Need help ASAP! Chameleon squeaking and opening mouth

[warren44d]

My girlfriend just purchased a chameleon 2 days ago from petco, and I’ve been keeping an eye on it. I bought it some fake plants a pothos, and we’re getting a tree like plant (yuca, for the enclosure, and I mist often. We feed it “medium” crickets about 3-4 times a day with the vitamin dust. The cage is one of the petco reptibreeze starter kits, and sits next to our bed at about chest level. We used both bulbs from the kit, daylight bulb and uvb bulb. The basking spot sits at 85-88 with both lights on, the rest of the tank 75-80. With that being said I’ve rarely seen it go anywhere but the top of the cage. Most of the day the chameleon is fine, it’s active moving, exploring and eating. But occasionally it will move to the top of the cage and begin contorting its body, opening its mouth, and making a squeaking noise. It’s been doing this since the first night and I’m not sure what to do. We’re gradually upgrading the cage and once he’s a bit bigger we’ll get a new cage entirely. Below is a picture of the enclosure. I’m not sure how to attach a video and show the actual behavior though. I also sincerely apologize if this chameleon cage is not up to par we’re very new to all of this. Should i only have the UVB or daylight bulb on occasionally. The cage is much hotter when both are vs when they're off.

 

[Gloriawood]

Hi! First off, welcome! No one here is going to judge you, we were all new once! With that being said, unfortunatley you have purchased what looks like the chameleon kit. Many of us here did this too. Petco and other pet stores have little knowledge on proper care for these guys. A lot of the available info is outdated. Not much from that kit is useable unfortunatley.

First things first, little guy is too hot. Raise the light up off the cage using something to prop it up on.

Secondly, I’m going to direct you to https://chameleonacademy.com to start reading on how to care for these little guys.

I’m not an expert here, but there are some here that I’m sure will chime in. I’m going to make a second reply here with a husbandry review. Copy, paste and fill it out with as much information as you can and someone more experienced than myself will review it for you. Please post some photos of your baby as well.

Don’t panic, breathe and take it one step at a time. Everyone here is lovely and wants to help you as much as we can

 

[Gloriawood]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.



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Please Note:

1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
2. Photos can be very helpful.

 

[Gloriawood]

To upload a video, you need to upload it to another platform first. Some use YouTube, I use instagram. Then share the link here. A video of the behavior would greatly help us figure out what is going on if we can. Just remember, we are not vets. Those here can only offer advice from our experiences.

 

[warren44d]

Here is a link to the behavior

 

[Gloriawood]

So it’s very hard to tell, and I like I said I’m not as experienced as others. But sometimes they will open their mouths to try and cool down.

I know others will chime in here and they will be more help than me. I’ve been lurking on here quite a bit this week because I’m a teacher and school has been out for weather as other members get off work and whatnot, I’m positive they will offer more than I can.

 

[Sonny13]

Hi and welcome. How large are the feeders compared to the chameleons head/mouth? The feeder shouldn’t bigger (in length) than the width between their eyes. I’m guessing the crickets are too big. At this once with my girl when she ate a too large cricket. It got stuck in her digestive system and she had the same symptoms as yours (mouth open, squeaking and contorting her body). He/she needs to pass them, but keep a close eye on it. And get smaller crickets.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

I agree with @Gloriawood raise the heat lamp. You can prop it up on coffee cups or lower the basking branch. Babies love to climb on the screen. They can get thermal burns from the heat lamp. Most often the burns are on the casque or spine.

 

[Kodyf]

Short and simply what I can see is, you’re going to need to get rid of that compact uvb bulb that comes with the death kit it burns and blinds chameleons theirs plenty of info you can read and photos you can look at online of what those compact uvb bulbs can do to your Cham that close. You need a linear uvb bulb fixture with a 5.0 uvb bulb and you need a basking branch that is not so close to the fixtures. Also you need to remove the fake plants they can cause your chameleon to have an impaction. I’m sure theirs more to cover here that other experienced members such as @Beman and @MissSkittles will go over when they do a full husbandry review but remove the fake plants and lower the basking area use a basking branch + plan to go get that linear uvb fixture and 5.0 uvb bulb that’s what most importantly needs changed immediately.

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi and welcome. No judgement here - everyone starts at the beginning. You’re getting some great advice so far, but there’s a lot of changes and improvements that you’ll be needing to make. If you fill out the questions the best you can, we can get you started. You’ve been given the link for Chameleon Academy. It is the source for the most correct and current standards of care for chameleons and more! There is also https://www.neptunethechameleon.com/ who is another great source…just different format. Even though we’ve barely started, I’m going to give a not so subtle hint of advice to come with this link. https://www.pangeareptile.com/colle...sca_ref=2120335.Dn9y03RxpN&sca_source=website Unfortunately, just about everything in the Zoo Med chameleon kit is pretty useless. The supplement samples, dual dome and vine are nice, but that’s about all, I’m afraid. I’m looking forward to us helping you and your little sweetie have many healthy and happy years together.

 

[Beman]

Hi Welcome to the forum! I watched the video a few times... My concern is potential for Respiratory infection. The deep breath and you said squeaking sound is what is concerning here. However the temps you are running are far too hot and may be the cause of the reaction. Now per the contorting the body and gapping the mouth open. This is not uncommon. They can do this as they are warming up and even when a shed is coming.

For now try kicking off the basking fixture. Just run the compact. Test your temps with just this one running. Basking for a baby this young should be 78 ish. Then you want to run a vine like the flukers brand vines about 2 inches below the screen right below the UVB fixture. This will put baby in the zone to actually get UVB from this fixture without being on top of it. The moss vines are not recommended for chams they do not dry out and can grow bacteria. Also high risk of the veiled eating the moss off of it. So you want flukers vines or the thin vine that came with the kit. Use floral wire to attach your vines to your screen. Sharp pieces on the outside of the cage though. Nothing sharp on the inside.

When you get the correct UVB lighting which should be sooner than later at that point your distance from the fixture to the branch has to be adjusted. Just let us know when you do this.

Pull out all the bark in the bottom. you want a bare bottom cage. Bark is an impaction risk and your insects will burrow into it.

Creating a feeder run would be very helpful for this baby here is a link to how to do one at home. This baby should be easily taking down 24-36 small feeders a day. No larger than 1/4 of an inch in size. You could create one of these with a small water bottle. then use floral wire with the sharp pieces on the outside of the cage to attach it. https://dragonstrand.com/constructing-a-chameleon-feeder-run/

If you are using the packet of reptivite that came with the cage this should only be used 2 times a month. You need a plain calcium without D3 for all other feedings.

Per the fake plants yes these will need to be removed eventually. But veileds this young do not tend to chew on plants yet. So right now they are not a high risk. Better to have coverage than not enough.

 

[warren44d]

Well i took every single piece of advice given last night. I purchased a new uvb light, moved the compact light higher, removed fake plants, and got much smaller insects. I’m just now seeing your message however Beman. I don’t understand why they’d tell us to buy coconut chips if they’re not actually useful. I will remove the moss and chips soon, however they constantly sit on it so I can’t grab it. How much time do I have for these sorts of things is really my question. Thank you guys here’s a picture of what it looks like now. UVB fixture in the back. Also this is uncharacteristic i have not seen the chameleon climb on the ceiling like that before. If that’s a concern please let me know.

 

[Gloriawood]

Little ones love to screen climb! As they get older and gain weight, they will stop. The UVB is probably the most important thing right now so you are off to a great start. Just do what you can, when you can.

As per the coconut chips, many pet stores don’t have up to date info on the care for these guys. They often apply care info for most reptiles. Unfortunatley it doesn’t quite work. The reason the coconut chips aren’t so good is they can be an impaction risk. Veiled chameleons especially love to munch on things that are not food and then they can not digest it. This is why safe live plants is so important. My guy didn’t eat them at first, so I thought no big deal. But after he settled in….all hell broke lose! Little guy eats all his plants, his soil, literally anything I put in his enclosure.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

Little ones love to screen climb! As they get older and gain weight, they will stop. The UVB is probably the most important thing right now so you are off to a great start. Just do what you can, when you can.

As per the coconut chips, many pet stores don’t have up to date info on the care for these guys. They often apply care info for most reptiles. Unfortunatley it doesn’t quite work. The reason the coconut chips aren’t so good is they can be an impaction risk. Veiled chameleons especially love to munch on things that are not food and then they can not digest it. This is why safe live plants is so important. My guy didn’t eat them at first, so I thought no big deal. But after he settled in….all hell broke lose! Little guy eats all his plants, his soil, literally anything I put in his enclosure.

Welcome to the world of the Veiled Chameleon. They are munchers.

 

[Beman]

Well i took every single piece of advice given last night. I purchased a new uvb light, moved the compact light higher, removed fake plants, and got much smaller insects. I’m just now seeing your message however Beman. I don’t understand why they’d tell us to buy coconut chips if they’re not actually useful. I will remove the moss and chips soon, however they constantly sit on it so I can’t grab it. How much time do I have for these sorts of things is really my question. Thank you guys here’s a picture of what it looks like now. UVB fixture in the back. Also this is uncharacteristic i have not seen the chameleon climb on the ceiling like that before. If that’s a concern please let me know.

What UVB lighting did you get?

This is very common with baby chams to get as high as possible. With there not being many branches or vines running horrizontally this leaves the screens for them to get higher.

The issue with pet stores is most people that work there have no clue what they are advising on. So you end up buying a bunch of stuff that is totally incorrect for the animal you purchase. Remember all they care about typically is sales. Within the next week or so I would get the moss vines replaced. I would remove the substrait today.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

Many of us are pet store victims.
My pet store story (short version): They sold me all of the wrong stuff 500+ dollars. They even sold me Calcium with D3 and Reptivite with D3= overdose. Wrong uvb, wrong uva, substrate, dripper tree, small enclosure, fake plants and vines- just all wrong. I then went to a Vet that was the Vet at the local zoo. He also gave me all wrong information and said I had a female which turns out is a male. I sought out this forum because I was sure my adult, adopted Cham was a male. I was in shock. I returned to the pet store as much as possible. I made the recommended changes and all has been good. Took my Cham to a more experienced vet who diagnosed and treated for Giardia. This forum provides information based on the experience of long term keepers. They pass on the knowledge of best practices that have worked.

 

[Kodyf]

I really like the improvements you made I'm sure she loves the new light. It is completely normal for your Cham to climb along the UVB especially as a baby, a couple months ago my Cham used to do that every day but has since stopped as she grew. I am wondering what your thermometer probe says the temperatures are at the basking site now. @Beman pointed out the noise you were hearing could indicate an RI, I agree and you should monitor for signs of an RI. It’s not impossible but very unusual for a chameleon to squeak and you could be mistaking that for the sound of an RI as she is breathing.

 

[warren44d]

okay I’ve done everything everybody has told me to, removed all harmful products and fed him smaller food. However as of today his problems persist. At night he closes one eye I’ve just noticed. the squeaking and open mouth have persisted. I wonder if I’m keeping the light on too long the sun has been setting here at 6 but i keep the light on til 8. Should i completely get rid of the Chameleon kit day time light? I have both on and raised up at all times. He just sits at the top, points his head up at the light and opens his mouth to squeak.

 

[warren44d]

okay I’ve done everything everybody has told me to, removed all harmful products and fed him smaller food. However as of today his problems persist. At night he closes one eye I’ve just noticed. the squeaking and open mouth have persisted. I wonder if I’m keeping the light on too long the sun has been setting here at 6 but i keep the light on til 8. Should i completely get rid of the Chameleon kit day time light? I have both on and raised up at all times. He just sits at the top, points his head up at the light and opens his mouth to squeak.

Also I’m beginning to run out of money

 

[Kodyf]

okay I’ve done everything everybody has told me to, removed all harmful products and fed him smaller food. However as of today his problems persist. At night he closes one eye I’ve just noticed. the squeaking and open mouth have persisted. I wonder if I’m keeping the light on too long the sun has been setting here at 6 but i keep the light on til 8. Should i completely get rid of the Chameleon kit day time light? I have both on and raised up at all times. He just sits at the top, points his head up at the light and opens his mouth to squeak.

The chameleon kit daytime bulb is blue colored I bought the same kit, it needs to be a 60w incandescent bulb. Also will you please go more into depth about him only closing one eye at night he should have both closed for sleeping purposes. Your lights should be on 12 hours and 12 hours off. The squeaking sounds like an RI to me I would get him scheduled to be seen by one of the vets chameleon forums has listed.