Is this uri or im just going crazy?

[hzliedmond]

Hello today my chameleon started to open the mouth . I thought the basking area was getting to hot so I turned it off . Couple of times she opens her mouth but no head tilting or noise. I've called couple of vets and no apps for weeks ! She ate good too could It be I'm too paranoid for uri ? And what would gasping look like ? Thank u !

 

[GrannyK]

She is gaping there, there does not have to be a noise come out, it can happen silently. Do you know what the temp was when she was doing it? Has she only gaped under the light on that branch or elsewhere?

 

[hzliedmond]

She is gaping there, there does not have to be a noise come out, it can happen silently. Do you know what the temp was when she was doing it? Has she only gaped under the light on that branch or elsewhere?

It's was 87 and she did it twice more when I took the pic under the uvb light

 

[hzliedmond]

It's was 87 and she did it twice more when I took the pic under the uvb light

She just did it again

 

[GrannyK]

I believe her basking temp should be no higher than 80 if she is over 7-8 mos old. It may be warm in there for her.
Also can she see anything bothersome in her area that may be annoying her?

 

[hzliedmond]

Nothing has changed

 

[GrannyK]

Try getting the temp down and if she continues I would probably take her to the vet. I don’t think you’re paranoid about uri, just being cautious. Hopefully someone else will chime in and gives advice as well. I’m not a brand new keeper but also not a hugely experienced one yet either.

 

[elizaann2]

I agree with @GrannyK, lower her temps and keep a close eye. My girls basking is no higher than 80. Enclosure temps are a gradient of 78-72. Follow those temps and if she keeps doing it get her into a vet.

Out of curiosity what are her humidity levels? Do you fog?

 

[MissSkittles]

I agree with lowering the temp and seeing if she is still gaping. To me, it looks like she is trying to cool off. If it’s close to her bedtime, just fyi that chameleons do yawn and it looks like what a yawn looks like…no prolonged gaping - just a quick open and shut.

 

[Beppo]

I also agree as my boy did this when it got too warm and I had thought the same thing but as soon as I decreased the temp I never observed the gaping anymore

 

[Beman]

I want to add it looks like she is far too close to her light. What uvb lighting are you using and what bulb strength? With a T5 and a 5.0 bulb the branch should be 8-9 inches from the fixture. Closer puts them into overexposure levels and high heat. Hot temps cause gaping like this.

 

[Gloriawood]

My guy was doing this last week and I was also paranoid. No noise or star gazing. His temps were too hot. Got it cooled down and he was back to himself.

 

[lurker9090]

any chance you misted his enclosure right before?

 

[Sparky93]

I agree with lowering the temp and seeing if she is still gaping. To me, it looks like she is trying to cool off. If it’s close to her bedtime, just fyi that chameleons do yawn and it looks like what a yawn looks like…no prolonged gaping - just a quick open and shut.

My male veiled I’ve had for 2 months looks completely healthy and seems happy, just yawns a few times a day that I see happy to see that it’s normal for them to yawn just wondering if it’s normal he seems to yawn a lot and it’s pretty consistent I will see him yawn a few times a day

 

[Andrew1283]

My male veiled “yawns” to show me he’s the boss. Then I open the screen to clean and he runs away. All kidding aside, he gaped with the 60 watt incandescent which produced 87 degrees where the top of his veil sits. I dropped the wattage to 40 and the heat is about 81 or 82 and no more gaping.

 

[Andrew1283]

It looks like you’re attaching vines to the top screen. Try not to do that. Instead just build scaffolding with natural branches and zip ties. Then you control how high they can go near the light.

Here’s a pic of an enclosure I just set up. Four big branches standing up in each corner and then just start zip tying branches between them. It forms a very stable structure with a lot of horizontal and diagonal branches for climbing. Then I take a 1” x 2” board that’s 24” long and place it on top of the enclosure. I screw in some eye hooks to that board so I have somewhere from which pothos plants can hang within the enclosure. It’s super easy and cheap. Branches are free and the pothos was $15.00 each at my supermarket.