very concerned about juvi female veiled.

[kelseylee0912]

This is my first chameleon I've owned. Never had problems with her before. But this morning when I went to feed her she had a weird black spotted pattern on her that I've only seen a few times when she gets frightened but so far she's had them all day. I haven't changed anything in the way I take care of her. Same amount of food and dusting, gave her a shower, same humidity and temps as always. She's about 6-7 months old. She's never been much of a social cham so I try not to mess with her often unless I'm cleaning her cage, misting or feeding her. After I gave her a shower she went under the basking area for a while to dry off and then she started stretching out and making this sneezing/hissing noise and her mouth wide open? Her spots had gotten much darker then also. The only time her spots went away was when I was feeding her and then they came right back. I'm very worried about her and I'm not sure if there is something wrong

 

[deerharvester]

What's her basking temp/ humidity. Also what are you using to measure it. If you fill out the how to ask for help some experienced keepers may be able to point out any irregularities.

Scott

 

[kelseylee0912]

Her basking temp ranges from 83-86 and her humidity is normally around 50-60. When I shower her it gets up to about 80. I have a digital temp monitor.

 

[sgiac801]

I'm still pretty new to chams as well so input from more experienced owners would be helpful here.

I'm not sure about the new spots, maybe she is just changing color with age? As for the weird sneezing.. in the morning my male will often stretch and yawn, followed by a weird shiver that I think is just part of his stretching regime. He usually does this when I mist him just after he's woken up, maybe your female is doing something similar/clearing her airways after a shower. She looks beautiful by the way! I think careful watching over the next few days would be wise but I wouldn't be too worried if I were you.

 

[kelseylee0912]

Okay I'll keep an eye on her for a few days! Just kinda scared me that it was so sudden and out of nowhere that the spots and sneezing/hissing noise came up! And thank you very much! She's a little cutie! Wish she was more social and wanted to be held a little bit though! Haha

 

[DekuScrub]

Would you say the hissing/stretching was directed at you? She looks healthy from the pic other than the fact that she puffing up and looking a little pissy. You said only black spots? Not black background with blue and yellow spots? (if thats the case shes gravid) Only stopped puffing and looking stressed while she was eating? Sometimes with chameleons its something as simple as wearing something unfamiliar. Then again if the "sneezing/hissing" isnt directed at you she could have something logged in her throat (though they tend to writhe back and forth when that happens.) or an upper respiratory issue. How much dust are you using and how frequent? Could it be that she's choking on too much dust?

As you see there are a lot of factors that need to be eliminated to get to the root of the cause.

Is today the first and only occurrence? If so it may be an isolated incident. Id give her a nice long show in case it is something logged in her throat. Then just keep an eye on her. If it continues keep us updated on the details. If the "sneezing/hissing" keeps up (and is not associated with your presence) id be afraid of it being a respiratory issue and take her to the vet.

 

[kelseylee0912]

The stretching and weird noise wasn't directed at me. I was sitting on my bed when I heard her make that noise.
She'll have dark black cheetah patterned spots on her when I'm not looking but when I went to check on her and feed her they would fade a little and then while feeding they'd completely disappear. I dust her crickets during each feeding but it's very light dusting. Not really enough for it to get clumped in her throat. Today is the first day she's ever acted like this. Only thing I could think of as of now is her misting bottle started to get a little algae in it and I'm buying a new bottle for her today and am gonna start emptying it after each use so it can air dry and not get anymore algae in it. Could it have been the algae that's making her act weird?

 

[kelseylee0912]

Well whatever her problem was today she must be over it because the spots are gone and she's not making those weird noises anymore. I'll still keep an eye on her though!