Strange behaviour!!!

[ydktdborg]

Hi everyone, im new here

Ive got a yemen veiled chameleon and he's about 9months old now and just today he's been acting very strange! He's suddenly started acting very hyper and he occasionally opens his mouth and doesnt close it for a while. but he can close his mouth for long periods of time.
He is starting to shed right now and i was wondering if that was part of his weird behaviour.

Ive checked out all the different illnesses and i was thinking that it was mouth rot but he doesnt have any of the symptoms apart from keeping his mouth open!

Im very worried about him so any help will appreciated!
Thank you!

 

[lele]

have you checked his temps?

he could just be gaping to cool himself off. What are the temps in the cage? basking? ambient? coolest?

When you say he seems hyper, is he thrashing his head? Could he have an insect stuck in his throat?

better description? photo?

 

[Prism Chameleons]

Sounds like shedding behavior to me. Chameleons will gap open their mouths, stretch their bodies, and walk around a lot trying to remove the skin from their shed. They may even scratch themselves on leaves, branches, etc., to help their shedding experience.

 

[Drake]

Yea as lele said he could be just trying to cool off. We need more info as well. He also could have a respiratory infection. Does he often look up with his mouth open? I read that can be a sign of a respiratory problem, but I'm not sure though.

EDIT: Didn't see Jennas post above mine . Thats probally the reason why he is acting hyper though as Jenna stated.

 

[ydktdborg]

Well around the time that he was doing this the temp was around 86 degrees!
Hes actually stopped doing it now. hes calm and his mouth is closed. When i say hyper i mean that he was walking around a lot and climbing everywhere. He was occasionally rubbing his face against things but i realised that he was trying to shed!
Also when he had his mouth open he didnt have it up most of the time. he usually had his head down looking at me!
It must have just been the shedding that caused him to be like that.
Well one plus to it all is that i found this site!

Thank you all for the help. I'll let you know if theres any other problems!

 

[Prism Chameleons]

Yeah.... good old typical shedding behavior is what you witnessed! They work hard to get that skin off when they shed. Let's hope you see again soon! That means he's growing and doing well .