Gaping

[Brodybreaux25]

If your temps are what they are he shouldn't be gaping because of heat especially with your humidity as low as it is too.

Sorry Camo, respectfully, this simply isn't true.

All chams, just like people, react differently to temperature gradients. I've seen plenty of chams that start gaping in the low to mid 80s. Most do not but I assure you this is not all that unusual.

 

[Beman]

Yes I’ve only seen him do it when basking and it’s not constant. He’ll sit there with his mouth open for a bit and shut it if I go closer. Or he’ll climb down from basking after a while of opening and closing his mouth. I open his cage door and pretty much shoot the gun from standing right in front of cage. I have a t5ho 10.0 uvb and a 65 watt br30 flood for heat along with a regular household 25w bulb bc temps weren’t high enough. I just moved him into an xl cage so I haven’t gotten humidity up yet. After I mist humidity will go up to 49-50%. Without mist during regular daytime humidity is only 3”%. So not quite as humid as it should be. I’m going to maybe try adding plastic to a side or two. Here is current set up that I just moved him to on Sunday.

Yeah so this one is hit and miss.... But thank you for giving the details on your lighting. With a Panther and a single bulb T5HO fixture you do not want to use a 10.0 bulb. You want to use a 5.0 or 6% arcadia bulb. I can guarantee the UVI levels at that top basking perch.. Looks to be about 7 inches down. Well the UVI will be much too high for him. You can use the clear window film for the two panels. This is really easy to attach and remove if needed.

And you do not have any mirrors or anything near the cage correct?

 

[Dill’s keeper]

Yeah so this one is hit and miss.... But thank you for giving the details on your lighting. With a Panther and a single bulb T5HO fixture you do not want to use a 10.0 bulb. You want to use a 5.0 or 6% arcadia bulb. I can guarantee the UVI levels at that top basking perch.. Looks to be about 7 inches down. Well the UVI will be much too high for him. You can use the clear window film for the two panels. This is really easy to attach and remove if needed.

And you do not have any mirrors or anything near the cage correct?

What would too much uvb do to him? Do you think that can be reason for gaping or would something else happen? And there is a mirror directly behind him! I will take it down to see if that makes a difference. My bf was home sick yesterday and sent me the attached pic and I totally forgot to remove mirror

 

[Beman]

What would too much uvb do to him? Do you think that can be reason for gaping or would something else happen? And there is a mirror directly behind him! I will take it down to see if that makes a difference. My bf was home sick yesterday and sent me the attached pic and I totally forgot to remove mirror

It may very well be the mirror! They are extremely sensitive to seeing their reflections. They see it as an intruder in their territory. Its important to have reflective things like mirrors removed from their line of sight. They will gap and show their brighter colors. As they mature they will show a full dominant display to try to scare the "intruder". This is why alot of the times when someone is trying to see what their male looks like fired up they will put it in front of a mirror to get it to display.

So with Panthers they need a lower UVI. We only use the higher strength bulbs like the 10.0 zoomed or the 12% arcadia in quad fixtures with a single reflector. The extra bulbs and single reflector reduce the amount of UVI output. WIth a single or a dual bulb fixture either with individual reflectors or one you have to use a 5.0 zoomed or a 6% arcadia bulb. Otherwise the UVI output is much too high for them. Yes, it will cause other health issues just as too little UVI causes MBD. Since UVI is something we can not see with our eyes the only way to measure this is with a solarmeter. This is a piece of equipment that will run about 200 bucks. Expensive but I love having one.

Panthers should not have more then a 3-4 UVI range and some do well with a 2-3 range. Honestly supplementation plays into this as well. You have to ensure your not over supplementing with D3 still. But they convert the UVI to natural D3 in their bodies just like with the sun. It is a whole process that I do not even understand every piece to.

So what I can tell you because of my own experience playing with bulbs and fixtures with my solarmeter is the sweet spot for a single bulb fixture is to use a 5.0 zoomed or 6% arcadia bulb. Then basking should be no higher then 7-8 inches from the fixture sitting directly on the top of the cage. This will give you that 3-4 range where they bask. The levels drop significantly as you move away from the light. By 12 inches there is nearly no UVI level. This is why the top third of the cage is so important. With the higher bulb your definitely getting at least double what he should be. I can't remember exactly but I believe when I tested my 12% in a single it was around 11 UVI. So with you using a 10.0 bulb its probably around an 8 or slightly higher at that 7-8 inch range.

 

[Dill’s keeper]

It may very well be the mirror! They are extremely sensitive to seeing their reflections. They see it as an intruder in their territory. Its important to have reflective things like mirrors removed from their line of sight. They will gap and show their brighter colors. As they mature they will show a full dominant display to try to scare the "intruder". This is why alot of the times when someone is trying to see what their male looks like fired up they will put it in front of a mirror to get it to display.

So with Panthers they need a lower UVI. We only use the higher strength bulbs like the 10.0 zoomed or the 12% arcadia in quad fixtures with a single reflector. The extra bulbs and single reflector reduce the amount of UVI output. WIth a single or a dual bulb fixture either with individual reflectors or one you have to use a 5.0 zoomed or a 6% arcadia bulb. Otherwise the UVI output is much too high for them. Yes, it will cause other health issues just as too little UVI causes MBD. Since UVI is something we can not see with our eyes the only way to measure this is with a solarmeter. This is a piece of equipment that will run about 200 bucks. Expensive but I love having one.

Panthers should not have more then a 3-4 UVI range and some do well with a 2-3 range. Honestly supplementation plays into this as well. You have to ensure your not over supplementing with D3 still. But they convert the UVI to natural D3 in their bodies just like with the sun. It is a whole process that I do not even understand every piece to.

So what I can tell you because of my own experience playing with bulbs and fixtures with my solarmeter is the sweet spot for a single bulb fixture is to use a 5.0 zoomed or 6% arcadia bulb. Then basking should be no higher then 7-8 inches from the fixture sitting directly on the top of the cage. This will give you that 3-4 range where they bask. The levels drop significantly as you move away from the light. By 12 inches there is nearly no UVI level. This is why the top third of the cage is so important. With the higher bulb your definitely getting at least double what he should be. I can't remember exactly but I believe when I tested my 12% in a single it was around 11 UVI. So with you using a 10.0 bulb its probably around an 8 or slightly higher at that 7-8 inch range.

Omg thank you! I will switch to the 5.0 and remove mirror as soon as I get home. I may try to remove mirror and see if that was it and then by the time the bulb gets delivered I’ll know if the mirror was his issue lol. I soooo wish I could splurge for a solarmeter - soon I will

 

[Beman]

Omg thank you! I will switch to the 5.0 and remove mirror as soon as I get home. I may try to remove mirror and see if that was it and then by the time the bulb gets delivered I’ll know if the mirror was his issue lol. I soooo wish I could splurge for a solarmeter - soon I will

Your welcome hun. And with the zoo med bulbs your gonna be replacing it every 9 months. And arcadia bulb gets replaced every 12 months. If you get a solarmeter you can actually test your bulb strength and then you know when exactly your bulb needs to be replaced but until then just go by the months lol.

Hopefully removing the large mirror will stop the behavior.

 

[Dill’s keeper]

Your welcome hun. And with the zoo med bulbs your gonna be replacing it every 9 months. And arcadia bulb gets replaced every 12 months. If you get a solarmeter you can actually test your bulb strength and then you know when exactly your bulb needs to be replaced but until then just go by the months lol.

Hopefully removing the large mirror will stop the behavior.

Mirror getting removed and just ordered the 5.0! Solar meter is going on my Christmas list Thank you!!!

 

[kinyonga]

@Beman you said..."Panthers they need a lower UVI"...whats the I stand for?

 

[Beman]

@Beman you said..."Panthers they need a lower UVI"...whats the I stand for?

It stands for Index. So it would be the UV index for the UVB lighting.

 

[kinyonga]

Thanks @Beman ...that's what I thought it was meaning. I don't usually see people use it and wanted to be sure.

 

[Beman]

Thanks @Beman ...that's what I thought it was meaning. I don't usually see people use it and wanted to be sure.

Yeah I did a lot of research trying to understand UVB lighting lol. It made more sense to me when I got my solarmeter since it is done by the UV index.

 

[kinyonga]

It's amazing to me how much we have to learn to keep a chameleon!
I thought what I learned to raise my kids was hard...but chameleon info is definitely harder!

 

[Beman]

It's amazing to me how much we have to learn to keep a chameleon!
I thought what I learned to raise my kids was hard...but chameleon info is definitely harder!

I could not agree more with you. My 15 year old is a cake walk compared to Beman lol

 

[Dill’s keeper]

I could not agree more with you. My 15 year old is a cake walk compared to Beman lol

Sometimes I feel mine is going to give me a permanent twitch

 

[kinyonga]

@Dill’s keeper ...if your Panther has places to sit where there is no UVB (shade/plant cover) and other areas where there is UVB he should regulate his exposure himself IMHO.

 

[Beman]

Sometimes I feel mine is going to give me a permanent twitch

Don't we all!

 

[Dill’s keeper]

@Dill’s keeper ...if your Panther has places to sit where there is no UVB (shade/plant cover) and other areas where there is UVB he should regulate his exposure himself IMHO.

He has plenty of options, sometimes he’ll move away and roam around and sometimes he’ll sit and bask and gape. This is his set up. Maybe he just likes to worry me ‍

 

[kinyonga]

They all like to worry us!

 

[Dill’s keeper]

Yes they do!