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Panther Chameleon

grooter2 Nov 23, 2008 11:35 AM

I have an Ambilobe Panther Chameleon. I am concerned with his breathing. I have had him for less than a week and he is about a year in a half old. I hear him sometimes make a wheezing noise from his nostrils, this is rare but I do hear it sometimes. His environment isn’t dry it’s around 50% humidity and around 90F in the basking spot and 80F for the ambient temperature around the cage. At night it drops around 68 F. I have the Power Sun UV light 100W bulb. Could the wheeze be from the debris from the sticks I have in there. I sanded them down previous to putting them in the cage. Could this possibly be respiratory infection? The reptile store I bought him from had him in a dry environment with no dripping water to drink from. When I spray in his cage he immediately starts to drink from the water on the leaves and I spray 3 times a day.
He also hasn’t been eating very much at all! He eats maybe one mealworm from my hand. I also have 10 crickets in a container in the cage and he hasn’t touched them for two days. Are there tricks to get your chameleon to eat? His stool is soft and almost runny but he goes every day, is this normal or should it be a hard stool?
On a good note, he loves coming out of his cage and is very active. Never once hissed or opened his mouth. As soon as I walk by his cage he climbs to the closest vine and tries to get out. I don't think it could be dehyration seeing as I constantly spray in the cage and he is always drinking from the leaves of a ficus I have in his cage.

Replies (3)

grooter2 Nov 23, 2008 11:50 AM

****Sorry I'm using the 125W Solar Glo Light (UVA/UVB)*****

Carlton Nov 24, 2008 11:50 AM

He is most likely "making up for lost time" in terms of hydration. If he wasn't properly hydrated at the shop, he's still regaining his water/electrolyte balance. Constantly drinking from leaves, dripper, every time you mist is a sign that he's still quite thirsty and needs even more moisture. When a cham is fully hydrated they won't necessarily drink every time you mist. 50% humidity is still a bit low for a panther. The cage may be drying out faster than you realize after you spray. Especially in winter when we are using heating. If you have a room humidifier you could run it in cycles on a lamp timer during the day to help keep the cage humidity a little higher in the morning and late afternoon when it would naturally be higher in the wild. The wheezing you hear may be caused by dry deposits in his nostrils. As long as he's active, moving in and out of the basking heat, normal coloration, its probably not a URI. Chams with URI tend to crouch dark and quiet under their heat spot and breathe with their mouth open, gulping over and over, and sleep during the day with their nose tipped straight up. He's very new to your home and probably won't eat much until he feels secure. As long as he's drinking, basking, and moving around he's not starving. When chams feel insecure and the cage is too low to the ground they try to get out and climb higher. He's not necessarily being friendly, he just wants to get out of the cage to someplace he feels would be safer. Try putting the cage up higher so he is looking down on you.

bigdogreps Nov 24, 2008 06:09 PM

Chams should not wheeze. The only reason why a cham would have their mouth open is to intimidate what they think is a threat or because they are too hot.Stools are soft but formed,one part will be dark and another will be white which is the urates and it is usually accompanied by some mucous which is lubrication. They are not runny.Runny stools could be a sign of parasites. Do you have a vet you could take a stool sample to for a parasite check? Does not sound like it is too hot if it has a gradient under its heat source to thermoregulate. You may have a cham with a low level respiratory infection that has not progressed to the point of turning dark and hiding in the corner. Again a vet check would be in order but in the mean time in addition to spraying you may want to put a container on top of his cage,pop a whole with a tac in the container from the inside out and fill the container with water.It will drip for several minutes so that the cham can get as much water as he needs and replenish his fluids. Pedialyte will also help rehydrate him if he is making up for lost hydration. Look at the top of his head at the two sections just above his eyes are they plump and meaty looking? If so he is well hydrated,if they look kind of concave he is not. If you feel he does have a respiratory infection you may not want to drop the temp as low as 68 at night untill he id deemed healthy. good luck!

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