Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is this normal "cooling off" behavior as in bearded dragons or is it something to be concerned about? My 2 month old female panther has been basking with her mouth wide open pretty regularly for 2 or 3 days now (not all day though). My male doesn't do this... I've read things about respiratory infections and it had me worried. Also, can too much misting have a negative effect?

How close is she to the basking lamp from her branch? What watt is the lightbulb etc? It might be she is just getting too warm under there. Try moving her perch down a bit if you can and see if anything changes.

Erin

There is a 75 watt about 12 to 18" above where she likes to hang out. It's only 84-86 degrees there usually (this is where I keep the sensor). She seems perfectly healthy though.

i had a 75 watt spot bulb about 20 inches from my panthers basking area, my crappy analog thermometer read 95, but the other day i got a digital one and it said 120!

are you sure your reading is accurate? maybe you should raise the bulb farther away from the basking spot, or get a lower wattage

occasional gaping is ok especially if it's doing it directly under the light....now that is getting warmer outside i have a fan blowing on one side of the cage to offer a cooler gradient...how often do you mist and do you have a dripper??

I have an acu-rite digital temperature/ humidity gauge, so I'm hoping it is accurate. As far as misting and drippage are concerned, I mist a lot (maybe too much -that's why I was wondering if too much is bad) -at least 3 to 5 times a day on the leaves around the chams -it seems to evaporate quickly. There is a dripper that I let fall slowly throughout the day at different times. I also have a ulatrasonic humidifier piped in the side of the cage at two locations where they can sit in it if they want or get away from it if they need to - it raises the humidity very well (30 minutes at a time every three hours while the lights are on). Thanks for the help everyone.

I have a ceiling fan in the same room on low all day also for circulation, and like someone mentioned she does only do it under the basking area.