Spike is gaping while basking

Steve A

Steve A

Chameleon Enthusiast
I just turned his cam on to check on him and caught him doing this. He actually was in the process of opening his mouth REALLY wide and I grabbed the screen as quick as I could. IDK how long he was doing this but his mouth is closed now. Only thing that has really been changed is I increased the strength of the water mister last night because the past few nights his humidity has gone down to high 70s - low 80s. Increasing the mister strength brought it back up to the 80s-90s last night. And I moved the fogger a little closer to where he sleeps, because I noticed it likely wasn't really reaching him before.

It's been a minute or so since I grabbed this screen and he seems fine and not opening his mouth. Could this just be from him basking and being a little hot? I've read they just do that sometimes and it's totally normal. Keep in mind I have his basking area set to not go over 84f.




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If it wasn't just a yawn, 84 may be just a little warm for the little guy. You could try lowering his basking temp to 80 and see how he does. Your humidity levels seem good.
 
SteveH said:
If it wasn't just a yawn, 84 may be just a little warm for the little guy. You could try lowering his basking temp to 80 and see how he does. Your humidity levels seem good.
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This makes sense. Now that I remember, I was messing with the temp because I was getting wildly different readings from the probe that dims the heat lamp, and the sensor. I am going to ask my wife to lower back to what it was since I am at work. Thank you!

ugh of course she left. I may just run home for lunch and do it myself.
 
I already went home and adjusted it. I put it down to 82f because that's what it was before. So I'll keep an eye on him when I get back to work for a bit and see hoe he reacts
.
 
SteveH said:
Little ones don't tolerate the heat as well as adults, hopefully that's what the issue was.
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Yeah I should have just kept it low. I had moved the probe around so he wasn't hissing at it, and then I wanted to make sure he was getting that 83-85f and one of my sensors was reporting around 80-81f, even 79 sometimes so I got worried he wasn't getting enough heat. I didn't realize it should be lower for him in general until he gets older. Thank you!
 
I agree temp may be a bit warm for him. Also keep in mind sometimes when warming up they will yawn and stretch. They also will do this coming into a shed and during the shed to help it release from the skin.
 
Beman said:
I agree temp may be a bit warm for him. Also keep in mind sometimes when warming up they will yawn and stretch. They also will do this coming into a shed and during the shed to help it release from the skin.
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Yeah he kind of went up on his hind two legs with his body in the air, opened his mouth REAL big for a second, and then went back down and I snapped this photo. Then he closed his mouth and I haven't seen him open it since. Since this happened, he's left the basking area, ate some BSFL, and is now basking again (he normally does this between meals).
 
He just did it again so I took another pic for reference of what he looks like while he's doing it, in case this helps. He only did it once real quick and he's just basking mouth closed now. I'm assuming it'll take a little time to cool off. And perhaps when I get home I should even drop it down to 80f? (Although, he hasn't been doing this and it was at 82f before).

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elizaann2 said:
Can you tell if he is looking at something? I wonder if there is something in the room that is bothering him?
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I can not. With that being said I usually close that bedroom door, and I didn't today because my wife left after me and my son was still sleeping, so it's possible (though very unlikely) that my dog walked in there to check things out, if she heard something. But she pays him absolutely no attention.

One time that he did it, there was a cricket that got loose out of the feeder and was on a leaf next to him and he ate it shortly after lol.

So ... this is possible but I am really not sure.

He has gaped like this a couple of times since I posted the last pic. He hasn't been doing it for a little while now, and he moved to the other side of the enclosure and is basking there. So when I get home, I am going to go ahead and drop the MAX basking temp down to 80f.
 
anderson4584 said:
I can not. With that being said I usually close that bedroom door, and I didn't today because my wife left after me and my son was still sleeping, so it's possible (though very unlikely) that my dog walked in there to check things out, if she heard something. But she pays him absolutely no attention.

One time that he did it, there was a cricket that got loose out of the feeder and was on a leaf next to him and he ate it shortly after lol.

So ... this is possible but I am really not sure.

He has gaped like this a couple of times since I posted the last pic. He hasn't been doing it for a little while now, and he moved to the other side of the enclosure and is basking there. So when I get home, I am going to go ahead and drop the MAX basking temp down to 80f.
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Sounds good. So much about our chameleon's behavior has us playing detective. Just keep trying things to see what changes the behavior. Hopefully its something simple.
 
elizaann2 said:
Sounds good. So much about our chameleon's behavior has us playing detective. Just keep trying things to see what changes the behavior. Hopefully its something simple.
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I really hope so. I am really really really hoping it was just a little too hot. with that being said he's done it quite a bit at this point. A few minutes ago he went back to the basking area and he is basking again. However, he is looking in the opposite direction now (towards the probe + censor), and he once again opened his mouth for a moment. So I do not think this is him being territorial or defensive :( So hopefully it's just hot there and going forward lowering the basking area will stop this.

my heart is gonna shatter in a million pieces if he's sick. especially already! :( He's only been here a week and a half.
 
anderson4584 said:
He just did it again so I took another pic for reference of what he looks like while he's doing it, in case this helps. He only did it once real quick and he's just basking mouth closed now. I'm assuming it'll take a little time to cool off. And perhaps when I get home I should even drop it down to 80f? (Although, he hasn't been doing this and it was at 82f before).

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I think little man is yawning and stretching... When gaping due to being hot they leave their mouth open to try to cool down.
 
Beman said:
I think little man is yawning and stretching... When gaping due to being hot they leave their mouth open to try to cool down.
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hmmm ok. Is it normal for them to do it often? He has been doing this often today and this is really the first I've noticed it. But lately I also have only been watching him until he eats, shutting cam off, then checking on him once in a while.

I hope that's the case though!

edit: Just want to add this might be the "aggressive" look I've seen him do a few times since he's come here. Just today it's happening much more often. When I get home I will check the room and see if there is any cause for him to be scared at something nearby.
 
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