My chameleon had her mouth sitting open exactly like in the picture I took and will be showing. Then ate a dubia and has her mouth sitting open the same way. Also while she was eating it she was kinda throwing her head around almost like she was trying to get shed off her face but she's not shedding. In fact she just finished shedding a few days ago. Anyone have an idea of why she's doing this? I think it may have been from a dubia that was a little too big for her. I'm not sure if she can swallow it she's still trying what should I do??
Chameleon gaping and acting weird
- Thread starter 2134bean
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PoseidonTheChameleon
Chameleon Enthusiast
How big was the bug? Rule of thumb is no bug wider than the width between their eyes.
Also how would yall say she is doing?? She's has shed twice now since I've had her and I think she's doing great. So I have a little feeder container and the dubias like to hide so it may have gotten bigger but I feed medium dubias, I do think it was a bit bigger that the size of her head but she has smaller dubias in there. She just went for a big one I guess.
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Also to second what I just said. I'm about to clean out any hiding dubias or anything else in the feeder and only have small to medium dubias in it.
Klyde O'Scope
Chameleon Enthusiast
Thompson
Chameleon Enthusiast
Yea I'm thinking she was having trouble swallowing the dubia. At her size, you should be feeding her 1/4" sized crickets/roaches.
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
What are your temps? If too hot, they will gape to try and cool off. Basking temps shouldn’t be any higher than 80…82 max. Another reason for gaping is a respiratory infection. Any popping noises when she breathes or stringy saliva?
PoseidonTheChameleon
Chameleon Enthusiast
That was my second concern, but from the picture I figured the first cause would be the bugs.
My temps are usually around 80-85. For the basking spot,
There's no signs of a respitory infection. Also this gaping only happened once and she wasn't sticking her nose in the air so I believe she's OK. Thank yall so much for all the info!!
If you feed feeders that are too large this is what happens. Feeder should always be smaller. So no larger then the space between their eyes. Otherwise they struggle to chew them and get them down. Some will even throw them back up. All in all it is always better to be safe then sorry.
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