Questions from a new keeper

[Maddiyey]

Hey everyone we got our first chameleon a month ago and a couple of questions appeared since then. I caught him yawning once everyday (or some saying stretching his face) is that a typical behaviour? He seems to be well hydrated, he is eating properly with calcium every feeding and twice a month we give him repashy loD. We gut load the bugs.
Second question is about taking him outside. So we live in Bulgaria and for this season the climate is perfect for our baby. Uv index is perfect, the temperature also. Thats why we made our balcony a garden, with real plants, so we can take him outside. He seems to enjoy it, he basks at the sun (supervised of course) and explore there. His typical behaviour is when he wakes up he goes to the basking branch, but after the days we take him outside he stays at his sleeping spot maybe 2-3 hours after the lights turn on and then goes to bask. That behaviour is only after we take him to the balcony. Is that concerning and we should stop taking him out.
The third question is how to gutload silkworms?

 

[LizardLurkin]

Chameleons do yawn but, when you see your little guy yawn, is his nose pointed upward at all when he does it? This can be a sign of respiratory infection, so it's very important to be able to make the distinction. Other reasons can be temperature regulation, intimidation, shedding behaviors, all sorts of things really.
I'm unsure if the outside time could be related to him lounging around in his sleeping spot for so long, but I do know that these guys aren't always on the move. Sometimes they'll stay in one place for hours.

 

[Maddiyey]

Chameleons do yawn but, when you see your little guy yawn, is his nose pointed upward at all when he does it? This can be a sign of respiratory infection, so it's very important to be able to make the distinction. Other reasons can be temperature regulation, intimidation, shedding behaviors, all sorts of things really.
I'm unsure if the outside time could be related to him lounging around in his sleeping spot for so long, but I do know that these guys aren't always on the move. Sometimes they'll stay in one place for hours.

Hey, thanks for the reply… he only does this once a day and it seems more like a stretch of his mouth. He opens his mouth and puffs his pouch… and doesn't point his head up

 

[elizaann2]

Hello and welcome! I am guessing he is getting ready to shed. Can you share some videos or photos of your little guy doing this?

 

[Maddiyey]

Hello and welcome! I am guessing he is getting ready to shed. Can you share some videos or photos of your little guy doing this?

Hey it would be really hard to capture this moment cuz he does this rarely but i found a youtube video at 0:21 seconds is the exact same movement

 

[Beman]

Hey everyone we got our first chameleon a month ago and a couple of questions appeared since then. I caught him yawning once everyday (or some saying stretching his face) is that a typical behaviour? He seems to be well hydrated, he is eating properly with calcium every feeding and twice a month we give him repashy loD. We gut load the bugs.
Second question is about taking him outside. So we live in Bulgaria and for this season the climate is perfect for our baby. Uv index is perfect, the temperature also. Thats why we made our balcony a garden, with real plants, so we can take him outside. He seems to enjoy it, he basks at the sun (supervised of course) and explore there. His typical behaviour is when he wakes up he goes to the basking branch, but after the days we take him outside he stays at his sleeping spot maybe 2-3 hours after the lights turn on and then goes to bask. That behaviour is only after we take him to the balcony. Is that concerning and we should stop taking him out.
The third question is how to gutload silkworms?

So yes they will stretch and doing this open their mouth really big... More common in a non shedding cham in the morning as they are warming up.

Per the behavior after being outside... When you said the temps are good and the UVI is good. What are the actual temps in the sun? Because if it is 80 then in full sun it can be more like 90 or hotter. UVI exposure should be max 6 UVI. Double check these two things. If it is far hotter than you realize he may just be trying to regulate in the morning after going from outside more intense heat to indoors when it cools down to then warm back up in the morning. As long as he is not closing his eyes still sleeping it is not anything concerning in my opinion to remain in the sleep spot for a while before getting up and moving.

 

[Maddiyey]

So yes they will stretch and doing this open their mouth really big... More common in a non shedding cham in the morning as they are warming up.

Per the behavior after being outside... When you said the temps are good and the UVI is good. What are the actual temps in the sun? Because if it is 80 then in full sun it can be more like 90 or hotter. UVI exposure should be max 6 UVI. Double check these two things. If it is far hotter than you realize he may just be trying to regulate in the morning after going from outside more intense heat to indoors when it cools down to then warm back up in the morning. As long as he is not closing his eyes still sleeping it is not anything concerning in my opinion to remain in the sleep spot for a while before getting up and moving.

Hey, thanks a lot for the reply. Here we use celsius so it is easier to me to talk in celsius. Outside temp is around 20-21 degrees and in the sun it gets around 28-29 to 30 degrees. Uvi is 4. And he is fully awake he just stays on a sleeping spot in the morning more than usual after basking outside.

 

[Beman]

Hey, thanks a lot for the reply. Here we use celsius so it is easier to me to talk in celsius. Outside temp is around 20-21 degrees and in the sun it gets around 28-29 to 30 degrees. Uvi is 4. And he is fully awake he just stays on a sleeping spot in the morning more than usual after basking outside.

Ok so just put a temp gauge out in the sun with yall if you do not have one to double check how high it gets for him. IF he is gaping at all this means he is too hot. UVI is perfect.

As long as he is fully awake I would say your totally ok.

 

[elizaann2]

Hey it would be really hard to capture this moment cuz he does this rarely but i found a youtube video at 0:21 seconds is the exact same movement

Ya thats from shedding.

 

[kinyonga]

If you’re going to put your chameleon outside when it’s warm enough, make sure there is shade for it to retreat to.

If the chameleon is not in a cage outside, be aware that a bird could easily swoop down and grab it.

 

[LizardLurkin]

Hey it would be really hard to capture this moment cuz he does this rarely but i found a youtube video at 0:21 seconds is the exact same movement

Wow, they're so magnificent

 

[Maddiyey]

Well, today our boy started to shed

 

[GrannyK]

Poor guy! he looks miserable. I always feel so bad when they shed

 

[Maddiyey]

Poor guy! he looks miserable. I always feel so bad when they shed

he looks like he is questioning his life