Gaping mouth

[Cyndi]

Today, when I was carrying Kyo outside, I noticed that he kept his mouth wide open. He wasn't trying to bite or anything. Actually, when I turned him around to look at him, he stopped.

After watching him for a while, the gaping coincided with a breeze blowing in his face. Could that be the cause?

[Kerrydaktyl]

I think Ive seen Don doing this, in his viv, we thought he was too hot, but checked the temp and it was fine. dunno why he was doin it?!

[Merlin]

Sometimes Zok will do it when she is stressed. When she first started riding in the car and being around strangers she would gape. I too thought it was overheating but she was fine to the touch.

[Tesa]

Everything I've read says it's a heat oriented behavior, and I have seen Thrasher gape for that reason.
But I've also had experiences that echo those of Merlin, and in exactly the same situations.

I never thought of the breeze issue tho. That's an interesting observation! I'll be watching Thrasher to see if it seems to have any effect on her.

(when she gets to go outside again She's still restricted from the surgery)

[DaZed85]

he could have a respirtory infection, my iguana had been doing that and had lost of appitaite, and crackle sound when he breaths out (very slight)..... just to let you know you might want to get him a check up if it persists

[Cyndi]

I never thought about it being stress related, but I bet that that's it! It's probably the first time that the poor thing has ever really been outside, dealing with grass and everything. He also turned a rusty dark orange/brown in patches, but that would come and go. Which I have read is also stress related and probably goes hand in hand with the gaping mouth!

I can rule out overheating and resp. infection.

Too many new things too fast, I bet.

Thanks all!

Cyndi

[Tammy]

It sounds like a stress issue to me. Rex does the mouth gape too when he is either too hot and today when I had him outside it was very breezy. Both theories probably apply to some extent. The change in color is a definate indication of feeling stress. But as long as you are there to assure him that all is okay he will stop feeling stress the more times you do this. Maybe even start to enjoy going out. It's a good way to help socialize him too.

[Cyndi]

I think that maybe I pushed him to fast. This past week he has gone thru his first long holding sessions, first time on a lead, first time outside, too many kids.

I left him alone yesterday, just talked to him. He would puff up everytime I came near him. Today I just petted him for a while. Tomorrow we will try going out again.

Thanks for the help

Cyndi

[SurvivorSteph]

The gaping mouth is also a way of smelling. If we're outside and a breeze comes up, he'll do it. He especially likes to do it when we're in the car driving around. So many new smells when we travel!

A few times he's insisted on hanging his head out the car window (with me holding him) (I DO NOT RECOMMEND ALLOWING THIS!!) and he'll act like a dog! Tongue hanging out, dewlap flapping in the wind! Very strange sight, but he loves it.

[Kerrydaktyl]

Yeah that makes sense, kind of a lazy way of licking everything!

I cant wait til Dons a bit bigger and he can travel in the back boot (trunk?) with a big dog cage or something, at the moment he goes in a cat carrier! lol I bet he will love to look out of the windows and see whats going on, and be able to walk around a bit.

[Merlin]

I cant wait til Dons a bit bigger and he can travel in the back boot (trunk?)

Kerry I am sure that this isjust one of those" UK vs USA" language slips but over here a trunk or boot is the enclosed area in the back of a car where you carry spare tires and such. It would not be a good idea to put an animal in there as it would easily overheat or be cold and be susceptable to gasoline fumes. If you are referring to the back seat area inside the occupant area that is fine.

[Kerrydaktyl]

Oh, would it not be ok to have an ig in the same area you might have a dog then? I was imagining when hes bigger we could get one of those dog cages you can lock so you can open the boot and he wont dash out, also he cant get into the rest of the car. We would have to take the parcel shelf out, but I thought it would be best to have him seperate from the rest of the car just in case he got scared and scuttled down by the drivers feet or something. We have always kept him in his carrying cage just incase, dont wanna end up with a squashed ig and our car in a ditch!

How do you guys transport your older igs? We will need to know for future vet trips and to take him to the reptile shop who look after him when were away, hes rapidly getting too big for his cat carrier, even though it was the biggest in the shop lol

[WillemsMom]

I would like to respond to one of your earlier posts. It's funny but I came to same the conclusion today as you. Introducing Will to the great outdooors and a leash and sitting on the grass was just too much. He turned a blotchy rust color too. When I realized this I pulled up one of the outdoor chairs and sat with him. I kept his leash on and he calmed down in a bit. When he was on the grass his little sides were moving in and out so fast. I'm going to leave all this new stuff alone for awhile and just sit outside with him with his 'leash' on and him on my lap.

[Tammy]

I'm probably going to get a lot of flack for this but Rex likes to ride on the third seat in the minivan. Of course he is 5 feet long and very bulky. He loves to go in the car and has never freaked out. Mostly he hangs near the window and watches everything go by. He has tried to hang his head out the window but I won't allow it, don't want to cause an accident.

[SurvivorSteph]

He probably would, Tammy! Gil's still small enough that other drivers don't really notice him. I only do this if my son's driving anyway.