New move 5:30 and sleeping already

SocialNumb

Established Member
Hi, I'm not sure where this should go as I'm not sure if anything wrong. I moved Chloe (female veiled) into her new big girl cage today and she spent most of the day checking everything out, basking some (which is a bit cooler than in her small cage, 82ish, on purpose) and doing Chameleon things. Around 3:30 I noticed she started spending more time around the middle of the cage and now she's decided to go to sleep a full two and 1/2 hours ahead of time further down towards the bottom of the cage on a Pothos. (I'm growing upwards) Lights are still on.

Maybe she's just had a really busy day with the move and all and I'm overreacting but I need to make sure. :confused:

Lights

ReptiSun T5 HO 5.0 24" and a SunBlaster grow light T5 HO 6500k Full Spectrum 24 WATT 24"

Dome with normal bulb 25watt for heating back up if and when needed.

I've read that other Chameleons sometimes go to their sleep spot hours ahead of time but mine has never done that till today.

Like I said, I'm probably overeating here. I'm a worried daddy.

Should I be?

Edit: I was bad and I misted her twice. She's still in the same spot but looking out for me.

6:18 full on sleep. =(
 
Mine is up at 6;30am and is back on the "sleeping stick" by 4-5pm, and lights dont go out till 7:3-8:30. Been this way for 2 years.
 
Most likely it's just a reaction to the stress of the big move.

You won't go wrong by keeping watch for any signs of illness over the next week or so, just to be safe.
 
Thanks for the reassurance guys. It's just not like her to go to sleep so early but I did move here and she has been very active today. Probably stressed too as I had my hands up in there making last adjustments.

I'll definitely keep an eye on her. I can't not do that.
 
My guy does the same thing. Starts to get in position around 5pm. I did move the lights out up to 7pm instead of 8pm. I just felt so bad for him trying to sleep under the lights.
 
Chloe usually goes to her sleep spot anywhere from 7:20-8:00pm. 8:00pm is lights out. Her smaller cage is 16x16x30 and maybe having the light that close to her kept her up longer? Where now she has the option to basically get completely away from it and hide under leaves and what not and that could be why she's going to bed earlier?

Or maybe it's just a stress response . . . or it could be that I'm paranoid and such a stickler for routine.

In any case, I'll watch her.

Thanks again.
 
I'm keeping sort of log here just for a few days.

Day 2

Lights on @ 8:00 AM per usual.
She headed down to her sleep spot @ 4PM
Went to sleep @ 5:10 -ish PM

9 hours of up time.

I'm going to give it one more day and then I'm thinking about lights on earlier. 7 AM to start with to see if I can get 10 hours of up time.


She was on a 12/12 cycle but I'll take 10.
 
Keep in mind that the day length here in the Northern Hemisphere is shortening.
Rather than changing more things, why not let her adjust to the recent changes?
 
For how long though? If she keeps this time schedule wouldn't it make sense to change with her? She's up at that time anyways. (7AM) I have a feeling she gets up when I do but I can't see into her enclosure because it's too dark at 6:00 AM. The sun starts to rise at about 6:30ish around here lately. Or?
 
If the room she is in gets lighter earlier, then she probably is up in advance of the enclosure lights.
You want to be sure that she has enough dark time to sleep and most people want to make sure there's enough time their chams are awake after the work day ends.
I imagine that 1/2 hour earlier on and 1/2 hour earlier off would not disturb her schedule drastically.
My point was to not make another large sudden change, so you could determine if it's just the stress of adapting to new living arrangements or if she is indeed becoming ill.
 
Something else you may want to do, since she is very young and still rather new, is to have people take a closer look at her setup and care, just to be sure everything is the way it needs to be for her to grow and be healthy.

So many times people are given care instructions by people whom you'd think know best but who turn out to be wrong.

The easiest way is to cut and paste the questions from here https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/ and then add your answers.
Pictures of the setup and of your cham are always a plus, too.
 
My lighting comes on at 730 and off at 730 but my guy goes to his sleepy spot as early as 3 pm normally (4 hr before lights off). He is active otherwise, but it worries me. He isn't sleeping or anything, but he just sits there waiting for the lights to go out it seems.
 
My lighting comes on at 730 and off at 730 but my guy goes to his sleepy spot as early as 3 pm normally (4 hr before lights off). He is active otherwise, but it worries me. He isn't sleeping or anything, but he just sits there waiting for the lights to go out it seems.

If this is the cham who has been recently treated for coccidia, then it is not so surprising.

I would make sure, via another fecal that he is now cured completely.

If this is not the one who was recently treated, then a fecal exam is still a wise idea just to be safe.
 
Something else you may want to do, since she is very young and still rather new, is to have people take a closer look at her setup and care, just to be sure everything is the way it needs to be for her to grow and be healthy.

So many times people are given care instructions by people whom you'd think know best but who turn out to be wrong.

The easiest way is to cut and paste the questions from here https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/ and then add your answers.
Pictures of the setup and of your cham are always a plus, too.

That is my next step if this continues. I've had it in mind. I already filled it out and intend to take pictures. It's 4 PM now and while she is at the bottom 1/2 of the cage she hasn't gone to her sleep spot yet. Seeing what happens in the next hour.


Edit: She's been in her sleep spot since 4:30PM but has not one to sleep yet. It's 6:23PM

Edit 2 : So, she made it till about 7:30 PM last night. Three hours in her sleep spot before sleeping but it's some kind of progress I suppose. As far as getting back on schedule goes anyways.
 
Day 4

Went a little better today. She just now went to her sleep spot @ 6:13PM. Will edit when she actually closes her eyes.

She's going to make it till lights out it seems.
 
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