Basking all day

Amberbluefrog

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Hi guys, so I’ve started noticing that Yoshi (male panther 6 months) just likes to bask all day. Is this okay?

His basking branch is normally 79-82, this morning I took the temp of his skin after 1 hour of lights on and it was 84 degrees, after work at 5pm his skin was 86 degrees. Ambient temperature towards the top is normally 76 and at the lower end is 68.

From what I can tell, he wakes up at 7 and then hides from the misters at 7:30 in the leaves. Throughout the day he will stay on his top branches walking between under the basking spot or the UVB spot (few inches down the branch). At 1pm he moves when the misters go off for 30 seconds. Around 5:30pm he hides in the leaves again bc the misters come on at 6pm. By 6:30 he starts to crawl to his sleep spot. I have a little camera on him while at work (just to check in and make sure misters/lights work when I’m at work), so he might take breaks throughout the day that I don’t catch.

He will happily leave the spot if he sees me holding any sort of bug and does not gap or keep his eyes closed. Just was wondering if this habit is weird or normal? Thanks!
 

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I'm not experienced with Panther chameleons so I'm not sure if these temperatures are correct but my chameleons basks for most of the day so I don't see a problem, what type of UVB bulb do you have?
 
Sounds typical from what I've seen, but what are the humidity levels?

As your household heat kicks on in winter, it's normal for humidity levels to drop (warmer air can hold more moisture, so RH is lower). Dryer air feels cooler than moister air, and this can affect enclosure conditions as well, which is one reason for keeping enclosure humidity at the right levels.

Just a reminder from the site care sheet for panthers in the Resources section:
Humidity:
Humidity is an important aspect of chameleon husbandry. Panther chameleons require levels around 50-70%, which can be achieved by several misting sessions a day over all areas of the cage. Live plants help increase and maintain humidity. Sometimes a cool mist humidifier or timer-controlled misting system is needed. See Water & Humidity for more information.
 
Sounds typical from what I've seen, but what are the humidity levels?

As your household heat kicks on in winter, it's normal for humidity levels to drop (warmer air can hold more moisture, so RH is lower). Dryer air feels cooler than moister air, and this can affect enclosure conditions as well, which is one reason for keeping enclosure humidity at the right levels.

Just a reminder from the site care sheet for panthers in the Resources section:
During the day by his basking branch it is 30% while at the middle it jumps between 50-60% during the day. At night I run a fogger at the intervals/times Bill Strand recommends and normally see it start to climb around 70+ when I go to bed aka 12, but it goes higher as the fogger switches on at 1am
 
During the day by his basking branch it is 30% while at the middle it jumps between 50-60% during the day.
OK, this illustrates what I was saying—humidity is a bit low where he basks, so he may not feel as warm as he would if the RH at basking were up in that 50-70% range. (A little guessing here.)

I still don't think this is unusual or anything to be concerned about.

I see you mist mid-day, which I also do, and it seems you have plenty of live plants. If this is really bugging you, you might try raising the humidity at basking level with additional brief mid-day mistings or lengthening the one you're already doing (I do 2 minutes for all mistings).

Personally, I don't think there's a problem, but others may have different opinions. I've learned to trust my animals to know what they need & want and behave accordingly (except my chowhound Labbie, who would weigh 500 lbs. if we gave him all the treats he wants... :rolleyes: )
 
During the day by his basking branch it is 30% while at the middle it jumps between 50-60% during the day. At night I run a fogger at the intervals/times Bill Strand recommends and normally see it start to climb around 70+ when I go to bed aka 12, but it goes higher as the fogger switches on at 1am
These are good numbers. Your always going to see a 10-20% difference between the basking level and then dropping down 8 more inches... The lights really pull your humidity down on the top level. For example the only time my humidity at basking is 50% is when my room and the rest of the cage is sitting at 80%, in the morning when all lights have kicked on. lol. Not what you want the rest of the cage at either. So you have gradients and that is good. He will move in and out of the pockets.

Basking is normal... It could be an issue of he is colder or he senses the weather difference outside. Or it is cloudier outside... Just watch your temps at basking... He sits pretty close to that fixture.
 
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