Can anybody explain this behavior?

I have the single T-5HO and I was wrong on my estimate of distance from the light. I just measured it with a tape measure and I am at 7”. The light does sit directly on the screen top as well. Maybe this picture shows the different levels better for basking.( I thought I did an ok job at giving him options for this.) the orange circles are his favorite spots to hang out and bask, the blue are his two sleep spots.View attachment 250565View attachment 250566

I am still going with a temp issue. Here is where that gets tricky though. You have to be very careful with the basking bulb and the distance to the cham with the wattage your using. Too high a wattage and he is high risk for a thermal burn. The front left of the cage is the spot I would be most worried about. I have my basking bulb lifted off the screen to prevent this.

As far as the cage it looks great and I love all the plants but he is going to be heavy and those plants are not going to provide the grip size and strength he needs. You need real branches. Don't add more vines.

As far as devices to measure temps. I run two therm pro's, a wired probe at basking, and I use a temp gun. What I have found is that the wired probe is about 3 degrees too low. My thermpros are in two different areas of the cage for ambient temps. Now with the temp gun. I hold it about 6 inches away from what ever I am trying to take a temp on. Because with mine I get very different readings based on distance. :)
 
I am still going with a temp issue. Here is where that gets tricky though. You have to be very careful with the basking bulb and the distance to the cham with the wattage your using. Too high a wattage and he is high risk for a thermal burn. The front left of the cage is the spot I would be most worried about. I have my basking bulb lifted off the screen to prevent this.

As far as the cage it looks great and I love all the plants but he is going to be heavy and those plants are not going to provide the grip size and strength he needs. You need real branches. Don't add more vines.

As far as devices to measure temps. I run two therm pro's, a wired probe at basking, and I use a temp gun. What I have found is that the wired probe is about 3 degrees too low. My thermpros are in two different areas of the cage for ambient temps. Now with the temp gun. I hold it about 6 inches away from what ever I am trying to take a temp on. Because with mine I get very different readings based on distance. :)
The light at the front left is a sansi 36w plant light I haven’t needed any actual basking lights until the last week or so. our weather is cooling down it’s a new learning process for me as the environment is changing with the season for the first time since I’ve had Opie. The humidity is dropping and is hard to keep up with and the temperature is harder to keep stable( not as hard of a challenge but still something to get used to.) I will get some branches from work in the next couple days. Shouldn’t be hard as I do tree work. And I will lift the sansi a bit. How would I go about raising ambient temps without raising surface temp?
 
The light at the front left is a sansi 36w plant light I haven’t needed any actual basking lights until the last week or so. our weather is cooling down it’s a new learning process for me as the environment is changing with the season for the first time since I’ve had Opie. The humidity is dropping and is hard to keep up with and the temperature is harder to keep stable( not as hard of a challenge but still something to get used to.) I will get some branches from work in the next couple days. Shouldn’t be hard as I do tree work. And I will lift the sansi a bit. How would I go about raising ambient temps without raising surface temp?
As far as humidity what are your daytime levels? They should only be between 30-40% max during the day.

With ambient you want these lower and in the 70's. Your house heat being set to say 72 should be good. I run a Herpstat dimming thermostat for my boy. It controls his basking fixture. So I set it at the temp I want which is 85.5 because at the branch I have the probe tied it. Above where he rises into the heat he is at 89. Any hotter he gapes. and any cooler he tries to climb the top screen to get closer. It took me a while to dial everything in. And they all have their preferences on temps. Just because my guy likes it at 89 does not mean yours will. I have my basking fixture off the top with one of these. Here are pics of my set up to give you a better idea.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007D1BUJY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

basking hooked in1.JPG lighting3.JPG lighting1.JPG
 
As far as humidity what are your daytime levels? They should only be between 30-40% max during the day.

With ambient you want these lower and in the 70's. Your house heat being set to say 72 should be good. I run a Herpstat dimming thermostat for my boy. It controls his basking fixture. So I set it at the temp I want which is 85.5 because at the branch I have the probe tied it. Above where he rises into the heat he is at 89. Any hotter he gapes. and any cooler he tries to climb the top screen to get closer. It took me a while to dial everything in. And they all have their preferences on temps. Just because my guy likes it at 89 does not mean yours will. I have my basking fixture off the top with one of these. Here are pics of my set up to give you a better idea.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007D1BUJY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

View attachment 250631View attachment 250632View attachment 250633
Daytime humidity is below 40% right at this moment it’s at 31%, it’s a real struggle to get it up. I have just recently bought a mist king and a humidifier that is directed at and into his cage for night time and I’m having a hard time getting to even 70% at night. I don’t know if just a couple long mists would be better or a bunch of little mists is the way to go for this, but right now I am misting 4 times a night for 2.5 mins each. Creating too much moisture, or I guess you could say Opie being wet for too long, has been on my mind as well. I don’t want to make him sick or have a RI. So I’m scared to use the mister “too much” but I don’t know how much is too much.
A herpstat will be my next big purchase for Opie. I have had my eye on them for a little while now. I would like to get the 2 or 4 so I can use it for other things as time goes on. Also I will look into getting one of those light holders as well. Thank you for the advice!!
Edit: p.s. I also covered the back and the two sides with a clear shower curtain in effort to retain some more humidity.
 
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WTF did you do!? Lol
Well it was lights out and it’s been hard to bring the humidity up so put Opie’s humidifier on then I turned the shower on and put a pot of water on the stove to boil. I kicked back on the couch watching some Netflix and 25 mins later.. . Instant rainforest! lol
 
Even at that, when I went to sleep humidity was at 89%. when I woke up at 5 it was back down to 57% with the humidifier running all night and misting through out the night.
 
I don't know if I should be laughing at you for being a crazy SOB or admire your tenacity. lol That's dedication!

So why not just install a fogger again?
 
Daytime humidity is below 40% right at this moment it’s at 31%, it’s a real struggle to get it up. I have just recently bought a mist king and a humidifier that is directed at and into his cage for night time and I’m having a hard time getting to even 70% at night. I don’t know if just a couple long mists would be better or a bunch of little mists is the way to go for this, but right now I am misting 4 times a night for 2.5 mins each. Creating too much moisture, or I guess you could say Opie being wet for too long, has been on my mind as well. I don’t want to make him sick or have a RI. So I’m scared to use the mister “too much” but I don’t know how much is too much.
A herpstat will be my next big purchase for Opie. I have had my eye on them for a little while now. I would like to get the 2 or 4 so I can use it for other things as time goes on. Also I will look into getting one of those light holders as well. Thank you for the advice!!
Edit: p.s. I also covered the back and the two sides with a clear shower curtain in effort to retain some more humidity.
LOL ok so after reading about your rainforest.... I think you are over thinking it all as most of us have and still do. Ok so daytime range 30-40% That is more then ok. I would not over mist because you really need the cage to dry out. Did you listen to this podcast? https://www.chameleonbreeder.com/podcast/ep-89-naturalistic-hydration-for-chameleons/

The shower curtain should hold more humidity too.

Is the fogger coming into the cage at the top of it? Also anything we do we want cool mist not warm mist. ;)

What gauge are you using for the humidity? I had one that was a dual exo terra I believe and omg was it so off on my levels. Then I bought a therm pro with sensor to put in. I keep the sensor out of the spray pattern and it works perfectly. I discovered my readings were actually 20% higher then what the exo terra was saying for humidity :banghead:
 
This is the humidifier I have for now. It blows in the front door near the bottom of the cage. I keep the door cracked a bit during the night so the cool mist will go into the cage. I also use the therm pro, it’s my humidity gauge and main thermometer. I have not listened to the podcast yet but I will tonight. Thank you for the link. Should I make something so I can route the humidifier in through the top of the cage? The way my setup is now with the dry air from the furnace my humidity will top out at around 50%, 60% on a good night
image.jpg
 
This is the humidifier I have for now. It blows in the front door near the bottom of the cage. I keep the door cracked a bit during the night so the cool mist will go into the cage. I also use the therm pro, it’s my humidity gauge and main thermometer. I have not listened to the podcast yet but I will tonight. Thank you for the link. Should I make something so I can route the humidifier in through the top of the cage? The way my setup is now with the dry air from the furnace my humidity will top out at around 50%, 60% on a good night View attachment 250766
Ok this is what I would do... Since you have furnace issues. I would get this https://www.amazon.com/Duck-5-Windo...d_r=J8QDDPHM2HVA01H4K68S&psc=1&qid=1573171252

Then use it on the back and side panels of the cage. It will help seal in the humidity without it flowing out everywhere. then if this humidifier puts out a ton then use it I found these ones did not produces as much. and since it is a bottom fill where you have to remove the top to fill it is going to be harder to jerry rig a hose to it. I really love the humidifier @JoXie411 just got and it is a top fill. Even better then my top fill because you can put it on a timer. I just tagged her. It is more of a heavy duty fogger so you are gonna get much higher levels at night and then it comes with the hose and you will attach it to the top of your cage so it flows in and fills the cage better.

I think doing the window film and a better humidifier that can really go on blast is what you need. That podcast is really helpful and all his are fantastic.
 
Here is the humidifier I use. I love it I bought two to split between 4 cages. The output is amazing and I also use the wrap @Beman recommended above, it’s works great

PETSPIONEER Reptile Humidifier Digital Timing Fog Machine with Double Hose & 4 Liter Reservoir, Automatic Terrarium Fogger for Reptiles/Amphibians/Herps/Vivarium https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07V39ZYJB/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_vplXDb9GMSZDZ

It’s on sale at the moment and has a $5 coupon
 
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