Quick darting head motion, what does it mean?

[pguillen]

I bought a Standard Fischer Chameleon with my girlfriend, and we've had him for about 1 week now. Today he was on my girlfriend's hand, and he was moving his head quickly in a downward motion in rapid succession. He did this about 10 to 15 times. It looked kind of odd and it was the first time he ever did something like this. We thought he was possibly choking or trying to throw something up.

Also, his gular area (the skin underneath his throat) was kind of droopy. Normally it looks more smooth. It looked similar to the picture that I posted here.

He's doing great aside from this. It was simply out of the ordinary and we're not sure what it means.

Also, this is my first post so I just want to say hello to everyone and I'm excited to be here!

 

[Sang]

he could be head bobbing which is done typically to attract a female, its hard to take a guess without actually seeing it.

also as for his gular, that could be gular edima.

 

[dondeb562]

usually males do that in courting...

 

[Warrix642]

He is ready to breed!!!

 

[nick barta]

Welcome to the Forum, beautiful Fischers you have there. Head bobbing is as said, done as a reaction to seeing a female. If you have no females around, the cham may have mistaken a color in the area that looked good enough to make the move toward happy time.

Nothing to worry about.

Enjoy the learning process here!

Please put your location in your profile, it helps us answer questions better.

Nick

 

[tkilgour]

cool cham i think he is ready for breeding, that typically is a sign.

 

[kinyonga]

Fischer's also do this head bobbing when they are annoyed with something or when something is in there territory.

 

[FreshWaterFish]

haha, looks like hes got a thing for your girlfriend.

 

[Zen Reptiles]

Think of it as a type of chameleon sign language.

Head bobbing means territorial/macho, usually in full display color, kinda like the Maori warriors sticking out their tongue,
head vibrating usually means excitement (mating), kind of like, well, you know

 

[BigBlue]

Welcome to the forum and enjoy the learning process or raising chameleons. Prepare to become very addicted to these beautiful creatures.

 

[kinyonga]

Fischer's do this bobbing when they see a potential mate too.