open mouth

[phil979]

hi i am new to keeping my veil chameleon and i am not sure if this is normal behavior
my male 10 month old chameleon has started in this last week sitting with his mouth open. he is growing very well, eating plenty, regular drinking from water fall, has a good strong grip when handling and looks 100% healthy,sometimes a bit grumpy when getting him out but fine when he is out.
is this normal behavior or is some thing wrong?

 

[Smokey]

start by using this link on how to ask for help
https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

 

[Smokey]

waterfalls must go not good for chams.they breed bacteria.dont want them getting sick.does ur cham make any noises when he opens his mouth?

 

[jojackson]

Hi Phil, welcome.
Its normal behaviour, called 'gaping', its done when lizards get too warm. They have no sweat glands or pores like us, so opening the mouth allows the blood to cool by the process of evaporation.
Check your temperatures but be aware, some will sit and gape with perfect temps, rather than move away (if they do this outside, be more cautious).
They do bask soley for UV apparently, so perhaps this is the case in these instances where, in captivity, the heatsource and UV source are both located pretty much together, or are one.
If you use a seperate UV source, particularly linear UV tube, try to arrange it so that there is a place to sit under the UV without the heat aswell.
In itself ,Nothing much to be concerned about mate.


Edit: good point on the respitory angle Smokey, thats another possibilty. Though Phil says its in good health, so its less likely, but without full information (questionaire) it cant be ruled out yet.