Possible Respiratory Infection - 2 1/2 month old Panther Cham

[CarlyMK]

Your Chameleon - Panther Chameleon, Male, approx. 10 weeks old. I've had him for about a month.
Handling - Not often, 2 times a week
Feeding - Crickets mainly he eats 2-3 per day, he's only had 2 wax worms as a treat. The crickets have cricket drink plus calcium, I'm feeding them a gutload I made, I blended apples, oranges, kale, collard, carrots, grapes together and freeze them into squares.
Supplements - I dust with calcium without D3(repti-calcium) everyday, 2x per month with D3 and 2x per month multivitamin (Reptitive)
Watering - I mist the cage 2 -3 time daily, reduced it to 2 times per day as I didn't want the cage to be too damp. I make sure there is no still water at the bottom of the cage. I have a repti-fogger which I use on occassion and have placed a dripper in just recently. I see him drinking regularly.
Fecal Description - Always good looking, nice and white.
History - None
Cage Info:
Cage Type - 16x16x20 Reptibreeze
Lighting - 1 60W house hold bulb, 1 5.0 UVB coil bulb both with domes
Temperature - 83-86 in his basking spot, I raised the bulb as I was told young panther chams do not need a basking spot over 80
Humidity -humidity is usually around 50%, spikes when I spray
Plants - 2xCroton ( On the safe list) As well as some fake vegitation
Placement -The top of the cage is approx 5'3" from the ground, the cage is located in my room, moderate amount of traffic. HIs cage was by the window, I thought it was creating too much of a difference in temp from the basking spot to the ambient so I have moved it away. (We have quite cold winters)
Location - Ontario, Canada

Current Problem -About two weeks ago I posted on the forum about a "puff" noise my little guy was making, he would only do it when I entered the cage. I was told that it may just be territorial. He has always ate consistently, drank a lot and has always been active. I listened to him breathing today and heard nothing, which is a good thing I've been told. Also, today I noticed him with his mouth open while basking, he was an eerie white colour that I had never seen before. He stayed this colour for most of the day, mostly when he was basking. In addition to that, I noticed that he had his mouth open later tonight when he wasn't basking, he took a couple deep breaths in. I was nowhere near the cage at this time. If anyone has any advice please let me know, If I need to see a vet I will, I just want to identify what I'm doing wrong if there is something. Thank you!

 

[nimmitz]

Sounds okay to me. Husbandry seems okay. Might want to feed him more daily, since he is so young and still growing (10ish cricks).



Panthers like the humidity, I don't think he has RI, but I'm sure someone with more RI experience will pop in with an opinion.

 

[CarlyMK]

Thank you! I hope someone else replies as well

 

[deadhd5]

Sounds to me like the gaping (in combination with the light color) was probably from being too warm as opposed to an RI. Keep an eye (and ear) on him. If he starts gaping a lot when not basking, or you begin to hear popping sounds while breathing, it will be time for a vet visit. Until then, continue as you are.

Good luck!

 

[AngieL]

Hi there! Sounds to me like he was toohot, how reliable is your thermometer? Panthers will go light colours to try and reflect heat and gaping while basking is to do the same.

You will want to feed him a lot more than that a day and make sure that the crickets are no bigger than the gap between his eyes. If they are too big then he might not want to eat them or will eat them but have troubles getting them chomped and swallowed.

This is not related to your problem but kale and grapes are quite high in oxalic acids and should only be used occassionally. Oxalic acid interferes with the absorption of calcium. Here's a great blog on gutloading I hope you find helpful https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/

 

[AbooLovesYOU]

If it helps any, my cham does this when I get home from work, and you can only hear it if you catch it at the right moment. Just now I got home from work and went into his cage to get a closeup of him. He bobbed his head, and made a little snort, like a puffing sound. Its short and barely noticable. He doesn't weeze or have any infections.

 

[squeekz1992]

Are you sure of the temps? I have a 45W and it reads higher than that at times. What are you using to measure? (Sorry if I missed it)

 

[CarlyMK]

Sounds to me like the gaping (in combination with the light color) was probably from being too warm as opposed to an RI. Keep an eye (and ear) on him. If he starts gaping a lot when not basking, or you begin to hear popping sounds while breathing, it will be time for a vet visit. Until then, continue as you are.

Good luck!

Thank you very much, I think he was too hot as well. I have suspended the heat bulb from his cage, basking is sitting at about 80.

 

[CarlyMK]

Hi there! Sounds to me like he was toohot, how reliable is your thermometer? Panthers will go light colours to try and reflect heat and gaping while basking is to do the same.

You will want to feed him a lot more than that a day and make sure that the crickets are no bigger than the gap between his eyes. If they are too big then he might not want to eat them or will eat them but have troubles getting them chomped and swallowed.

This is not related to your problem but kale and grapes are quite high in oxalic acids and should only be used occassionally. Oxalic acid interferes with the absorption of calcium. Here's a great blog on gutloading I hope you find helpful https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/

Hi! My thermometer is reliable I would say, it's only a couple months old and meant for enclosures. I will be picking up some more small cricks this week, he's lost interest in his feeding cup and likes to chase them down now. It's just easier to know exactly how many he's eaten with a cup.

Thank you for the gut-load advice, I have since made a large batch without kale and grapes, and only stuck to orange, apple, carrot and green pepper. I'll only use the ones with kale and grape on occassion. Thanks so much!

 

[CarlyMK]

If it helps any, my cham does this when I get home from work, and you can only hear it if you catch it at the right moment. Just now I got home from work and went into his cage to get a closeup of him. He bobbed his head, and made a little snort, like a puffing sound. Its short and barely noticable. He doesn't weeze or have any infections.

Thank you for the reply! and yes, that's the only time I notice it as well. He's just so young, I want to make sure he's nice and healthy!

 

[CarlyMK]

Are you sure of the temps? I have a 45W and it reads higher than that at times. What are you using to measure? (Sorry if I missed it)

Hi! I'm not sure what brand the thermometer is, but it is designed for enclosures. It has a humidity gauge on it as well. If I face it up toward the light, it goes over 100 with a 50W basking bulb 5inches away), which is a concern to me. But the cham I'm talking about is under a 60W house hold bulb, the thermometer is right beside his basking spot, I'm not sure how else I can get an accurate reading on temperature any other way.