Worried Chameleon has a respiratory infection

saman239

New Member
Hi there,

Pass 20 mins or so my chameleon on and off has been opening his mouth, blinked a few times and also rubbed his head.

He is close to shedding so very well could be that, just a bit worried.

From what I can tell there’s no mucus and he isn’t gasping for air
 
We need more information and photos of the chameleon and it’s cage.

It could very well be that he’s getting ready to shed…but we can check better if you give us more info.

what’s the temperature in the basking area?Is he sitting in the basking area when he’s doing the gaping?
 
We need more information and photos of the chameleon and it’s cage
Uploaded a photo of him today and one of him sleeping right now.

I think he’ll shed soon as his skin is looking whiter and whiter each day

Cage is glass with mesh top, 90cmx45cm, I will upgrading in a few months.

Basking is about 87f
Humidity I try to keep it between 50-60
He’s nearly 4 months
UVB is T5 6%
Calcium daily and multi vitamin with d3 every 2 weeks
Diet is currently only gutloaded crickets, everything I’ve else I’ve offered him so far he has no interest in

Cage has 2 real plants and 2 fake plants

He’s been quite brown and more aggressive in the last week of so
 

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We need more information and photos of the chameleon and it’s cage.

It could very well be that he’s getting ready to shed…but we can check better if you give us more info.

what’s the temperature in the basking area?Is he sitting in the basking area when he’s doing the gaping?
I have noticed him gaping when he’s not in his basking spot but when I go over to inspect he puffs up so I think he’s just doing that at me whilst I’m at my desk
 
Hey there.
Basking is a bit hot should be 80-85max.
Humidity is running high too should be 40-50% max daytime.

How are you checking your temps and humidity?

Since you have him in an exo terra I would consider adding a small pc fan to the top of the cage. You will aim it so it is pulling air up and out of the enclosure. This will help with air circulation so the air is not stagnant.

Is the cage under a sky light?
 
Hey there.
Basking is a bit hot should be 80-85max.
Humidity is running high too should be 40-50% max daytime.

How are you checking your temps and humidity?

Since you have him in an exo terra I would consider adding a small pc fan to the top of the cage. You will aim it so it is pulling air up and out of the enclosure. This will help with air circulation so the air is not stagnant.

Is the cage under a sky light?
Hi!

Okay I will adjust the light

Will aim for 40-50, read elsewhere panthers should be between 50-60 but I can easily adjust that.

Temps checked with thermometre gun and humidity is checked with both an analogue and electric hygrometre.

Okay that's a ghood idea, so the fan would be actual in the cage shooting out?

Cage is under a sky light yes.

Thanks for the help!
 
Hi!

Okay I will adjust the light

Will aim for 40-50, read elsewhere panthers should be between 50-60 but I can easily adjust that.

Temps checked with thermometre gun and humidity is checked with both an analogue and electric hygrometre.

Okay that's a ghood idea, so the fan would be actual in the cage shooting out?

Cage is under a sky light yes.

Thanks for the help!
So get a temp guage with a probe to put in at basking. This is going to give you a more accurate basking temp. Temp gun will be giving you surface temp.

So the pc fan is set on top of the screen top of cage. Aimed so it is pulling air up and out of the cage. I keep one in the back corner on top of my cage. Really helps pull air through so it does not get stagnant.

I would be extremely careful with the skylight. This is going to mess with ambient temps quite a bit. Full sun through a window will increase ambient temps typically over the recommended low 70's. May not be a heat issue in winter but you will get the reverse typically with it being much cooler so your fixtures can not warm the air as well.
 
Thank you for the advice I’ll get on this thank you 🙏🏼
Note with that glass cage he may be seeing his reflection quite a bit. This may be causing his upset as well. You could try to put solid panels on the back and two sides and see if it reduces the reflection.
 
Note with that glass cage he may be seeing his reflection quite a bit. This may be causing his upset as well. You could try to put solid panels on the back and two sides and see if it reduces the reflection.
I did have one of the back but I saw him eat the styrofoam a few times so I removed it

I’ve also seen him eyeing up bugs that are underneath him but he’s looking at the reflections of them instead so he ends up trying to eating the glass

I’ll put something behind and on side on the outside so he can’t see out 👍
 
I did have one of the back but I saw him eat the styrofoam a few times so I removed it

I’ve also seen him eyeing up bugs that are underneath him but he’s looking at the reflections of them instead so he ends up trying to eating the glass

I’ll put something behind and on side on the outside so he can’t see out 👍
Cover the outside... you can use something as simple as black paper or brown packing paper. Wrap it around the enclosure side back to side leaving front open and just tape it on the outside in place.

Sometimes the clear feeders cause issues for this reason... Since they can see through it they will try to target hitting the plastic from the side or bottom. Solid feeders work better for this reason.
 
Cover the outside... you can use something as simple as black paper or brown packing paper. Wrap it around the enclosure side back to side leaving front open and just tape it on the outside in place.

Sometimes the clear feeders cause issues for this reason... Since they can see through it they will try to target hitting the plastic from the side or bottom. Solid feeders work better for this reason.
Just wondering how big your fan is and is it on 24/7?
 
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