gaping a lot

P

pacificwynd

New Member
Cage Info:
Cage Type - glass with screen top and front. 18" X 18" X 24"

Lighting - 60 watt heat lamp and a 5.0 UVB? Lights on from 7:30 am to 6:00pm

Temperature - Hi 80's to high 70's. lowest overnight is 70

Humidity - Humidity goes between 50 and 75

Plants - Golden Pothos

Placement - top of cage is about 6 ft from floor, near a window but often have the blinds shut as it gets hot.

Location - Westcoast of Canada, B.C.

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled, female, approx 8 months. Since May

Handling - Once a day when she gets her butteworm

Feeding - Crickets, gut-loading with all the proper stuff

Supplements - calc w/ d3 twice a month. calcium is in the cricket feed

Watering - Drip system that runs 2-3 times a day for...as full as i make it and as fast as i make it drip. misting 2-3 times a day. i've never seen her use the dripper but she does do the lip licking thing when we mist.

Fecal Description - Poop looks oval and dark. urate is usually white, sometimes a small amount of yellow

History - no previous issues

Current Problem - She is gaping a lot but not for longer than a few minutes and as soon as i walk toward her she either opens her mouth VERY wide and then shuts it quickly or just shuts it slowly. She is shedding, just around her face and mouth though. eating normally, drinking normally. pooped 2 days ago (haven't found a poop yet today, waiting for her to be asleep before i poke around in the plant to find it).
 
What do you use to measure temps? Sounds like over heating to me. You may need to lower the wattage of the bulb. In glass enclosures that heat lamp acts just like one of those easy bake ovens. Can you post a pic of her enclosure? You are also getting to the age to where you may need to get a bigger enclosure and put a laying bin in for her.
 
no wheezing. she has a laying bin. it is circular. 12 in diameter. about 10in deep. half play sand and half coconut fibre husk. the cage is an exoterra terraium with a modified door. we made a screen door to replace the glass ones. would take a pic of her cage now but she is sleeping.
 
missed the question about measuring heat and humidity. an exoterra hygrometer and a digital termometer that i move around to test the heat gradient. i do have a ceiling fan that has been off and on ( just on low). it's not right above her cage but in front and to the side. not sure if that would cause gaping though...?
 
just checked the heat light. it's actually 75 watt but it sits abour 6 in from the top of the cage... and my partner just told me that she has been doing it while sitting on the screen window (in the shade, not direct sunlight) as well. and it doesn't really get tooo hot here...

i'm thinking i'll maybe lift the light up a bit higher. we are planning to make her a new cage over the next couple days. (it'll be a gorgeous wooden one!!) so i don't want to get rid of the 75 watt bulb because it's going to be 4ft tall and fully screened.
 
Crickets, gut-loading with all the proper stuff
Click to expand...

And what is "All the proper stuff"??
Be more specific than "All the proper stuff."

glass with screen top and front. 18" X 18" X 24"
Click to expand...

Cage is too small, and NO GLASS you and i are in the same province. Except im far north. Its colder and drier than where you are. and even I use a full screened enclosure.

Please get a full screened enclosure.

-Steve
 
i say "all the proper stuff" because i've posted about my cricket feed before and was told that what i had was correct. didn't want to have to type the whole list out again. i posted just before you did that we are going to be buildilng a larger screened enclosure over the next few weeks (you probably didn't see that though). AND NO NEED TO CAPITALIZE!! i'm trying to ask for help, not critisism at the moment. up until now (becoming 9 months of age), her cage size has been adequate for her age and size according to many books, forums and chameleon care sites. i was also told that by adding a screen front to her enclosure i was doing the right thing and that many people use glass/screen combos. are you saying my humidity is too high? or is it getting too hot?

just a side note....i watched a show on t.v. about activity level, eating habits, etc at different temps ranging from 15 C to 35 C and the study showed that chameleons do the same throughout the range. not sure what it was called but it was probably on Discovery (all i seem to watch).
 
No need to get defensive. As I have posted before, everyone here loves chameleons and they are just trying to help. You may see it as criticism sometimes but they are just trying to make sure the chameleons are get the best care available. Even people who have kept chameleons for years learn new things here. Be open to criticism though, we all learn from our mistakes.
 
How long has she been displaying? If it's only been a short while, she may be stretching her little face out to help shed.
 
There's no rules saying not to use a glass and screen combo cage. There are no rules saying one must use screen. In fact I stop using screen cages years ago as they are NOT the best thing where I live (west coast of BC). The construction of the cage is not as important as the environment created within.

you said... "Temperature - Hi 80's to high 70's. lowest overnight is 70 "
and this seems fine to me.
You said the humidity is 50%+ and this also seems okay to me.

Do you have a picture of her? Maybe she's just stretching the skin about to shed? Maybe she's getting ready for eggs and in a pissy mood. its good that there is no noise or foam when she's got her mouth open.

I didnt read the other thread where you listed what you feed the crickets - maybe you could cut and paste it into this thread.
Not usual to rely soley on calcium in the gutload - most people supplement who use crickets.
 
Your cage dimensions are fine and I don't have a problem with the construction .... would love to see pictures of how you put screen on the door of that enclosure.
My gut feeling is that she doesn't need the basking light at all.
Perhaps in the winter if temps in your home are too low in the daytime.
I would try removing it and see if the gaping subsides.

-Brad
 
for about a week before she started sheding. around her eyes went first, then her nose and now under her mouth and down her neck a little. she started shedding about 3 days ago
 
Sometimes they thermoregulate this way. This can be normal if they are hot. Like they said check the temps. Keep the top 10% at about 85 degrees F. Have multiple sections of heat, a basking area up top and the temps lower from there. Make sure they can move around through the different temperature zones in the enclosure, so if they get hot they can lounge in an area not so warm.
 
firstly, i am definately no expert but from what iv read so far it seems fairly normal for shedding chams to gape to stretch the loose shed off. Im really interested to know how you got the mesh door in. Id quite like to give it a go on the exo for my new baby im waiting for.
 
i say "all the proper stuff" because i've posted about my cricket feed before and was told that what i had was correct. didn't want to have to type the whole list out again.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I didnt see that. But (As sandra said) You can copy and paste

i posted just before you did that we are going to be buildilng a larger screened enclosure over the next few weeks (you probably didn't see that though).
Click to expand...

Sorry, I didnt see that, either. You must have posted as i was typing. I thought your climate was WAY better, And so i thought glass wouldn't be necessary. And Glass has more downsides than screen (Unless you have bad climate, like up here)

up until now (becoming 9 months of age), her cage size has been adequate for her age and size
Click to expand...

I Read that thats only good until they're 3-4 months. Thats why i wrote that.


-Steve
 
thanks for all the great advice guys!.

and Steve, i got defensive because i hate posting on forums to get help and advice only to get messages of ppl telling me i'm doing something wrong. sorry to have jumped like that.

the screen front is really not that great looking, lol. it's basically just clipped into place. the glass doors are still on it, they just get left open and we clip the screen to the doors (as well as top and bottom). i'll get a pic of it later when i'm home to post.

turned off the basking light. i'll see how that does and if she still does it i'm going to attribute it to her shedding.

i found a post last night about a guy that couldn't find the reason for his cham gaping and set up his webcam to watch her over the day. she had been hanging upside off the roof right under the light when he wasn't around!!

also, looked up about a calcium supplement for daily shake on crickets and will pick one up next time i'm getting crickets.
 
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