ocassionally closes eyes

[Imagesrdecieving]

I've read many a place that it is not a good sign for a cham to have his eyes closed during day hours. About 3 weeks ago I noticed that my 6 month old Panther would sometimes close his eyes - not for long maybe a few minutes here or there. I became very concerned and began to ensure that all of the husbandry was set up correctly. The only improvement I could see to be made was adding a mister which brought up the humidity considerably.

The behavior is still continuing. It hasn't gotten any worse. Same thing - just a few minutes here or there(not even everyday). The Cham seems extremely healthy(nice full eyes, good coloration, healthy appetite, drinks normally, quick clean sheds...).

I am starting to wonder if this is maybe normal behavior for my particular guy as it is really incredible how great he looks. Does anyone else ever catch their guy taking any sort of 'catnaps'? The one thing I can see as a possibility is that I shifted my guy to a night schedule to match my own. I wonder if this is the culprit. Has anyone out there ever shifted their cham to a night schedule?

 

[scooter4n]

I had same problem for few weeks at age of about 4 months.
Then I started misting him at the eyes allot, and it went away.
Hope that helps
P.S. any new plants or branches in your cage??

 

[roo_71]

It could be your switch in schedule – is he doing it towards the end of the day? My male carpet tends to need an adjustment period when the day lengths / light schedule changes. He will sometimes settle in earlier and find a perch to sleep on but he would not close his eye until lights out.

Could be a supplement problem. What lighting do you use and what is your supplement schedule? Are you gutloading your feeders? How often do you mist and you have a mist system? When asking for help it certainly moves things along faster when people know what your setup/routine is.

-roo

 

[Imagesrdecieving]

I Have a reptisun 5.0 and a reg 40 watt bulb which keeps his basking temp at 94 degrees. I supplement with Rep-Cal phosphorus-free calcium powder with vit D3 5 out of 7 days. He gets a multi-vitamin once every 3 weeks. His set has a rainmaker misting system which runs 3 times a day for 5 minutes at a clip.

His feeders are gut loaded with with the mix from Premium crickets and apples for moisture/water.

The humidity remains pretty consistant at around 35-40% and the temperature is a gradient ranging from 94 at thebasking spot down to 76 at the bottom/colder side of the cage.

While observing him - I notice that he never seems to be stressed at all. His colors (which really haven't developed beyond just a pattern at this point) always seem to be tame. He very rarely ever seems to get fired up. I almost never handle him at all (maybe twice in the 3 months that I've had him). He has plenty of spots in his cage to hide/feel secure.

I still go way out of my way to ensure that he feels comfortable in his cage. I still refuse to even make eye contact with him. What is odd about the situation is that he looks incredibly healthy. No signs whatsoever of any physical problems.

I really hope that it is the schedule change as it does occur only later in his day cycle (which is 12 hours by 12 hours). Thank you everyone for your help on this.

 

[scooter4n]

Where are you measuring humidity? mid cage? basking spot or lower?
Little to low if it's mid or lower cage.
Should be at 50-60% day time, and down to 40's at night.
Basking spot you can never get that high just because of the temperature.

 

[Imagesrdecieving]

humidity is mid cage. I have a new cage being delivered in which I am going to add some more plants to hopefully bring the humidity even higher.

 

[asant0917]

hey, its probably a humidity problem. put him under a shower for a couple of minutes.

 

[scooter4n]

for 15-20 min, and keep door closed to the shower to bring humidity in the room up.
use hot water, well not very hot, but very warm.
Do that for at list 3 days once a day.

 

[Dave Weldon]

It could be your switch in schedule – -roo

Howdy, I'm inclined to line-up behind Roo's comment. If your critter is completely isolated from sunlight then you might be able to shift his bedtime. Otherwise, tryng to shift his schedule into the night may only be partially effective and could end-up creating stress .

 

[roo_71]

The humidity remains pretty consistant at around 35-40%

COULD be that his eyes are getting a bit dry too. I dont keep panthers but I consistently here that you should be ok at 40% from experienced panther keepers. A room humdifier on a timer couldne hurt and may help up that humidity a bit.

-roo