Veiled holding it's mouth open

schamberlin

New Member
Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - I have a 4-5 month old female veiled chameleon. I've had her for 4 days.
  • Handling - I've only handled her when putting her in the first day, then a second time 2 days later when making improvements.
  • Feeding - I'm feeding her about 4 crickets, 3 dubias, and one super worm dusted with calcium without d3 every morning. Then usually another super worm around 5'ish. I'm currently gut loading them with mustard greens and papaya.
  • Supplements - I'm dusting with repti-calcium (without d3) at every feed. I dusted with d3 yesterday because I'd planned on alternating sundays with the d3 then the reptivite next Sunday etc.
  • Watering - I'm using the little dripper, she drinks directly from this some, sometimes from droplets on her things, and sometimes when misting. I mist for a minute about an hour after "wake up" time- 8:30am and another minute 4 hours before lights out.
  • Fecal Description - Her poop is solid brown, her urate is white with a little bit of yellow at the end. She's pooped once a day so far. I got her from Petco so I doubt she's been tested.
  • History - My girl (think I'm gonna name her Chloe) came from Petco. My husband keeps cichlids, but I've never had a reptile before. She literally would follow me from one end of her "enclosure" to the other. When I would stop, she would rub the glass in front of me, stand on her back legs looking like she was reaching for me! Anyway, I was in love. It wasn't hard to convince my husband to let me get her, still it was quite the impulse buy. She just seemed like she wanted out of there so bad! So I got the "dreaded kit," some crickets, and headed home to research. Where I found that basically everything I had, was wrong. So I spent the next couple of days, ordering, buying, and making things right.

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - I have the screen cage that came with the kit 18×18×30 (I know she'll be needing something bigger soon)
  • Lighting -The first day I used the kit stuff, second and third day I replaced the blue basking bulb with an incandescent 65w indoor floodlight. I continued to use the compact uvb until I received my T5H0 today with a 10.0 UVB. I then removed the compact uvb and put in a plant light.
  • Temperature - Cage floor stays around 70, the middle 75, basking 85. Lowest overnight has been 70. I measure basking with a digital thermometer, the middle with whatever the non digital is called lol, and I move the digital to the bottom at nighttime.
  • Humidity -Before misting humidity is 40-45% after, it's usually 85%... I spray everything down 1 hour after lights on, and 4 hours before lights out. I use a hydrometer.
  • Plants - I have a cane tree, and another approved flowering plant that I can't remember the name of, dracaena or something? I plan on getting a pothos for the top of her cage.
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  • Placement -My cage is close to the corner wall of my bedroom and my dresser. Not a high traffic area, no vents over there. There is a ceiling fan that we turn on at night. The top of her cage is about 5 1/2 ft off the ground.
  • Location - I live in southeast Tn.

Current Problem - over the past few days I've seen her sitting with her mouth wide open several times. My guess is, she's overheating, but wouldn't she move to the shade if she was very hot? Also, since bringing her home, she's been very dark. She lightens up when eating/ drinking but then usually goes right back dark. Is this just because she's stressed from adjusting or is she miserable?
 
Chams do not have the ability to auto-regulate like we do, its up to the keeper to provide the correct environment. They dark colors are normal when introducing them into a new environment.
 
Chams do not have the ability to auto-regulate like we do, its up to the keeper to provide the correct environment. They dark colors are normal when introducing them into a new environment.


Right.... but, do they not have the ability to get under a leaf if they're too hot? Her basking temp is 85°
 
No. They are not wired like that.

And good job on doing your homework even if it was a bit late, most people never do. Even more impressive you identified and corrected most of you issues on your own, rare...
 
Ok, thank you! So the open mouth does mean hot, should I lift the basking light or get a lower wattage? Well, I found y'all so I got a lot of my information from reading in here
 
She's also dark because she's feeling a bit exposed. She would greatly appreciate a few more live plants in there. To a cham, height and foliage are right up there with air and water.
 
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