Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone know how to tell if chameleon is dehydrated or not. I have panther chameleon, the humidity is at 80% and dripping system installed as well. However, chamaleon once in a while would sit on the branch with his mouth open, what does it mean? His always moving around, his eating habbits are just fine and eyes look healthy.

it could be a sign of U.R.I or just the fact that he's to hot. Is he close to the heat lamp when he does this? Mine will do this some times and I have to move the heat lamp farther away from the cage.
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From Sunny Florida
Jovana's kids listed below
1.1 Veileds
1.0 Ambanja Panther
1.1 Tamatave Panther

Signs of Dehydration are, eyes appear sunken, Rostral process
is sunken. Check skin turgor by piching the skin, if it quickly
goes back in place than he should be hydrated enough. If the skin
stands like a tent and is not quick to go back in place then
you have a dehydration problem. As for the gaping, check for
excessive mucous, and redness and or sores in the throat and mouth. Sounds like he is just expelling heat, chams do not have
sweat gland. If you notice alot of mucous, or the mucous is thick
and or redness, take him to the ver ASAP.

Legendcham

>>Signs of Dehydration are, eyes appear sunken, Rostral process
>>is sunken. Check skin turgor by piching the skin, if it quickly
>>goes back in place than he should be hydrated enough. If the skin
>>stands like a tent and is not quick to go back in place then
>>you have a dehydration problem. As for the gaping, check for
>>excessive mucous, and redness and or sores in the throat and mouth. Sounds like he is just expelling heat, chams do not have
>>sweat gland. If you notice alot of mucous, or the mucous is thick
>>and or redness, take him to the ver ASAP.
>>
>>Legendcham

I think you mean the casque will be sunken, not the rostral process. If somehow the rostral process is sunken, I think MBD is more likely the problem...
Chris
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Chris Anderson
parsonii_hoehnelii@hotmail.com
Chameleon Care and Information Center (CCIC) - http://www.geocities.com/ccicenter/
Chameleons Online E-zine - http://www.chameleonnews.com/
Captive Chameleon Bloodline Tacking Database - http://www.chameleondatabase.com/

Chris,

You are right, I stand corrected. I was in a big hurry last nite
when I posted. It is a sunken casque that he needs to look at as
a possible sign of dehydration. From the what I can tell, the
cham is just expelling heat.

Legendcham

Thanks guys. As you can probably see I am complitely new to cham and from my observation he only opens this mouth when sitting close to the lamp. Do you know by any chance when do chameleon normaly start showing their natural colore, my is only 3 month old and keep brown colore with green mix but sometimes show black?

Those sound like stress colors to me. What type of setup is he in? How long have you had him (it could take a while for him to get used to the new home).

Do you have him in a high traffic part of the house? Any other pets (like cats) visiting him?

Remember that chams are solitary animals that like to be left alone. That mean no glass or other materials that may give a reflection (but I don't think that is as big of a problem until they are 5-6 months old).

>>Thanks guys. As you can probably see I am complitely new to cham and from my observation he only opens this mouth when sitting close to the lamp. Do you know by any chance when do chameleon normaly start showing their natural colore, my is only 3 month old and keep brown colore with green mix but sometimes show black?
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1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charlie)
0.1 Corn Snake (Diamond)
1.1 Felines (Blacky and Princes)
1.0 Canine (Skeeter)
2.0 Cockatiels

I brought him home a week ago and keep him in 30g tank for now and as he grows larger will transfer him to the cage. How long does it take for cham to adjust to the new enviroment?

From my observations the blue and green colors show up first, followed by red's oranges and yellows. They should start showing colors around 5 months and keep getting nicer untill a year.

My ambanja kept his black bars untill he was 7 months old. my boyfriend was so upset, kept calling him a dud. poor cham. then one day... poof! bright blue bars.
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From Sunny Florida
Jovana's kids listed below
1.1 Veileds
1.0 Ambanja Panther
1.1 Tamatave Panther

Thank you.
How long have you had your cham? I was told that panther cham live around 8 year, is it true or do they live around 3?