Respriatory Infection

[Chamero]

I currently have a near 8 month male veiled and I think he has an Upper Respiratory Infection. His eating has decreased over the winter months but now does not seem to be improving except for maybe one SuperWorm every two days. He is drinking fine, but I noticed the last two days that when he drinks bubbles come out of his mouth. He keeps drinking, but more and more bubbles come out. I know this cant be good. I currently keep him in a 2x2x4 cage with the temps around 70F and humidity around 68. I also have 2 100 W lights in one location in the cage and one 75w bulb on the other side. Im going to take him to the vet, but I was wondering if there is anything I can do, or the vet in that matter. Will it be possible for him to recover and if so...how? Im worried for him and dont want to lose him....

 

[dodolah]

if it is a URI, increasing the temperature can help.
Basking site can be increased to 90 F or a bit more.

 

[lbesok]

The symptoms you describe could be a URI, though the vet would be able to confirm it. Does the saliva look thick? Do you notice crackling or popping when he breathes? A respiratory tract infection should be treated easily enough with the correct antibiotic.
You said that your provide him with 2 110W and a 74W lights. Is the ambient temp 70 or basking? 70 sounds a bit low for basking. Also the humidity might be a little high. Do you have some sort of bulb that provides UVA and UVB like the reptisun 5.0?

 

[Chamero]

Hey, thanks for the responses. I know he isnt well, but after reading your posts it makes me feel better about the URI. I dont hear any "Cracking or "popping" sounds during normal breathing, just some when he eats, but i htink its his jaw.
The only think I noticed was his bubbling spit, that after drinking a while became like a drool that stuck to his mouth. I had to spray it off of him cuz it was just hanging.
The basking temps are in the 90s ..well at least where the 2 100watts are. The ambient temps are in the 70's. So the 60's humidity is too high? Cuz like two days ago I just bought some humidifiers because I thought that the 40-50 range was too low. (When inside.)
I have him outside right now and his eyes are still closed. One eye seems to be almost fused shut. Like it got something in it and is now trying to protect itself. This may be the main issue, which has led to the other problems..not sure yet. I also cleaned out his eyes the other day with some eye drops from the vet and a Q tip. And I saw some stuff on it when done.
Yea i got a UVB. Reptisun 18".

 

[Chamero]

Now that hes outside in the sun he seems to be doin much better. I went out and two roaches and one crix were gone. I watered him and he drank for like a min and now he is displaying light coloration. Outside in direct sunlight its about 97 F with 30% humidity. When I try to look at him up close he runs n hides, which I take as a good sign... I mean at least he is still active. Should I hold off on the vet visit or were those bubbles a definite sign of trouble?

 

[Cainschams]

When in doubt go to the vet. With that said sometimes I have to water my chams by giving them food and then dropping water in the mouth. At one point my jacksons had the same thing going on with the bubbles and mucus. I corrected the problem by dropping the water around the mouth to slide in or if you are dropping it straight in you dont want to over do it for he could drown. It could just be air bubbles from overdoing it.

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy Seth,

When in doubt, have a vet make the diagnosis . One of those low-cost digital infrared temp meters would be very useful to determine his actual skin temp while under his basking spot or outdoors. While indoor basking, a skin temp of around 90F-100F would be reasonable. If it is less than 85F while in a position where he should be hitting max temp then something needs to change. For example, I am using a single 75W flood at a distance of about 12" and my chameleons have a skin temp of about 90F-95F. On a sunny day with an outdoor air temp of 70F, they can easily have a skin temp of 95F-100F.

Your ambient temp of 70F is reasonable. Humidity between 40% and 70% while kept fully hydrated is reasonable too.

 

[dodolah]

Hey, thanks for the responses. I know he isnt well, but after reading your posts it makes me feel better about the URI. I dont hear any "Cracking or "popping" sounds during normal breathing, just some when he eats, but i htink its his jaw.
The only think I noticed was his bubbling spit, that after drinking a while became like a drool that stuck to his mouth. I had to spray it off of him cuz it was just hanging.
The basking temps are in the 90s ..well at least where the 2 100watts are. The ambient temps are in the 70's. So the 60's humidity is too high? Cuz like two days ago I just bought some humidifiers because I thought that the 40-50 range was too low. (When inside.)
I have him outside right now and his eyes are still closed. One eye seems to be almost fused shut. Like it got something in it and is now trying to protect itself. This may be the main issue, which has led to the other problems..not sure yet. I also cleaned out his eyes the other day with some eye drops from the vet and a Q tip. And I saw some stuff on it when done.
Yea i got a UVB. Reptisun 18".

I think for panther, 40 to 60% is acceptable range.
see if the bubbling continues tomorrow. If you don't know a vet nearby, i recommend Dr Greek. He lives close by our place.

send u a PM about the roach and pics.