Sick veiled chameleon or odd behavior? Help!!!

Emeraldsmom

New Member
I have a 14-month-old male veiled chameleon named Emerald. He has been holding his mouth open for long periods of time, almost 50% of his time during the day. He is at the correct temperature and has no other indications of a RI. He does it no matter if he is basking or sitting towards the bottom of his cage. He has normal appetite and is hydrated. Every time I walk over to his cage, he stops. Or when he comes out of his cage he doesn't do it at all for the whole time he is out, the minute he is back in he opens his mouth. It's not even a full gape really, and his breathing is not labored, and his mouth fully closes when he stops. He has done this once before, but only did it for a day or two, It has been 3 days and he has not stopped now. I am concerned and booked an appointment with a vet, but they can't see him for a full week. Just wanted to make sure that he is not in any imminent danger, and hopefully save a vet trip if possible. It really seems like some odd behavioral quirk. He gets stressed easily, is very sensitive to environmental changes, or new faces and noise, but loves to come out of his cage, and has no problems with me handling him. I have also inspected his mouth and don't see anything odd or unusual about it. Will post a photo of his gaping. Could use any advice at all!!!
 

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Also his colors are stying kind of dark and he is doing it at any place in his cage, making me think it might not be a temperature issue. But i'm not sure
 
Even though you haven’t noticed other symptoms of an RI, taking him to a good vet is your best course of action, He could have something else going on within his mouth or elsewhere causing him to be gaping so much.
 
Even though you haven’t noticed other symptoms of an RI, taking him to a good vet is your best course of action, He could have something else going on within his mouth or elsewhere causing him to be gaping so much.
Yes for sure! He is scheduled for Friday next week because they couldn't get him in any sooner. Also, there is no weekend vet on call, so I'm hoping nothing changes or gets more serious in the next few days. I just want to make sure there's nothing else in the meantime!
 
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