Basking under UVB?

Fchamel

Fchamel

Chameleon Enthusiast
Hi All! So Carly got upside down in her enclosure today. But she is under her UVB bulb not her basking? I'm concerned that she could get burned because it is quite hot! The UVB is hotter than my basking bulb. How can I get her to not go on the uvb for basking? Or is this a bad sign?

Also, wanted to give yall a heads up that I have a lay bin ordered but I won't be able to pick it up until the weekend because of a family related issue.

IMG_20210225_184107043.jpg
 
Usually, climbing directly under the uvb light means that they are not getting enough uvb at the basking branch. Since they are not getting enough uvb, they seek out higher uvb levels by climbing directly underneath the fixture.

Another reason could be that your basking spot isn't warm enough so she climbed up and found that she could get heat from the uvb fixture.

A third reason could be that she just happened to adventure up there for no reason and took a pit stop underneath the fixture for uvb.

Either way, answering the questions in my previous reply will better allow us to understand which scenario is more likely.

I guess a better question might also be this: has she done this before or have you moved anything around recently (lights, basking branch, plants, etc)?
 
About 10 inches. Basking spot is a little over 80 but she has never shown signs of thermal burns. Plus, whenever I put my hand under, it is comfortable, not hot.

I just replaced the UVB about a week or two ago. Arcadia 6%
 
Another things to add is that I just put her in a new enclosure. During the day she is either inside a leaf or in her UVB spot.
 
10 inches is too far away for a single bulb t5ho fixture and a 6% bulb. You need to make the distance 8-9 measured inches to get her in the range she should be.

I would tie in a few more of the flukers vines horizontally and going down to the other ones so she has multiple places to choose from rather then the one vine. This way she has a basking level... Multiple areas and gradients.
 
Hi! I thought that I should just put my concerns in this thread instead of making another one

I'm concerned that Carly isn't getting any or enough UVB. She stays dark below the pothos leaves in her enclosure most of the day. The leaves block the UVB from coming below to her.

I am also concerned that she doesn't have enough spots to get uvb from. The long tube can only go straight so it doesn't hit alot of areas.


Here are photos

IMG_20210313_142332269.jpg

She is hard to see but dark. She stays there all day. Every day.
IMG_20210313_142354149.jpg

Blocks UVB. Had to turn light off for photo.

IMG_20210313_142445761.jpg
 
It's hard to see in the pic, but are her eyes open during the day? And are they open the entire day?

My cham will not budge from his sleeping spot if the lighting up top is sub-par. And by lighting, I don't mean the uvb, I mean the grow lights that brighten up the cage. When the lighting was underwhelming, he wouldn't bother coming up to the top of the cage or move for that matter. He would be awake and alert throughout the entirety of the day, but he wouldn't move. I invested in stronger grow lights and now he comes up to the top with no problem. I even bought a solar meter to make sure the uvb levels were good--they were. I checked the basking temps a billion times with a temp probe and a temp gun. I made sure the humidity was perfect. Everything was in check. The only thing left was to get stronger lighting to penetrate deeper into the cage. So maybe your cage might be too dark?

If your cham has been down there for several days, and all your parameters are perfect, and your lighting is perfect, have you tried "kick-starting" her by placing her under the basking heat bulb? You can also try angling the uvb to point into the basking spot so d3 synthesis can take place in one area which is supposed to be more naturalistic.

Also, have you tried feeding her? If you have, don't let her be lazy, lure her out and let her work for her food. This also might help get her going back to normal activity.

Also, this may sound like a stupid question, but have you fed a large amount of bsfl to her recently? I once fed my guy too much and for the next three days or so he looked terrible. He had stress colors straight for three days and was very dark in color. Eventually, he digested them and he is still alive and kicking. The bsfl were small though so I don't think he was able to munch them all and break them open.

I'm pretty much grasping at straws here with the bsfl, but hopefully something in this message can be useful to you and your situation. Maybe others will have more ideas.

You might have answered this question in another thread, but I'll ask it here: the room that your cham is in is secured--as in no cats or other predators causing your cham to hide? And no window with a direct view of birds or the neighborhood cat?
 
Does she always stay there? Maybe put a different plant there, like a wandering Jew or spider plant so the vine is less obstructed and the shade is more dappled. Stella did similar with her monster hibiscus...spent most of her time basking under the leaves. She would every now and then sit above them and get her light fix. I may be totally wrong on this, but trust that they instinctively know what they need and will move to the area to get it.
 
Mendez said:
It's hard to see in the pic, but are her eyes open during the day? And are they open the entire day?

My cham will not budge from his sleeping spot if the lighting up top is sub-par. And by lighting, I don't mean the uvb, I mean the grow lights that brighten up the cage. When the lighting was underwhelming, he wouldn't bother coming up to the top of the cage or move for that matter. He would be awake and alert throughout the entirety of the day, but he wouldn't move. I invested in stronger grow lights and now he comes up to the top with no problem. I even bought a solar meter to make sure the uvb levels were good--they were. I checked the basking temps a billion times with a temp probe and a temp gun. I made sure the humidity was perfect. Everything was in check. The only thing left was to get stronger lighting to penetrate deeper into the cage. So maybe your cage might be too dark?

If your cham has been down there for several days, and all your parameters are perfect, and your lighting is perfect, have you tried "kick-starting" her by placing her under the basking heat bulb? You can also try angling the uvb to point into the basking spot so d3 synthesis can take place in one area which is supposed to be more naturalistic.

Also, have you tried feeding her? If you have, don't let her be lazy, lure her out and let her work for her food. This also might help get her going back to normal activity.

Also, this may sound like a stupid question, but have you fed a large amount of bsfl to her recently? I once fed my guy too much and for the next three days or so he looked terrible. He had stress colors straight for three days and was very dark in color. Eventually, he digested them and he is still alive and kicking. The bsfl were small though so I don't think he was able to munch them all and break them open.

I'm pretty much grasping at straws here with the bsfl, but hopefully something in this message can be useful to you and your situation. Maybe others will have more ideas.

You might have answered this question in another thread, but I'll ask it here: the room that your cham is in is secured--as in no cats or other predators causing your cham to hide? And no window with a direct view of birds or the neighborhood cat?
Click to expand...
Wow! Thank you so much! I have a sansai grow light fixture I am wanting to put in. I can talk to my Dad about doing that today. It is the square one. That puts off alot of light. I have not fed her BSFL recently. Once I feed her, she just goes back to the same position. Also, she is directly under a window and the blind is open the entire day. No other dangerous pets in the house. She probably sees birds.
I will try some of your suggestions. But a solarmeter is not in our budget right now. Hope you understand. 😃
 
MissSkittles said:
Does she always stay there? Maybe put a different plant there, like a wandering Jew or spider plant so the vine is less obstructed and the shade is more dappled. Stella did similar with her monster hibiscus...spent most of her time basking under the leaves. She would every now and then sit above them and get her light fix. I may be totally wrong on this, but trust that they instinctively know what they need and will move to the area to get it.
Click to expand...
Yes, like the entire day until she sleeps. Sometimes I will catch her under her UVB. I can try putting another plant in there. It seems to my that something similar or the same thing is happening to Carly as did stella.
 
Fchamel said:
Hi! I thought that I should just put my concerns in this thread instead of making another one

I'm concerned that Carly isn't getting any or enough UVB. She stays dark below the pothos leaves in her enclosure most of the day. The leaves block the UVB from coming below to her.

I am also concerned that she doesn't have enough spots to get uvb from. The long tube can only go straight so it doesn't hit alot of areas.


Here are photos

View attachment 295637
She is hard to see but dark. She stays there all day. Every day.
View attachment 295638
Blocks UVB. Had to turn light off for photo.

View attachment 295639
Click to expand...
To me this is not a plant issue is that there are not enough options high above the plants for her to bask and move around. Can you show the full front view of the cage? Looks like there is only that one vine and that it is still in the plants. Plants cut UVB. I can measure under a pothos leaf and get nothing for a UVI reading.
 
Beman said:
To me this is not a plant issue is that there are not enough options high above the plants for her to bask and move around. Can you show the full front view of the cage? Looks like there is only that one vine and that it is still in the plants. Plants cut UVB. I can measure under a pothos leaf and get nothing for a UVI reading.
Click to expand...
I will work on putting more uvb spots in her enclosure. Once I get home I can send you a photo. There is only one uvb vine but multiple throughout her enclosure.
 
Fchamel said:
I will work on putting more uvb spots in her enclosure. Once I get home I can send you a photo. There is only one uvb vine but multiple throughout her enclosure.
Click to expand...
I am a believer in having lots of spots... I also prefer mine to be parallel below the fixture to give them more room to easily bask. With paths to easily get up and down around the enclosure.
 
Beman said:
I am a believer in having lots of spots... I also prefer mine to be parallel below the fixture to give them more room to easily bask. With paths to easily get up and down around the enclosure.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for your advice. I will have time to work on her enclosure this weekend/week since I am on break. Will keep you updated
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
Baby Veiled Chameleon basking/lighting help
Replies
16
Views
3K
Dexter.
D
M
New panther sleeping worries
Replies
2
Views
444
ehdee6
ehdee6
H
Is there such a thing as “too much” when it comes to basking
Replies
5
Views
2K
nightanole
nightanole
Jle5116
Help with husbandry questions
Replies
17
Views
2K
GrannyK
GrannyK
treeann
Need help with lighting change. Cham is stressed and I am stuck.
Replies
16
Views
2K
kinyonga
K
Back
Top Bottom