worried about my panther

[cosmic]

my 8 month old panther has been acting oddly past 2 days, still eating quite a bit but i'm concerned. he's been cruising around cage more than usual and i catch him hanging on vines with his mouth wide open, even caught him snoozing mouth agape tonight.

i live in la where the temp at night has been down around 55. i have been keeping the 100 ceramic zoo med on at night but yesterday i added a 50 ultra violet so he'd be comfy. just removed the ceramic and kept on the red, spritz the cage a bit and he seems to be better. just nervous, the behavior is unlike him and i've often her if your cham is breathing out of his mouth he's sick.

anybody have any advice for me?

 

[Synapse]

Might wanna move him to a warmer place at night if the temperatures drop under 60. Sounds a bit too cold to me.

 

[cosmic]

so you think his mouth is open because he is cold? i was thinking because he was hot with the 2 bulbs?

 

[Undertow11]

A few questions:

Do you ever hear him breathing? Meaning, does he open his mouth and take a deep, audible breath?

Also, do you see any mucus in his mouth when he opens it?

Are his eyes sunken in at all?

Does he have any lesions or sore spots around the mouth?

 

[cosmic]

no to all of the above; no audible breathing, no mucus, eyes perfectly bulgy and he seems to be going to the bathroom on schedule. all else seems to be god. i did take out his ficus to air it out but he's got plenty of vines and hanging plants. since i remove the ceramic bulb and just left in the 50 watt red seems to be better but i'm still concerned

 

[cosmic]

one last thing. he's still awake which is very unusual for him this time of night. he can sleep through just about anything

 

[Undertow11]

I would try correcting his day/night temp schedule to where it's consistent and see if he goes back to normal.
It's all good to use heating devices at night if your room is too cold, but it's easy to over-correct and make the cage too warm...
I would recommend checking the temps with a thermometer to see where they're at when the ceramic bulb/night light is on and keep in mind that they should only be raising the night-time temp back to a normal level (meaning upper 60's - low 70's). If the temp is 80+ under the night light, then it's a bit too warm. Once you find a comfortable level, try to establish a consistent pattern of day/night cycle and hopefully as the cycle continues, the chameleon will adjust along with it and return to his normal behavior.

As for the mouth opening, there are plenty of things that can cause that to happen, some are serious and some are not (and we could easily theorize for hours about it)...
To be on the safe side, you should take him to a reptile vet. Tell the vet that you think the chameleon might be breathing through his mouth and that you want him checked for a respiratory infection. Most respiratory infections (especially when caught early) can be easily treated and the chameleon will make a full recovery. I can't really say for sure that this is the issue with your chameleon (and it's a good sign you aren't seeing mucus), but I always prefer to err on the side of caution... and during the colder months the air can get dry and it often leads to respiratory issues in reptiles, so it wouldn't be uncommon for this time of year.

Hope that helps.

 

[Synapse]

As long as you don't hear popping noises or see excess mucus when he yawns that's a good sign. Just keep a close eye on him and hopefully tomorrow when more people are on they could give you better advice. I would say just keep the humidity up and maybe give him a nice warm shower when/if you get the chance. I know a temperature drop at night is desirable for panthers but I still think 55 is a bit too low.

 

[Mr Metal13]

so you think his mouth is open because he is cold? i was thinking because he was hot with the 2 bulbs?

Panthers Love the heat. you should have is basking side at around 87-92 degrees and have a cool side at around 75-80 degrees.