Cage too hot!!!!

[JoshCrane1]

Hello everyone, just joined the site not too long ago, and i love it so far. i have a 3.5-4month old veiled chameleon female named kamila.

the thing is, i live in south florida and keep my cham's cage on the back porch with hid lighting. the temperatures have been pretty good for the past month or so since i got her but now since its edging into summertime the ambient and basking temperatures are rising. i used to have a gradient of 80-100 degrees during the day now its about 90-108 or so which i know is too hot; and she's spending more time in her pothos during the mid-day cuz of it. im trying to get my ambient temperature back to 80 ish and im going to the store today to get a oscillating fan which hope will help in the hot back porch.

and other ideas to get the ambient temps down in my cage? im in south florida and the temps are staying round 90 lately, which obviously is my prob.


oh yea, she has been shedding for about 4 days now, this is too long...? could this be cuz its too hot?

 

[newyorkbreed]

Cage Info:
Cage Type - What kind of cage are you using? What is the size?
Lighting - What kind of lighting are you using? How long do you keep the lights on during the day?
Temperature - What temperature range have you created? Basking spot temp? What is the temperature at night?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Location - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas?

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon.
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What kind of schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What are you dusting your feeders with and what kind of schedule do you use?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings.
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
Current Problem - The current problem that you are concerned about.

Pictures can really help as well.

 

[JoshCrane1]

sorry, new here:

veiled female about 4 months old.
exoterra 24"x18"x12" (till she gets bigger)
powersun 100w hid bulb uva/uvb basking
cage is elevated 4 1/2 feet off the ground in back porch(3 side screen porch)
cage has pothos and fake reptile plants w/vines and branches
humidity never drops below 50% ( i live in south florida)
little dripper for 1-2hrs a day(seen her drink from spout)
misting 5min -morning/afternoon (using tropical humidifying spray w/ aloe vera lately to help with shedding)
85-100 degree gradient during the day(she basks normally)(but lately its climbing, so i bought a fan to give a very light breeze during the day and circulate the porch air.)
70-80 degees everynight


feed about 8-10 crickets a day, occasional molted meal worm for treats in the afternoon
gutloaded worms with "vet recommended" online grain based feed and potatoes
gutload crickets with similar grain feed, apples, minced mixture of carrots,mustard greens, collard greens, asparagus, and alfalfa sprouts.
supplement some feeders(not all) with calcium spray 4days a week
calcium powder w/d3 once every two weeks, reptivite once a week.
(seeking more vit.A info)


eating, drinking, deficating normally, very good chameleon so far. just very skiddish.


wanna know if theres a corralation between difficulty shedding and high temps lately?

will the tropical humidifying mist w/ aloe vera help with the shedding?

and is a light breeze from a fan ok to cool down the enclosure during the hot days lately?

 

[Julirs]

Is that the all glass cage? I would say that is way dangerous keeping her in that in this Florida heat. At 4 months she should be in an all screen cage-the glass heats up way too fast. Some people may disagree, but it actually gets almost too hot and too humid to keep Veileds outside here in the dead of summer-you start risking URI. At 4 months I would also say if you are hitting 100-that is way too hot, and her night temps are not dropping enough either. That Powersun has to be near cooking her unless you have it suspended way above the cage.

 

[newyorkbreed]

sorry, new here:

wanna know if theres a corralation between difficulty shedding and high temps lately?

IMO, It's the hydration that helps, However, I can imagine a corralation with higher temps

will the tropical humidifying mist w/ aloe vera help with the shedding?

Never tried this but sounds like something I will look into, does it smell?

and is a light breeze from a fan ok to cool down the enclosure during the hot days lately?

I have a fan setup on a temp switch, So if it goes above 80 Gradient it kicks on, They did have wind/elements in the wild..

 

[newyorkbreed]

sorry, new here:

wanna know if theres a corralation between difficulty shedding and high temps lately?

IMO, It's the hydration that helps, However, I can imagine a corralation with higher temps

will the tropical humidifying mist w/ aloe vera help with the shedding?

Never tried this but sounds like something I will look into, does it smell?

and is a light breeze from a fan ok to cool down the enclosure during the hot days lately?

I have a fan setup on a temp switch, So if it goes above 80 Gradient it kicks on, They did have wind/elements in the wild..

 

[JoshCrane1]

exoterra screen 4 side screen cage, i know better than that. and the tropical spray smells like aloe and water and smells like the jungle, kinda neat stuff.

might have to move her inside if the fan cant drop the ambient temp below 90.

and the powersun bulb sits 8" above the cage, in the morning and afternoon she loves it and basks happily, but during mid-day its too hot im sure cuz it was peaking a lil above 100 degrees before i added the fan, gotta check the temps today.

 

[Julirs]

Whew! All else I stand by. I would love to keep my Veileds outside year round, but I just don't think it will work here!

 

[sharkey]

not to duplicate what julirs said but even in central fl, where i live, it is too hot to keep the chams outside - even in the shade. i lived in miami for 10 yrs and there are several current forum members down in s. fl. i can't imagine that any of them have them outside b/c the temps are too brutal and there isn't a good drop in degrees at night (i remember nights w/ a LOW of 93).

the fan makes a person/animal feel cooler but it doesn't actually decrease the temperature.

we floridians are very lucky to have natural high humidity and warm winters but we pay dearly in our a/c bills!

 

[JoshCrane1]

hmm... so i guess i'm gonna have to look into moving her inside for the summer then.

as long as i keep my humidity at the right levels, i should be ok in central a/c right?

 

[Julirs]

I keep inside year round and everyone is fine. The more live plants the easier it will be to keep the humidity up. Mine just go out for some hours of sun a few times a week.

 

[sharkey]

i do the same as julirs. i conserve energy so the a/c is never lower than 75. i rotate my 9 chams thru an outdoor cage - approximately 1 per day where they are in full sun w/ a dripper on them to cool off and hydrate.

humidity never seems to be very low in my house. we are growing mold just fine in the bathrooms.....sigh

 

[Julirs]

Yeah! What is up with people thinking the AC sucks out the humidity here in Florida! I wish!

 

[SoCaliSon]

I would try a timed patio mister system... maybe not directly into the cage but above it somewhere. Mist particles in the air help to bring the ambient air temp down a lot, and with a nice cool mist in the area you should be able to get it low enough for the chams, esspecially if you use a little fan to circulate it towards the chams cage. Just make sure you don't end up with 99% humidity.

 

[JoshCrane1]

THATS a good idea, just dont want mold growing everywhere.

 

[Dankmeleon]

if you think its too hot to keep chams outside you are incorrect, it just has to be done correctly and with a lot of plants in and around the cage, as well as a regular misting cycle to aid them in cooling down

not til mid summer does it become too hot, and even then you can easily house your chams outdoors from the morning to around 1 pm no problem, then you just pull them under the shade and turn there flouros on or bring them inside

 

[JoshCrane1]

i work 8-5 5 days, and some days the ambient temps are in the 90's, so your saying if i put a lot of living plants in the cage and mist more often that this temp would be acceptable.

there was a few days where the basking temps peaked at about 109 degrees at noon(i come home on lunch), i was like holy shizznit!!!, but she seemed fine hangin out in her plants. so......

now i dont know what to do.......can anyone in SOUTH florida elaborate on their setups....please that would be great.

i would prefer to keep her outside, especially when she gets bigger and crickets start to chirp and whatnot; but if her health is going to be at risk i dont wanna take that chance.

 

[SoCaliSon]

Since you are not home all day you will have to be investing in some kind of misting system anyway... You can buy a timed patio sytem that cools the ambient temp up to 15 degrees in a 10 sq ft area (or less if you buy a smaller one). This will end up being cheaper then one specifically designed for herps... and it does the same thing. If you wanted to you could even put the timer for the mister on a constant mist and then plug the timer into a thermostat so that it should only kick on when it gets too hot... Then once it reached the appropritate level it will turn off most likely long enough for the leaves to dry, then kick back on.

I am working on a large size walk in enclosure outside for mine right now and I also have been contemplating temp control... But my issue is a little different than yours... Being in Southern California, It will get into the 90's and into the 100's sometimes during the summer... But I was not as worried about that because I can provide shade and mist and I think they would be fine... What I was worrying about is that sometimes we will have a high of 79' and a nightime low of 48'. Does anyone think that this variation is acceptable without trying to alter the temps. I think it may be to cold at night. I am thinking I will have to use thermostat controlled ceramic heaters to make sure while I am sleeping at night my Chams aren't freezing to death. But then I am worrying about running power out there which I would prefer to steer away from considering the water and weather that would be present. I am curious to know who keeps their Chams outside 24/7, where they live, and if they have to alter temps at all, and if they do, how?. I have not been able to get too much input on this subject on a thread thread I posted recently so I started to think that it is not really done to much.

 

[Dean Pulcini]

Just put a piece of plywood on half of the screen top and provide shade. That chameleon can take those temperatures as long as you provide shade where it can go for relief. They have feral veileds doing just fine where you guys are. You can buy a timer that goes on your spicket that will water your chameleon just secure the hose nozzle to the cage and leave it on mist.

 

[JoshCrane1]

great info!!! automated misting system for 1/2 the porch sound really ideal. i will def. have to make sure to cover or insulate my electronics and light bulbs.