My chameleon keeps opening his mouth

[Nova14]

General Information

Name: Iggy

Age: 3-5 months

Sex: male?

Breed: Veiled Chameleon

Bought from: PetSmart

Time owned: about 2 weeks

Housing

Foliage: 2 real plants (pathos), 4 fake plants, bendable vines, branches

Floor: Bare, with one large pot holding the plants covered in moss (to help with humidity)

Temperature (day): basking spot 80-90 with a gradient down to 65-70

Temperature (night): 65-75

Humidity (day): 40-60 (sometimes drops to around 30)

Humidity (night): 50-65

Lighting: Zoomed Reptisun 5.0 UVB compact (upgrading to the bar one soon) , Zoomed tropical heat light. Turned on around 8:00am and off around 9:00pm

Cage: ReptiBreeze 16”x16”x30” (3 sides blocked off to help with humidity)

Misting: once before the light is turned on, once after its turned off, and a few times during the day.

Fogger: goes of for 30 minutes to an hour around 10:00pm

Notes: I’m having trouble keeping the humidity up, but I don’t want to spray it to much cause that could cause an upper respiratory infection.

Diet

Feeder insects: Crickets 6-10 a day, Wax worms 3-4 a week

Bug diet: Fluker’s high-calcium cricket diet, Fulker’s cricket quencher, carrots, kale

Supplements: calcium without d3 once a day, Multivitamin with d3 every 3 weeks (once so far)


A few days after we got him we thought he might have an upper respiratory infection, so we took him to the vet, but they said he was fine. Iggy will sometimes look up and poof out his gular pouch and let out a small breath. He seems to be a little stressed so I’m wondering if I need to add more hiding spots in his tank, but he could just be stressed about the transition. His ribs look to be poking out a bit and it seems like it might cause him some trouble beathing and eating sometimes. When he finishes his food he will usually take some breaths and move his gular pouch around like he is struggling to swallow but I don’t know. I believe he broke his ribs as a baby, I don’t think it’s MBD because he is still active, his grip is strong, and I see no swelling around his joints. we are taking him to the vet in a few days for a checkup, but I want to start getting ideas on how to help him.

 

[kinyonga]

Welcome to the forum and the world of chameleons!

Please post some photos of the cage including the lights and of your chameleon so we can see all of him.

Does he do this gaping only when he’s eating? Or at other times too?

Your husbands needs some changes and improvements. @MissSkittles give the best help with all of the husbandry…so I’m sure she’ll chime in!

 

[Nova14]

Welcome to the forum and the world of chameleons!

Please post some photos of the cage including the lights and of your chameleon so we can see all of him.

Does he do this gaping only when he’s eating? Or at other times too?

Your husbands needs some changes and improvements. @MissSkittles give the best help with all of the husbandry…so I’m sure she’ll chime in!

I’ll try to get a video of him eating next time I feed him. He will sometimes gape while he is basking but the vet said that could be temperature regulation. This is my first time owning a chameleon and while I have done my fair share of research I’m sure there is plenty I’m missing so any suggestions are appreciated and if I’m doing anything wrong I’d love to know

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi and welcome. Give me a bit of time to go thru all of your info.

 

[MissSkittles]

I do see several changes that will need to be made.

General Information

Name: Iggy

Age: 3-5 months Looks about right

Sex: male? Yes. Males have the vertical bars of color, like Iggy does. If you look at his back feet, you’ll also see he has these protruding nubs, called tarsal spurs that male veileds have.

Breed: Veiled Chameleon

Bought from: PetSmart

Time owned: about 2 weeks

Housing

Foliage: 2 real plants (pathos), 4 fake plants, bendable vines, branches Veileds like to nibble their plants, so it’s important that they have only safe, clean live ones. Pothos is perfect for them. This is a great resource https://chameleonacademy.com/plants/ Some plants will need supplemental lighting.

Floor: Bare, with one large pot holding the plants covered in moss (to help with humidity) Ok, yes to the bare floor and no to the moss. Your handsome guy could accidentally eat the moss and that would be a problem.

Temperature (day): basking spot 80-90 with a gradient down to 65-70 You want your basking temp to be around 78-80 right now and no higher. When he’s much bigger and mature, his temps can go up to 85. If he is getting 90, that could be a cause for him to open-mouthed gape..trying to cool off.

Temperature (night): 65-75 Ok. 75 is a bit warm for night but I’ll explain why in a bit.

Humidity (day): 40-60 (sometimes drops to around 30) You want your daytime humidity to be between 30-50%. If you remove the moss and add some more live plants, that is usually pretty good at maintaining humidity.

Humidity (night): 50-65 This is where your night temps come into play. The main thing to know is that high heat plus high humidity is a recipe for respiratory infection. At night if your temps are below at least 68F, you can use a fogger and boost the night humidity as high as it can go. That simulates the hydration cycle chameleons get in the wild from fog. However, if your night temps are above 68, you do not want to use a fogger. Foggers are never used during the day.

Lighting: Zoomed Reptisun 5.0 UVB compact (upgrading to the bar one soon) , Yes! You need asap a linear T5HO with either a ReptiSun 5.0 or Arcadia 6% bulb. I prefer Arcadia as the bulbs can be trusted to last a year before needing to be changed. This is an excellent option from an excellent seller. https://www.lightyourreptiles.com/products/arcadia-pro-t5-24-watt-fixture-22-5.html I will caution against buying an off brand to try to save a few $$. The fixture might be ok, but the uvb bulb is not. Zoomed tropical heat light. Turned on around 8:00am and off around 9:00pm Little chams like to walk upside down along their screen top which places them at high risk for getting burned from their lights…especially basking light. To help prevent this, we need to raise the light at least a few inches above the screen top. Everyone probably has their own way to do this. Mine is using small wire baskets from the dollar store to proper the light up on.

Cage: ReptiBreeze 16”x16”x30” (3 sides blocked off to help with humidity) This size is ok for now, but your little cutie is going to be a big cutie before you know it (they grow fast) and will be needing much more space. The minimum standard is a 2x2x4’ enclosure or equivalent. However, if you have the space and resources to go bigger, definitely do so. This is a great and relatively inexpensive way to give double sized enclosures. https://chameleonacademy.com/double-wide-chameleon-cage-project/

Misting: once before the light is turned on, once after it’s turned off, and a few times during the day. Ok. The ideal is to mist for at least 2 minutes right before lights go on and go off. Usually this is all they need, but if urates are looking dark, you can add an extra misting for about 1 minute in the afternoon.

Fogger: goes of for 30 minutes to an hour around 10:00pm You want to run this ONLY if your temps are below at least 68F.

Notes: I’m having trouble keeping the humidity up, but I don’t want to spray it to much cause that could cause an upper respiratory infection. Refer back to the humidity section above.

Diet

Feeder insects: Crickets 6-10 a day, Wax worms 3-4 a week Ok, but adding more variety is better and for his age, Iggy should be getting maybe double that amount daily. I’ll be adding some graphics below to help as a guide for this and your bug’s diet. As he gets older and his growth starts to slow down, you’ll be cutting back on how much you feed him.

Bug diet: Fluker’s high-calcium cricket diet, Fulker’s cricket quencher, carrots, kale I can’t recall the details, but the high calcium diet is not good for crickets. The cricket quencher cubes or gel are only good for hydration and nothing more. I provide my bugs with a variety of fresh produce (same stuff I make my bearded dragon’s salads with) which keeps them hydrated and healthy, so that they are more nutritious.

Supplements: calcium without d3 once a day, perfect Multivitamin with d3 every 3 weeks (once so far) What multivitamin/D3 product are you using? Reptivite with D3 or Repashy calcium Plus LoD are the ones I prefer and suggest. It should be used for one feeding either every other week or twice a month. (Whichever you prefer)


A few days after we got him we thought he might have an upper respiratory infection, so we took him to the vet, but they said he was fine. Iggy will sometimes look up and poof out his gular pouch and let out a small breath. He seems to be a little stressed so I’m wondering if I need to add more hiding spots in his tank, but he could just be stressed about the transition. His ribs look to be poking out a bit and it seems like it might cause him some trouble beathing and eating sometimes. When he finishes his food he will usually take some breaths and move his gular pouch around like he is struggling to swallow but I don’t know. I believe he broke his ribs as a baby, I don’t think it’s MBD because he is still active, his grip is strong, and I see no swelling around his joints. we are taking him to the vet in a few days for a checkup, but I want to start getting ideas on how to help him.

Unfortunately, not all vets who see chameleons have much experience or knowledge about them. I’m also attaching the list of vets whom forum members have had positive experiences with and have decent knowledge and experience with chams. Often we do have to travel a bit to get to one of these vets. If Iggy is often with his head pointing upwards, like he’s stargazing, that is a sign of respiratory infection. Usually accompanying it is open mouthed breathing or gasping, stringy saliva, making popping or other noises while breathing. I’m not sure what he is doing as you describe. Could it be a yawn maybe? How often does he do that?
It is possible that he is having trouble swallowing his food. It might be too large for him. The feeders need to be smaller than the space between his eyes. However, if you are giving small enough feeders and he is still looking to have trouble swallowing, try even smaller feeders. Often for the right size feeders that we need, we have to order on line. Many vendors have variety packs also, which are fantastic. In order to determine about his ribs or any other bone issue, including mbd, have your vet take an x ray. I can tell you that without the correct uvb light, he is well on his way to developing mbd. Very young chameleons have no tolerance for any husbandry errors as they have no resources built up to fall back upon. The screw in uvb bulbs can only provide any uvb if he’s only a couple of inches below it, and then he’s at super high risk for burns.
@kinyonga has a wealth of experience and may have better insight into what your cutie is doing and what may be going on with him.