Mouth Open & Lack of appitite.

[kelsxox]

Chameleon Info:
• Your Chameleon - Vielded, female, 7-8 months old maybe older. How long has it been in your care?- about a month & a half.
• Handling - Yesturday was my first time in a week! She's been super cranky and i can't even put my hand in the cage near her, also she hasn't shed in forever.
• Feeding - Crickets everyday/mealworms for treats? 5-6 medium crickets a day? i feed her them at lunch time or at 1pm. I gutload with carrots , romaine lettuce, and yellow sweet pepper, anything i can find in my fridge that i read is good for them.
• Supplements -
Exo terra Calcium low phosphorus- everyday
Exo terra Calcium + D3 (No phosphorus) - twice a month.
Exo Terra Multi Vitamin with beta carotene- twice a month.
• Watering - I have a homemade dripper made out of a water bottle.? I mist about 4 times a day and wet the whole cage? Do you see your chameleon drinking? - not at all lately! so i gave her some water threw a syringe yesturday
• Fecal Description - She hasn't 'went' in a couple of days, she had a blueberry the otherday i gave her as a treat and i watched her chew it , i think thats why she hasn't been pooping might have a hard time getting it out ... so confused i thaught fruit made you pooop ahaha QUESTION: should i still feed her, or wait till she poops?
• History - My chameleon had/has MBD, i'm not sure if she's over it yet because i never got a xray of her.. To treat her i was giving her T Rex Bone Aid Liquid calcium for about 2 weeks , then she WOULD NOT let me take her out of her cage no more so i couldn't exactly give it to her.

Cage Info:
• Cage Type - LARGE Repti Breeze
• Lighting -
Floresant Repti Sun 5.0
Nature Sun ( just for extra light)
50 watt basking bulb.
• Temperature - Basking area is around 83, everywhere else in her cage is the high 60's and 70's.... at night it's about 59-63.
• Humidity - I don't have anything currently to measure the humidity.. to keep the humidity up i mist with warm water.
• Plants - Neanthe Palm Bella
• Placement - In my bedroom on my dresser. Top of the cage is about 5-6 feet high.
• Location - timmins ontario..
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PROBLEMS:

1st problem is she's got lack of appitite and hasn't pooped yet in about 3 days.. I think this is either because she's too fusy now because i gave her mealworms, OR because she's constipated and can't poop pretty much ever since i gave her the blueberyy, which could be why shes so cranky?? ... tell me what you's think.. ( p.s she's also looking kinda chubby.. i'm sort of woundering if maybe she mature enouph now to lay eggs??)

2nd problem; The past two days i've walked in her cage more than once and she's had her mouth open, more than once.. while she had her mouth open i took the oppertunity to check out the inside of her mouth, everythings supper pink so no sign of mouth rot (i think anyways) there wasn't realy no stringy stuff.. All she had was two tiny super lil thin almost impossible to see spit strings, i think cause her mouth was dry so when she opened it , it did that.. anyways i have no idea why she is doing this? Can someone helpp.. i thaught she might have been dehydrated, so i actually got her out of her cage lastnight, she wasn't looking good when i did, she looked pale, and had one arm just 'chilling' so i gave her a couple drops of bone aid, and some water...

Someone please heeeeeeeeeelp!!!

 

[Elizadolots]

Do you have a laying bin in for her? She's at the right age for eggs. I believe it's typical of them to have less appetite when they are getting ready to lay. Your temps seem good, I I'm at a loss on the mouth being open.

 

[Bizzle90]

QUESTION: should i still feed her, or wait till she poops?

PROBLEMS:

1st problem is she's got lack of appitite and hasn't pooped yet in about 3 days.. I think this is either because she's too fusy now because i gave her mealworms, OR because she's constipated and can't poop pretty much ever since i gave her the blueberyy, which could be why shes so cranky?? ... tell me what you's think.. ( p.s she's also looking kinda chubby.. i'm sort of woundering if maybe she mature enouph now to lay eggs??)

2nd problem; The past two days i've walked in her cage more than once and she's had her mouth open, more than once.. while she had her mouth open i took the oppertunity to check out the inside of her mouth, everythings supper pink so no sign of mouth rot (i think anyways) there wasn't realy no stringy stuff.. All she had was two tiny super lil thin almost impossible to see spit strings, i think cause her mouth was dry so when she opened it , it did that.. anyways i have no idea why she is doing this? Can someone helpp.. i thaught she might have been dehydrated, so i actually got her out of her cage lastnight, she wasn't looking good when i did, she looked pale, and had one arm just 'chilling' so i gave her a couple drops of bone aid, and some water...

Someone please heeeeeeeeeelp!!!

Seems like everything you're doing is perfectly fine - I suspect the reason she has had her mouth open was possibly due to being overheated, I know several other reptiles open their mouth as a form of cooling down (not 100% sure on chameleons though).

I'd probably wait a day or two for her the poop to further feed her, just make sure to keep her very hydrated and she will be fine!

 

[kelsxox]

Do you have a laying bin in for her? She's at the right age for eggs. I believe it's typical of them to have less appetite when they are getting ready to lay. Your temps seem good, I I'm at a loss on the mouth being open.

Elizadots do all chameleons, or just vieldeds get the mustard splotches when there ready to lay eggs? .. i don't have a laying bin for her yet , but how big of one should i get for her, does it have to be in her cage? or do i take her out and put her in it? Can you give me a little more 'easy' info on how to get the laying bin right & if it's outside of the cage do i need a light on her?

 

[Elizadolots]

Elizadots do all chameleons, or just vieldeds get the mustard splotches when there ready to lay eggs? .. i don't have a laying bin for her yet , but how big of one should i get for her, does it have to be in her cage? or do i take her out and put her in it? Can you give me a little more 'easy' info on how to get the laying bin right & if it's outside of the cage do i need a light on her?

I've seen people here say their females never showed gravid colors, so you can't really go by that. If you can put a 12x12x12ish rubbermaid style pan full of clean play sand (you can buy it at places like Wal Mart) in the cage that's probably ideal. If you need to remove her from the cage, then I think Jannb's blog on it is probably the best resource.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html

 

[kelsxox]

I've got this crushed walnut almost like sand stuff its called desert blend that i had at the bottom of her cage before and still got a bag of it, will that do?? & are you telling me pretty much llike a flat pan? i thaught they had to digg to lay there eggs? or one of those biiiiiig rubbermaid containers.

 

[Elizadolots]

12 inches deep. I'm at a loss for a good word for it. I don't know about the crushed walnut. It needs to be able to keep a tunnel. Moist play sand is the standard recommended thing. Organic soil is also recommended, or a mix of the two. You want to be able to poke a hole about 1 1/2 inches across, and as deep as you can in it. It would be a good idea to leave the hole, sometimes they benefit from a head start.

 

[panicbess]

may just be getting COLD!!?

 

[kinyonga]

Please do not use the crushed walnut....it could lead to an impaction if she ingests it. By having an opaque container at least 12" deep x 12" x 8" almost full of washed playsand in her cage, she will/should show you when she's ready to lay the eggs by digging in it. I leave a container of sand in the cage once each egglaying female is sexually mature.

 

[Elizadolots]

Be sure she has access to the bin. Run a vine down to it or fix a branch so she can go to it and leave it when she wants to.

 

[kelsxox]

Please do not use the crushed walnut....it could lead to an impaction if she ingests it. By having an opaque container at least 12" deep x 12" x 8" almost full of washed playsand in her cage, she will/should show you when she's ready to lay the eggs by digging in it. I leave a container of sand in the cage once each egglaying female is sexually mature.

okay ill go grab some play sand at walmart & a container.. should i put a smaller container with sand in the cage just to see if she'll dig in it & then if she does allow her access to the bigger one? because i don't think a 12 by 12 will fit in her cage.. ill attach a picture of it .. & if she is ready to lay eggs will she immediatly start digging? she's in my bedroom so might this be a problem, i might have to sleep on the couch for a bit eh cause i read if they see you watching them they'll stop digging.

 

[kelsxox]

her cageee

 

[Elizadolots]

How tall is that cage? If it's 36 inches, you can put a 12 inch tall bin. She'll stay in the upper 2 feet most of the time, anyway, right? If you really think it's not going to work, then read Jannb's egglaying blog (linked above). She discusses what you need to do.

Edited to add: you can wrap a sheet or newspapers around the cage to keep her from seeing you. I don't think you need to leave the room.

Also, stick with your regular light schedule, if the sun suddenly stays on for 24 hours straight it will mess her up.

 

[TriSARAtop]

Our jacksonii does the mouth thing quiet often. We used to think it was because of a respiratory infection but we figured out it wasn't. I saw someone mentioned they do it when they get too hot and thats kind of what we have concluded cause he will go hang out at the bottom of his tank once in awhile too where its cooler even though all the temperatures are right.

 

[kelsxox]

How tall is that cage? If it's 36 inches, you can put a 12 inch tall bin. She'll stay in the upper 2 feet most of the time, anyway, right? If you really think it's not going to work, then read Jannb's egglaying blog (linked above). She discusses what you need to do.

Edited to add: you can wrap a sheet or newspapers around the cage to keep her from seeing you. I don't think you need to leave the room.

Also, stick with your regular light schedule, if the sun suddenly stays on for 24 hours straight it will mess her up.

I cant remember what the measurements are elizadots, but it's a ZooMed Repti Breeze (LARGE)...

& i'm glad to hear it's not a respitory infection.. she dosn't seem to go any lower in her cage tho when this happens.. and shes got alot of vines in there.. last thing i need is a REAL dripper. and some fake vines from the dollar store.

 

[Reptile Man Mark]

Hey, nice set-up by the way
I wouldn't worry to much about your chameleon, sometimes they open their mouths as said due to heat or it could be to warn you, I noticed my female has done this many times before, but this is when she has been heavily gravid.
Does she fluff up and flatten her body out when opening her mouth? Or is she stationary, under the heat light?

What I can say is, since you have a plant in there, with a pot, have you seen your chameleon near the bottom of the tank, scratching or digging near the mud? These are what is to be noticed when the laying period arrives, what I would recommend for laying is a nice big, damp tub of VERMICULITE should the time arrive, I have always used this with my chameleons and it works great.
Have you tried offering your veiled some green vegetables?

Monitor your chameleon over these next few days, if any symptoms get worse or her apatite is down for a few days, I would recommend taking her to the vets. However, these symptoms are not at panic stage yet.

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."I've got this crushed walnut almost like sand stuff its called desert blend that i had at the bottom of her cage before "...how long ago did you remove it?

If the basking temp is only in the low 80's then I wouldn't think she is so hot that its making her sit with her mouth open. If she's sitting with her mouth open most of the time, the IMHO there is something going on with her....could be a number of things.

I would not recommend using vermiculite for her to lay eggs in....IMHO sand is a better option.

 

[Elizadolots]

Well...from what I can see, the "large" version would be 48 inches tall...which should take a 12 inch tall bin just fine. But that must mean that dresser is really small...like an end table or something? Or you have cathedral ceilings and stood on the bed to take the picture....

Anyway, as noted early, your temps are good so, as Kinyonga says, it's unlikely she's gaping to regulate her temperature.

It's possible this is something that will require a vet.

I do think you need to get the laying bin in place and see how things go from there.

 

[kinyonga]

Can you post a couple more photos of her please?

 

[kelsxox]

Can you post a couple more photos of her please?

i took it out about a week after i got her , she wasn't eating for the first week anyways.. so i don't believe it would be impaction... i have a few on my profile if you want to check them out.. i'm not sure how to add them threw comments.

EDIT: oh ya & elizadots , how wide should the laying bin be if it's 12 inches tall ? it's not super tall but maybe 2 and a half maybe 3 feet tall.. she's on one of those dressers that have the mirror attached to them.. usually have 6 drawers.. the mirror isn't attached and she's only going to be there temporarly until i find a better spot to put her .. moved into a new house an still not unpacked