Dreaming?

[Miss Lily]

The other day I had Monty out and he caught sight of himself in the mirror. Later that night when he was sleeping, I looked in on him like I always do and he had his head up and was head bobbing in his sleep! I didn't think that chameleons had dreams, but I now I think otherwise! He usually sleeps with his chin resting on the branch. Initially I thought there was something wrong, then remembered abotu the mirror earlier in the day.

 

[ReptileLove18]

how strange!! he might have been dreaming about seeing that 'other' chameleon again and telling him to stay off his turf! haha
i wonder if they really are able to dream.. what an interesting question!

 

[lovepicasso]

I have never seen Picasso do this but maybe he was challenging some other cham while in his sleep.

 

[ReptiGeek]

I've seen Gizmo moves his eyes underneath his eyelids just as humans do while they are dreaming so I always figured they dreamt as well! Makes you wonder how vivid their dreams are, and whether or not they can dream of being in the wild or if their imaginations are limited to only what they have seen.

 

[poppototamus]

I would love to think that chameleons dream, but.....

My understanding from my studies of animal behavior and comparative anatomy is that reptiles do not actually sleep, at least not as "sleep" has been defined in mammals. Reptile brains lack a neocortex, they are physiologically simpler, and so their brains do not experience the cycles of brain activity that we clinically define as "sleep."

I think everyone is somewhat familiar with sleep studies where you sometimes wear a hat lined with electrodes so the doctors can monitor the cycles of tiny electrical signals produced by your brain as you sleep, right? Mammals dream during REM sleep, which is just one part of this sleep cycle. Humans experience several periods of REM sleep each night, interspersed with periods of more and less wakeful sleep. If reptile brains do not enter this cycling we have defined as "sleep" they are probably not capable of dreaming.

 

[ReptileLove18]

thats what i was curious about.. i have read about the stages of sleep in humans and what the brain does during those stages in psychology so i was wondering if chameleons are capable of dreaming, and it sounds like they arent! what a bummer for them!!

 

[Miss Lily]

So, if they need darkness to sleep but they don't actually sleep, what are they doing? Just hiding in the dark with their eyes shut? On occasion when I have had to rouse a chameleon, they take a while to 'wake up' or they can freak out instantly.

 

[pssh]

I don't know if they dream, but I know mine do some things that sure do make it look like they are dreaming. They move their eyes around, they might move their head a little, and sometimes a male might make one of those angry "huff" type noises (but not like if they had an RI.)

 

[ReptileLove18]

they do sleep guys, they just dont go thru the same stages of sleep that humans go thru. humans have different levels of sleep characterized by different activity in the brain, from what i understand they dont go thru REM stage, the dream stage in mammals therefore they are assumed to not dream. however they do sleep everythings gotta recharge their batteries its just a little different in reptiles then in mammals!!

 

[djfishygillz]

they do sleep guys, they just dont go thru the same stages of sleep that humans go thru. humans have different levels of sleep characterized by different activity in the brain, from what i understand they dont go thru REM stage, the dream stage in mammals therefore they are assumed to not dream. however they do sleep everythings gotta recharge their batteries its just a little different in reptiles then in mammals!!

Interesting fact I learned, dolphins are able to sleep but only by shutting off half their brain at a time. So that they can continue to swim and breathe.

I love being a psych major

 

[ReptileLove18]

very interesting!! i wonder about sharks sleeping, its said they cant stop swimming or they will suffocate so do they do the same thing as dolphins? except not go up to the surface for air?

im thinking very seriously about getting into psychology its amazing!!