Puffing under chin and body.. about to shed

[KellyRose12]

Hey y’all, it’s been about 5 years since I’ve been on here... I recently bought a panther chameleon. He is a male and almost 4 months old. I noticed something weird this morning....
Banjo is puffing up his chin and kind of opening his mouth. When he does this, he kind of expands his whole body as well and makes a little coughing noise. There is no stringy saliva that I can see. And he is under his basking... ALSO, He is very dull and I can see he is about to shed. Should I be concerned this is a URI, or is this normal behavior before a shed?

 

[KellyRose12]

I just wanted to add. I saw some salt deposit shoot out of his nose. I am very concerned at this point. What do I do?

 

[Beman]

Can you add pics? What are the basking temps?

 

[KellyRose12]

His basking is 82-86 degrees ambient, around 72-74

 

[KellyRose12]

He is very grumpy and won’t let me get a good picture

 

[KellyRose12]

He’s very angry at me in his picture but he is fired up. That’s kind of what he does with his chin when he’s doing this unusual behavior

 

[KellyRose12]

Puffy

 

[KellyRose12]

I’m sorry they are all random, I’m trying to remember how to use this forum page ?

 

[Reptofreak]

Sounds like normal shedding behavior to me. They do this to loosen the skin.

 

[KellyRose12]

What about the calcium/salt deposit I saw shoot out of his nose? I am overly paranoid due to a sick chameleon baby that recently died in my care after having him for 48 hours (was sent a sick baby).
now... having a new Breeder and a healthy baby boy, I see this. And of course, as a new mom, I’m over paranoid. What should I do? Stop dusting for a couple days?

 

[Reptofreak]

What about the calcium/salt deposit I saw shoot out of his nose? I am overly paranoid due to a sick chameleon baby that recently died in my care after having him for 48 hours (was sent a sick baby).
now... having a new Breeder and a healthy baby boy, I see this. And of course, as a new mom, I’m over paranoid. What should I do? Stop dusting for a couple days?

Maybe your dusting a little heavy, just put enough to lightly coat the insect. Don’t make them look like ghosts. I like to think of it like I’m seasoning ? meat for a meal ? you don’t want to over season!

 

[KellyRose12]

Thank you!
So I shouldn’t be concerned EVEN THOUGH he’s not shedding yet?

 

[KellyRose12]

Also, one last question. I just want to make sure everything’s as perfect as it can be, to prevent any illness....
I was thinking of adding a small halogen bulb for the front corner of the cage. It seems too dark?? But I don’t want to overheat this lil guy

 

[KellyRose12]

I haven’t changed my paper towels today yet**

 

[NashansCamos]

I haven’t changed my paper towels today yet**

looks awfully close to the lights. What uvb is that and how many inches down is that stick?

 

[KellyRose12]

I just saw him do it again and he popped this time.

 

[KellyRose12]

looks awfully close to the lights. What uvb is that and how many inches down is that stick?

The uvb is a T8 with the 10.0 tube

 

[KellyRose12]

The stick is probably 4-5 inches down

 

[NashansCamos]

@Beman

 

[Beman]

The UVB is fine with a T8 and 10.0 at 5 inches.... I am more concerned with how close the basking is and how close he can get to it. How are you actually pulling your temps at basking? Typically for this age you want no hotter then 80 at basking. As they mature it is a range of 80-85 that is acceptable. But the closer the lights the higher the risk of thermal burn.

Per the behavior it sounds like shedding behavior to me.