Puffing?
- Thread starter katelynpc
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ridgebax1
Avid Member
My chameleon will puff up his throat, open his mouth, lunge and hiss when I reach into his cage. He will also lean away from me like he is trying to become invisible behind the stick he is sitting on! But they should not sleep during the day, it is a symptom that something is not right. If he is making those noises and NOT acting aggressively he may have a respiratory infection. Sometimes chams with respiratory infections will make a popping sound when they breathe and may also have mucus bubbles coming out of their nostrils. If that is the case you need to take him to a vet who sees reptiles.
I work at a reptile vet, he was seen last week and looked fine. He does have a moderate amount of pinworms but that can be normal. But he's been acting a little funny since he went to the vet. is it stress maybe? I don't see any bubbles or anything. He was acting aggressive. He's eating and Humidity is between 50-70% and he's sprayed 2 times a day. He eats about 6 superworms a day.
ridgebax1
Avid Member
That is awesome that you work with a reptile vet! If he checked out OK then he is probably just being a grumpy cham. Is he getting treated for the worms? I have never had my guy checked for parasites because he was CB but am wondering if I should do this anyway because my old source for crickets was not the cleanest place in the world.
He was CB as well. Just superworms and reptiworms I can't have crickets in my house. We plan on treating the worms. The worms are given the gel zoomed cricket calcium feeder. i know it's not the best and I plan on going to the store soon to get real veggies for feeding. It did sound like a puff! I'm a very worried mommy though so is the sleeping with the light on still really bad? It was dark outside and he's right next to my window, but his lights were still on.
ridgebax1
Avid Member
Well that depends. A lot of folks here and myself have experienced their chams sleeping with the lights on when it is within an hour or so of lights out. If it is dark outside then no it is probably not a problem. I have my lights on a timer so they are on from 0730 to 1930 (12 hours on and 12 hours off). So if your guy is just putting himself to bed, it should be OK. It is important they have no lights at night to get the proper sleep. I just started covering Omar's cage because even though his lights are out he is in the living room and the room lights are still on.
carol5208
Chameleon Enthusiast
If it is dark outside then turn your lights off in the cage. He probably sees it is dark outside and wants to go to sleep. Some chameleons can sleep with the lights on, but most get effected by the light and it disrupts their sleep. As long as it was towards the evening hours and he was sleeping I would not worry. You have to worry when it is actual daylight out and they are sleeping. That would not be normal. You can gutload your supers just like crickets. They eat everything! Supers are very high in fat and that is not a very healthy diet for your chameleon. Think of it as us eating Big Macs. I feed supers, but totally in moderation. Feed some silkworms. They are high in calcium and very low fat for a worm.
ridgebax1
Avid Member
Mulberry farms also sells silkworms. I just got a dish of eggs and am going to try to grow my own
. One of the bigger expenses when ordering online is shipping as it cannot be any longer than two days to guarantee live arrival (from most places). Usually between the two places someone has them. Hornworms and phoenix worms are also good feeders with high calcium and relatively low fat. Butterworms too but they can be pricey and you cannot raise your own as they are irradiated before import to prevent breeding as they are a pest in this country. The best source I have found for phoenix worms is on ebay. The worms are big and healthy looking and not really expensive.
. One of the bigger expenses when ordering online is shipping as it cannot be any longer than two days to guarantee live arrival (from most places). Usually between the two places someone has them. Hornworms and phoenix worms are also good feeders with high calcium and relatively low fat. Butterworms too but they can be pricey and you cannot raise your own as they are irradiated before import to prevent breeding as they are a pest in this country. The best source I have found for phoenix worms is on ebay. The worms are big and healthy looking and not really expensive.
camimom
New Member
Can I ask why you cant have crickets?
Crickets and dubia roaches are the main feeders for chams.
If you cant have one, you need the other.
Trust me, if you try to only feed silkworms (and you don't breed them yourself) you are going to BURN through money.
ANd as carol said, supers are not real healthy,
Crickets and roaches breed and are cheaper to feed a cham with.
Crickets and dubia roaches are the main feeders for chams.
If you cant have one, you need the other.
Trust me, if you try to only feed silkworms (and you don't breed them yourself) you are going to BURN through money.
ANd as carol said, supers are not real healthy,
Crickets and roaches breed and are cheaper to feed a cham with.
I'm ok with spending a little bit of extra money. I order from Georgia Crickets though because shipping is cheap for me. It's the agreement I have with my roommate she's fine with me getting my reptiles, but she doesn't want dead rats in her fridge, which is why I have a mini fridge, and she doesn't want crickets or roaches for feeders. They both really scare her and she's not the biggest reptile fan so I figured that was fair. That's why I'm looking for staple worms. So I'll stick with reptiworms mainly and try to get some silkworms and hornworms. Those are sold at a lot of reptile shows right? I plan on going to Repticon in a couple of weeks.
ridgebax1
Avid Member
I think you still need to feed crickets just so they get enough calcium with D3 and the multivite. I am not really sure though. I just did not think it was good to feed strictly soft bodied insects like worms. And honestly circket aren't that bad to keep if you only have a coupld of dozen at a time. My guy could go through a couple dozen in a few days, so maybe you would not have to store them for a long time?
sandrachameleon
Chameleon Enthusiast
the beauty of crickets is the ease with which you can gutload them, the ease of dusting, and the reasonable protein/fat balance.
perhaps if you just weekly buy just one or two crickets at a time (cut off wings of males so they are silent), gutload for a couple hours then feed off (watching to ensure they are immediately eaten), your roommate will never know.
Silkworms are the best larva for gutloading, as they will eat a variety of good gutload items.
consider also captive bred terrestrial isopods (high calcium, gutloadable, low "ick" factor, silent), indian walking sticks, captive bred land snails, ...
a diet made up largely of larva is not a healthy natural diet.
perhaps if you just weekly buy just one or two crickets at a time (cut off wings of males so they are silent), gutload for a couple hours then feed off (watching to ensure they are immediately eaten), your roommate will never know.
Silkworms are the best larva for gutloading, as they will eat a variety of good gutload items.
consider also captive bred terrestrial isopods (high calcium, gutloadable, low "ick" factor, silent), indian walking sticks, captive bred land snails, ...
a diet made up largely of larva is not a healthy natural diet.
dolezalbob
New Member
Our boy Ambilobe is usually really laid back. Doesn't have any problems being handled, hands feeds, etc.....but my fiancee is a nurse and works odd hours so sometimes his sleep gets disturbed. When this happens, the next day he can be pretty grumpy and will do the puffing or rotate around his branches.
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