question on mouth opening

[ir0k]

hey everyone, so I just noticed the past few days my male chameleon has been opening his mouth a lot. not sticking it up in the air, he is keeping his head level but its open. I know they do this to regulate temperature but I just need to re-affirm this for piece of mind for myself..LOL

I listened to him and did not hear any weird noise from his breathing and there is not any mucus from his nose or mouth.

I have not changed the light bulb since I've had him, his temps I measured are 77 at low point in cage to 99 in the highest basking spot using a 72w house bulb.

he is a panther chameleon about 4-5 months old. im guessing I need to reduce his basking spot temp? there are plenty of braches for him to choose from to try and regulate temps that way, but he seems to always choose the same spot

his feces are normal and he is eating good

thanks in advance

 

[carol5208]

Is he holding his mouth open when under the light at the 99 degree temp? If so, then yes, I would say he is very hot. I would bump that down about 10 degrees and see if that does not solve your problem.

 

[ir0k]

Cool, he does it while under the basking spot. I just switched it to a 43watt bulb. So ill see how that goes.

Thanks

 

[deerharvester]

Yes, definitely lower basking temps. For a 4 to 5 month old I would say no higher than 83 to 85 in my experience or else you will see the opening of the mouth to expel the heat.

Scott