mouth gaping

snk · 07-31-04, 04:17 PM

does mouth gaping normal for baby veiled?

Collide · 07-31-04, 04:23 PM

can be its a good sign to duble check your temps babies like it slightly cooler then adults, but some times they will gape, id check your temps to be sure

meow_mix450 · 07-31-04, 04:32 PM

ya they open there mouths to cool down or to tell you to back away

Meow

snk · 07-31-04, 04:38 PM

well my temp are between 75-85 F during day time and low 70 F during night, and it been gaping for the past few days, it never happened when i just got him

dank7oo · 07-31-04, 05:28 PM

Well .. the basking spot is only 85F? That is too low for even a baby. The baby will do fine, but it would be preferable for the basking area to be about 90F as a baby and warmer for an adult. The gaping could be a sign of URI that was a result of the breeder.
Please inform us of any other details so we can help you out a little more.

Jason

Collide · 07-31-04, 06:19 PM

UMMM ok Jason sorry that is way to hot for babies there bodys are smaller and they heat up faster. 85 is fine I keep my babies at room temps. they dident like heat lamps. Id jsut make sure there is a area of the cage that is cool for the baby. i wouldent say its a URI (upper respatory infection) just yet if it were some signs are gapin with excess mucas and weezing noise. Im more inclined to think it normal gaping or slighly hot as more likly senarios from what i have heard thus far

Brandy

dank7oo · 07-31-04, 06:27 PM

90 is too hot for babies? Well I guess yo learn something new everyday ... I always had my babies at 90ish without any gaping or problems (but thanks for the info .. will definitly take it into account fro next time).
Maybe the thing is that my "babies" were in fact much older than most babies being sold so it wasn't a problem ...

Jason

snk · 07-31-04, 06:51 PM

thanks guys for the infos, my basking area is around 95F, it does not have any excess mucas and weezing noise when gaping, perhaps i will obserb it for another periods to see if anything change

dank7oo · 07-31-04, 07:09 PM

That would be the problem. Lower the basking area to about 85F and see what happens. I know I am just echoing Brandy, but young chameleons are prone to overheating very easily, and 85F as a basking spot should be sufficient.

Jason

DragnDrop · 07-31-04, 07:29 PM

I've only raised jacksons and panthers from birth or hatching, so I don't have veiled experience, However, I'm thinking vieleds would do the same thing if the basking spot is too hot - they move farther away. I made sure the temperature wasn't excessive, but if they got too hot, they moved out of the way. I would think having a few branches at different heights and distances from the basking light will allow them to pick just the right temperature for their liking. It's easy to move away if the spot is too hot, but it's hard to warm up if it's too cold and there are no branches to climb closer.
Babies have less body mass so they can overheat easily, but also cool down fast. Supplying a jungle gym type maze of branches would allow them the luxury of finding their own POTZ.

dank7oo · 07-31-04, 10:14 PM

Then again, all chameleons are pretty much stupid when it comes to "thermoregulating". I heard many stories (from an anyominous source

) about basking spots being too hot (and with oppertunity to move to a cooler area) sat there and literally burned

Saw pics of the poor guy ... really sad. I make it a habit to check the temperatures in my cages every few days, just to insure no harmful changes.

Jason