Re: gaping?????

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Posted by charm_paradise on April 21, 2003 at 15:17:09:

In Reply to: gaping????? posted by spanish7crocidile7tonight on April 21, 2003 at 14:27:10:

Hi- Well first off I hope you dont mean fish tank (all glass) when you say"half of his tank is sunny and the other half in the shade" because chameleons just dont do good in that kind of set up, unless they are a type of pygmy. Well on to the gaping. I have had a female panther that would gape when she was under the basking spot, but then she would move! I have also had males do the same thing, but they would always move down the cage after they gape. I have also had sick Jacksons that would gape, anywhere in the cage, and they would make a poping sound after the gape, which was URI and was treated, and went away. So when your chameleon gapes do you see any macous in there mouth, and does it make a poping sound after the gape, like bubbles popping? It is hard to say for sure, but a sick chameleon will do this all the time non stop, while a chameleon gapping to cool down will do it once or twice in a day and thats it. So to make things short, look for the following!

1. Does he/she have any build up of macous in there mouth, it will be noticable?

2. Does he/she gape over and over again all day long?

3. Does he/she make any popping noise (like bubbles) after they gape or open there mouth?

4. After the gap does it look like the chameleon is trying to swallow?

5. Food intake will slow to a stop!

All of these are sings of something could be wrong, if you are seeing most or all of theses signs, you may want to take it in for a check up. Does he have problems moving around since he broke one of his legs? That might prevent him from moving? You may also want to check his basking spot to make sure it is not too hot for your type of chameleon, other wise it is normal for a chameleon to gape. Hope this helps!

John

:hey everyone, Little Chongo that hurt his arm is eating fine and is slowly lookin better and movin around better the only thing is he sits there with his mouth open , half of his tank is sunny and the other half in the shade, Ive always heard they do this because they are hot but if he's hot why won't he just move? If anyone can answer I'd apreciate the insight.Thankyou!
:Leticia

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Re: gaping????? spanish7crocidile7tonight 04/21/03 (0)