Question about sneezing....and some other stuff...

[herpluva]

I am a new panther mom and I mist my guy at the least 5 times a day other wise his humidity is to low. It will drop anywhere from 26% to 38% in between misting. When I mist I spary a entire fine mist spray bottle (Mist'r lizard jr.). The last two times I have sprayed him he has sneezed once. Can he just be clearing the water out of his nose or is he getting sick? He moves around his cage a lot and eats about 10 crix a day. I dust them with phos free calcium D3 and reptivite. I dont know how much he gets because the crix have free roam of his cage and they rub most of the dust off. He will not eat from a cup because the crix I put in there two days ago are still there.
Should I be concerned about the sneeze during misting? Should I not mist him so much.

Question two:
I have owned a panther before but it was years ago and he did not have a solid yellow mouth. His tongue. lips and entire mouth is yellow. Is that normal or can it be a sign of sickness?

He poops two times a day and it is very healthy looking poo. He loves mango's and crix but not worms. He nibbles on his salad but not enough to count. I do dust his crix everyday because I am not sure he gets it by the time he catches the crix.
I am switching to roaches next week. Is that a good idea? I would like to do a different staple every week.
He walks the same pattern in his cage all the time. Is he bored or cramped?
His temps range from 95 at the top to 72 at the bottom of his cage.
He seems really hydrated as his poops and urates are really wet and clear.
If anyone has any help let me know.
Thanks

 

[Dankmeleon]

i dunno about the sneezing, but you should pick up a cheap humidifier so your ambient percentages don't reach so low so he can have a lil more humidity in between your mistings, this will probably help him take the wetness of your mistings far better

 

[Electric]

I actually posted a similar post back when I first got my panther cause he was doing the same thing which I thought was sneezing, but someone in the post suggested it was just a little 'huff 'n puff' they do when they're mad or kind of like a sign that you disturbed them or something. I think that person was right cause to this day he still does it when I mist his cage and I get him with the water or when I stick in my hand to pick up droppings almost like he's telling me 'get off my turf'.

about the yellow lips/mouth, it could be simply do to his locality(yellow lips are pretty common on ambanjas) but we'd need a picture to be sure. Mine has the yellow lips and the interior of his mouth/tongue is actually yellow also, here are the pics: https://www.chameleonforums.com/ambanja-update-6231/

is that sorta what you meant by yellow?

 

[herpluva]

I do keep a humidifier on him and it does not seem to help at all. I might get a fogger for his enclosure. I know they can be unsafe but if I clean it a lot and it raises his humidity then it might be worth it?? yes/no??
I guess his yellow is normal? I took some pics of his set up so y'all can tell me what I am doing wrong. I will get some close ups of him but he hates to be held and definitely hates the camera. Here are some I just took.

 

[PardalisGirl]

Sneezing..........

Hi again! Glad to see you are using this forum to make your boy as healthy and happy as he can be. I think I would keep the misting down to once in the morning and once in the late afternoon or dinner time. That should be plenty for a boy his size and age. Anything more than that may cause respiratory problems. I would address the humidity in other ways. Where do you live and what kind of room is the cage in? Lots of air conditioning or heating can dry out the room he is in. A small humidifier may be the way to go. The more plants the more humidity in the immediate area. Another question...........does he drink when you mist? A chameleon that is readily drinking when you do mist will take in enough moisture to stay correctly hydrated through the day even if the humidity is not where you would prefer it to be. Misting twice a day and having him drink well these two times will keep him healthy. You just want to make sure his heat source is not baking him like a cake.

Sounds like he is eating well. I would not dust every day though. I would alternate products and skip a day between dusting. Gravid females are a different situation that you don't have to deal with. Also the dusting should really be dust. You should barely be able to see it on the cricket. I'm horrified to see pictures of white crickets in dusting cups that are in certain chameleon keeping books. A little goes a long way. Overdosing is just as dangerous as underdosing. In fact, you may have less of a chance of correcting an overdose (kidney/liver damage) than an underdose. Getting a fine dust on a couple of the crickets fed is plenty. Don't worry about the fact that some comes off the others later on.

The yellow lips and mouth interior are pretty common in many of the locales. The thing you want to look at inside the mouth are the gums. Make sure they are clean looking and free of dried mucus, abscesses, etc. They should not show signs of bleeding or red under the skin. If you look down into the mouth you should a nice even pink/dark pink. No spotting or bleeding under the skin.

 

[herpluva]

Sorry to double post but here is a close up. My camera is crap so you cant really see him clearly. He usually has more orange and red under his body and neck.

 

[herpluva]

Thanks everyone for you replies.
PardalisGirl-- thanks for your detailed reply. I will go to every other day with dusting. I will also cut back on misting because he really hates it and spazzes out. I do have a humidifier pointed at his cage all day. It does not help. He is in the office and I keep the air vent in here closed. The house is kept pretty cool around 68 degrees but it stays about 72 in this room. I live in San Antonio, Texas. hot hot hot
I will get some more plants for his enclosure to help with the humidity. I will look into a smaller humidifier for inside his enclosure to see if that helps. The big one only helps by maybe 2 degrees.
I do not see him drinking often but he will lick a drop or two off a leaf every now and then. His urates are really wet so I think he stays hydrated. HE likes mango and will nibble that when I provide it.
He seems to pace in his cage a lot and was wondering if that is normal. It starts in late afternoon when he is done basking and vibrant. He walks the same circular pattern around his cage on his vine and does this every afternoon for a while.
What should his humidity be at all times in his cage? I keep a water drip in his cage going most all day long.
Thanks for your help. I worry myself to death about him. My bearded dragon is soooo easy compared to this guy. I forgot how touchy chams can be.lol

 

[ChameleonsTree]

You would be better off placing a wire shelf above the cage and letting the fog from the humidifier flow down right into the cage. Some people have fitted smaller humidfiers with pvc piping and then run it right across the top with little holes all along so it flowed right into the cage.