed around 5 exotic vets near me so hopefully Ill get it all sorted out soon !

 

[lurker9090]

Are you monitoring the temps with a thermometer? Even though the room may feel ok or cool to us, they have been sitting under hot lights and we need to remember that the heat rises, so he may be warmer than you if he’s up high. Btw, no, you can not pass your cold on to him.
I don’t want to tell you not to go to the vet as it could be something other than URI that needs veterinary attention. Unless he is having temps that are too warm for him, he shouldn’t be holding his mouth open like that, so something is going on. No idea what type of vet bill you could expect. Here in Florida the basic visit is around $60-75 and fecals are around $35-40. In other parts of the country, people have reported paying a few hundred for the same services. Call your vet and ask what the visit and fecals cost. Sometimes the vet will find nothing but a healthy chameleon, but the peace of mind that brings is priceless.

I monitor the temps under his basking light periodically with one of those loser thermometers, but never thought to test the levels under his uvb/led light. So im defiantly going to do that today, and in the mean time I emailed all the exotic vets local to me! Hopefully I find a solution today. Even if nothing is wrong with him, totally agree that peace of mind will probably be super beneficial/priceless for the both of us LOL