Hiccups??

Mintglow

New Member
This is weird.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - 4 ft tall, 3 ft x 3 ft wide, all mesh.
Lighting - 5.0 UV (no glass or plastic over it) plus a basking light- I believe it is the ReptiSun? You'll have to forgive me for sketchy details, I don't have access to the cage and all the stuff at the moment.
Temperature - Basking temp is 85-90, lower level around 75 (room temp.), night time it does not drop lower than 60.
Humidity - I am actually not sure, but we do have the live plant, mist frequently, and two sides of the cage are covered so the humidity is definitely higher than the room. I know I need to get a humidity meter, I will probably be doing that this week.
Plants - Schefflera arboricola, appropriately cleaned and prepared, which takes up easily 1/2 the cage. Everything else is artificial.
Location - Corner of the living room, not a high-traffic area. Is near a window which is well-sealed, so no drafts getting into the cage. On hot days we open it so the sun can shine in on him. If we have people over, we put a divider up between the cage and the rest of the room to minimize stress, though he has never really cared too much about people being around.

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male veiled, 1 year old.
Feeding - Mainly crickets, large-sized. He eats about 7 or 8 a day. Once every week and a half I get him a treat of either superworms or hornworms. Gut load with carrot, calcium gel, and a commercial gut load that was vet recommended. Again please forgive me... I don't have access to the box right now. We also keep a little finely chopped lettuce and carrot for him which he will sometimes eat. He does not seem to like collard greens.
Supplements - I believe it is Reptivite (again, container is elsewhere etc...) dust twice a week.
Watering - Took away the waterfall. Heavy misting, 3-5 times daily. I make sure he drinks every time.
Fecal Description - Solid brown, urates are white with slightly pale yellow at one end. No undigested pieces of food.
History - None applicable, really.
Current Problem - Today he was sitting in his basking spot and- out of nowhere, he started jerking his head up quickly- just slightly- several times in a row, and his stomach was kind of... tightening, I guess, at the same time he was jerking his head. He had his eyes shut while he did it. I hadn't seen him eat anything around this time, so I don't think it was anything stuck in his throat. It went for about three minutes or so. After that, he was fine. But I've never seen him do this or heard of it happening. Can chams get the hiccups? Because that's seriously what it looked like.

Extra: He seems to be in good health otherwise, he is well-hydrated, has a very strong grip, no curving of the casque or limbs, is very active during the day, no issues with breathing, eating or drinking, does not shake, hasn't fallen down, colours normal, healthy bathroom habits, frequently pissed off about absolutely nothing. So I'm not sure whether this is a symptom of an underlying issue or just... hiccups.
 
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Mine male panther did the exact same thing, stomach was pulled in, and his head was jerking ca 3-4 times. Pretty odd
 
I also have a question about hiccups too.

My cham had a sudden jolt a couple times. I was wondering if it was hiccups? It was right after I saw him shoot and miss his food too. It wasn't what you described though. It was an entire body jolt. Very fast too. One at a time. Did it twice
 
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...out of nowhere, he started jerking his head up quickly- just slightly- several times in a row, and his stomach was kind of... tightening, I guess, at the same time he was jerking his head. He had his eyes shut while he did it...
Howdy Jill,

There is an increase in this kind of behavior every December and it is because of Santa Claus... Really :). Closer to the truth is that many chameleons react negatively to us showing-up in our red Christmas sweaters :eek:. True, my answer is a 100:1 shot in the dark for solving your chameleon's issue but his actions are that of a male Veiled seeing a rival or seeing colors (red) that represent some kind of threat to him. A few weeks ago, I posted that I came into my chameleon room and pissed the heck out of my Veiled with my red shirt :(. I he didn't come out of hiding all day :eek:. I now have a sign on the chameleon room door: "No Santas Allowed" :D.
 
Wow, Dave. I did not think of that at all. It is funny and makes sense at the same time. I almost always wear black t shirts and I guess my cham is used to that because the other day I had on a red hoodie and she freaked out. At the time I did not associate it with the color. I thought it was because it was a bulky hoodie instead of a fitted t shirt. Makes sense though! :)
 
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