gaping or...

J

jamjam

Established Member
So I do know what gaping is and I know I don't see my chameleon 24/7 in the 4 months I have owned him have only ever seen him gape once. I come home from work see picasso on his baskking branch mouth slightly opened been a few hours ssince his last mist so do that to maybe cool him down. Before I did so my temp gun read 83.5F. Mention it to my mom said he has done it a few times today. Now an hour later seen him doing it again. Bottom of the cage at the time was 69.5 (therm probe) mid was 75.5 (probe) basking 85.5 (temp gun). Temp gun on him read 89. His mouth never stayed open for extended period of time. Been a a little while since his last she'd as well. If you think it's beneficial for a how to ask for help form I will. Took a pic of the mouth opened and zoomed in, in case that may help. He's 6 months old. IMG_20140813_183542.jpg
 
I'd fill out a how to ask for help form. He's definitely gaping, but those temps seem pretty much fine to me...

Maybe an RI, but not sure without more data, or possibly a trip to the vet... no alarms yet, just fill out the form and we'll see :)
 
Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - 6 month old male ambilobe/mitsio cross, in my care for 4 months
Handling - several days a week
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? crickets were the big staple, just started some dubia, horns, silks, butters, 1 wax this week, phoenix worms, the odd soldier fly. last couple of days have been like 2 horns 2 silks 15 crickets in the am 6 in the pm. normally atleast 12-20 crickets. gutloaded with kale collards, mango, carrots sweet potato apple etc etc. dry mix of dried fruits, different brans and outs and seeds, bee pollen spirulina etc.

Supplements - was using repashy calcium plus one day on one day off for first 4.5 months. now calcium loD 4 days a week

Watering - pressure mister 3-6 times a day ot sure on time but I see him drink

Fecal Description - usually normal and pretty big, watery past day or so assume due to worm amounts.



Cage Info:

Cage Type - all screen custom built 24x24x48. only went into it 3 weeks ago. otherwise was in a 95L plastic tote.
Lighting - T5HO dual arcadia (1 x 6500) 60W par20 bulb

Temperature - mentioned above. ambient on hot days can be between 76-80 basking usually 83-87. the other day ac got shut off reached 89 one and only time. temp gun and 2 probes
Humidity - probe lowest it goes even with like 8 hours no mist is 45. usually 50-70 with spikes after misting

Plants -currently some fake, baked branches, hibiscus, schefflera. also have a brom, wandering jew, pothos to possibly end up going in have to see how it all fits with air plants and eventually some baby tears

Placement - my bedroom, beside door, vent across other side of the room elevated on 2 foot side table.

Location - Canada, toronto specifically


Current Problem - Gaping on several ocassions today, not sure why. use some of the info above as well.
he also has a tendency to "huff" which the first time i notice I contacted my breeder who was a former moderator on the forums Hoj. who informed me his sire did the same thing and not to worry if it wasnt all that often. I only rlly hear it when i handle him and get him to switch between hands guess he didnt want too?
 
Last edited:
dacrazycanadian said:
Any popping or clicking while he breathes? Or any bubbles from the mouth or throat? These would be RI signs.
Click to expand...

as of now nothing more than the huffing sound i have heard in the past which seems to come from the nose not the mouth. no bubbling or anything, no stringy saliva, still very active and eating like a beast (today had like 4 small phoenix worms, 2 horns, a butter, and 19 crickets throughout the day). does anyone know of a video to show this clicking/popping sounds everyone talk about? are they distinctly noticeable?
 
The sound is hard to describe sorry. Best description I have is: If you open your mouth wide and try to exhale while forcing against it, you'll get these little air escapes that sound like pops (or at least it works for me, don't ask how I came up with that haha). As far as huffing..is he like clearing his nostrils, possibly of white stuff?
 
dacrazycanadian said:
The sound is hard to describe sorry. Best description I have is: If you open your mouth wide and try to exhale while forcing against it, you'll get these little air escapes that sound like pops (or at least it works for me, don't ask how I came up with that haha). As far as huffing..is he like clearing his nostrils, possibly of white stuff?
Click to expand...

When Ender does it, it sounds like he is sneezing. It's like a quick "HUFF" sound...... that's the best way to describe it.

Nothing comes out of his nose, though. No bubbling, no mucus, no popping or wheezing, no puffing... He just roams the cage A LOT and "sneezes" from time to time... like once every three days I hear him do it, maybe...

Does that sound like a pretty good description, jamjam? Or is your guy doing somethin' else?
 
he doesnt do the huff too often so not that big of a concern, my thing is the constant gaping yesterday while in what i believe were optimal temps. i'm only home 3hrs a day during the week when lights are on for my summer job things change after this week so i can pay close attention to it.
 
It looks like he's expelling heat. Remember when you shoot your basking temp your usually going off of the branch he would be standing on. Its a couple degrees warmer where he will be a couple inches above the branch. It might just be a couple degrees too warm for him.

Scott
 
Yeah, I'm aware of that too and still not going to rule that out. I tried to Haave the probe higher than the branch always lowered and never worked. But usually the branch itself usually reads 83/84. And if I use temp gun few inches higher there's nothing to aim at will hit the wall which will be cooler. But good to know most people think normal gaping
 
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