Baking temp?
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TheHoff93
Member
I keep my basking temp for my baby panther at around 83f to 85f (at the hottest) it will fluctuate a few degrees throughout the day. Do you have a thermometer with a probe at the basking spot? Its important to monitor the basking temp fairly frequent so they don't get too hot. Play with the elevation of the lamp/ bulb wattage until the temp is where you want it. I have a 18x18x24 enclosure for my little guy with a 25w bulb raised to where the bottom of the bulb is about 8 inches from the top of the basking spot. works great.
fluxlizard
Avid Member
My take on it for what it is worth-
Requires a little background theory to explain-
I feel it is more important to provide a true temperature gradient with a variety of temperatures available, and a hottest temperature a little above recommended temps (usually in the mid-upper 90s) and the coolest temps quite a bit cooler (into the 70s), than it is to try and provide an exact temperature at a specific location. This allows the lizard to move to thermoregulate according to it's strong instinctual need. It is very natural and allows the lizard to move slowly through a range of temperatures to make very fine adjustments to it's core temperature. This is in opposition to the viewpoint that you should get a specific temp at a basking spot and the rest of the cage cooler. Warm or cool, on or off the warm spot sort of approach vs a more natural gradual thermal gradient sort of approach.
By the way, the sun doesn't dim on baby chameleons in nature. They use the same sun the adults use. The difference is they choose cooler microclimates and shorter basking times to warm their much smaller thermal mass to operating temperature. But when they bask, they sit in the same sunshine as the adults. So, today in ambilobe madagascar where my chameleons' ancestors are from, the high temp is 87, tomorrow 93. Often in the summer it will climb into the upper 90s. Sometimes it's only in the low 80s.
The other thing about sunlight is that it is slightly different than artificial lighting in the way it effects chameleons. Lizards really build body heat well in solar radiation - even on cooler days they may feel warm as long as there is sunlight available, similar to a brick- absorbing and building heat from the sunlight.
So, how to provide what they get in nature in the terrarium-
I fill my baby terraria with twigs so the entire space is usable. A dome light with a 60 watt bulb is placed over one end for the basking site. Because the terraria is filled with twigs, there will be lots of different distances from the heat source that the lizard can select as it needs. They are excellent at choosing what they need, given the choices- it is as instinctual to a chameleon as it is to eat and drink and as important for it's survival. Where people go wrong and cause cooked chameleons or burned chameleons is not providing a gradual gradient- a slow range of choices from cool to hot. Choosing between hot and cold is unnatural and unless you are providing exactly what it needs for hot, which is difficult because in most homes the environment changes, changing the environment in the cage. With a range of options, the cage environment is actually more stable in a way- if the high is always higher than what is needed and the cool is always cool enough, and there is a gradient in between, the chameleon can select what it needs. Always- even if the high is 105 one day and 95 the next. Thats how nature does it and that is where their body knows what to do.
Of course to do that, you have to have a large enough enclosure and a strong enough heat source and plenty of stuff in there to climb on. A couple of twigs in a 10 gallon tank won't do the trick.
So that's not exactly the sort of answer you are looking for, but that is how I've done it for 20 years and it works well for my chameleons.
Requires a little background theory to explain-
I feel it is more important to provide a true temperature gradient with a variety of temperatures available, and a hottest temperature a little above recommended temps (usually in the mid-upper 90s) and the coolest temps quite a bit cooler (into the 70s), than it is to try and provide an exact temperature at a specific location. This allows the lizard to move to thermoregulate according to it's strong instinctual need. It is very natural and allows the lizard to move slowly through a range of temperatures to make very fine adjustments to it's core temperature. This is in opposition to the viewpoint that you should get a specific temp at a basking spot and the rest of the cage cooler. Warm or cool, on or off the warm spot sort of approach vs a more natural gradual thermal gradient sort of approach.
By the way, the sun doesn't dim on baby chameleons in nature. They use the same sun the adults use. The difference is they choose cooler microclimates and shorter basking times to warm their much smaller thermal mass to operating temperature. But when they bask, they sit in the same sunshine as the adults. So, today in ambilobe madagascar where my chameleons' ancestors are from, the high temp is 87, tomorrow 93. Often in the summer it will climb into the upper 90s. Sometimes it's only in the low 80s.
The other thing about sunlight is that it is slightly different than artificial lighting in the way it effects chameleons. Lizards really build body heat well in solar radiation - even on cooler days they may feel warm as long as there is sunlight available, similar to a brick- absorbing and building heat from the sunlight.
So, how to provide what they get in nature in the terrarium-
I fill my baby terraria with twigs so the entire space is usable. A dome light with a 60 watt bulb is placed over one end for the basking site. Because the terraria is filled with twigs, there will be lots of different distances from the heat source that the lizard can select as it needs. They are excellent at choosing what they need, given the choices- it is as instinctual to a chameleon as it is to eat and drink and as important for it's survival. Where people go wrong and cause cooked chameleons or burned chameleons is not providing a gradual gradient- a slow range of choices from cool to hot. Choosing between hot and cold is unnatural and unless you are providing exactly what it needs for hot, which is difficult because in most homes the environment changes, changing the environment in the cage. With a range of options, the cage environment is actually more stable in a way- if the high is always higher than what is needed and the cool is always cool enough, and there is a gradient in between, the chameleon can select what it needs. Always- even if the high is 105 one day and 95 the next. Thats how nature does it and that is where their body knows what to do.
Of course to do that, you have to have a large enough enclosure and a strong enough heat source and plenty of stuff in there to climb on. A couple of twigs in a 10 gallon tank won't do the trick.
So that's not exactly the sort of answer you are looking for, but that is how I've done it for 20 years and it works well for my chameleons.
