Light Schedule and Feeding Time

[BigSkyCham]

I will become a panther chameleon parent sometime at the end of September or early October. The baby will be 3-4months old when it arrives.

My enclosure is a bioactive planted glass enclosure and I live in nw Montana. 36w 18d 48h

Let me know if I should/could adjust the schedule.
I want to have lights on later at night so I can observe/enjoy in the evening. I also want to observe the feeding time to see if bugs are being eaten or if they climb out of the feeder (I have the Naymars feeder run). Preparing for bedtime at 6pm seems so early….would 13hrs with lights on (6am-7pm) become a husbandry issue?

Here is the schedule I am running now (with no animal):

Midnight-5am: Fogger 30min on/30min off

1am: misting 30s

5:30am: misting 30s

5:15-5:45am: lights (plant light, uvb) turn on…from 0% (off) to 100% on over 30mins

5:45: basking bulb on

7:00am: feeding time (I leave for work weekdays at 7:15, my son goes to school at 7:40) my hope is this will allow enough time for wake up/warm up and be ready to feed. I would like to observe the feeding time…I get home from work about 4-5pm…probably too late to feed after work)

7:00am: ventilation fans: dry things out/circulate air 30mins

10:00am: ventilation fans: dry things out/circulate air 30mins

Noon or 1pm or 2pm: basking light off

1:00pm: ventilation fans: dry things out/circulate air 30mins

4:00pm: ventilation fans: dry things out/circulate air 30mins

5:45-6:15pm: plant light, uvb transition from 100% (on) to 0% (off)

6:00pm: hang blackout curtains on enclosure to block ambient light/sunlight in summer.

6:30pm-midnight: Fogger 30min on/30min off

9:00pm: Misting 30sec.

9:00 or 10pm: take blackout curtains down before I go to bed.

 

[Beman]

You will want to test run all of this before you get the chameleon and see what your humidity and temp levels end up being. I can see some areas that may need tweaking... Keep in mind temps for fogging need to be cold... Nothing hotter than 67. But colder than that if possible. Hybrid cages can take a bit to pull down ambient temp in the cage to be able to fog at night. I think 6:30pm is going to be way too early and your temps will be too hot still.

Note babies bask a lot more than an adult. While 12pm basking light off may work great for some set ups with an adult it may turn off too early for a baby that is taking in so much food and needing the basking light to digest. I would consider pushing that back at least to 2pm.

 

[BigSkyCham]

You will want to test run all of this before you get the chameleon and see what your humidity and temp levels end up being. I can see some areas that may need tweaking... Keep in mind temps for fogging need to be cold... Nothing hotter than 67. But colder than that if possible. Hybrid cages can take a bit to pull down ambient temp in the cage to be able to fog at night. I think 6:30pm is going to be way too early and your temps will be too hot still.

Note babies bask a lot more than an adult. While 12pm basking light off may work great for some set ups with an adult it may turn off too early for a baby that is taking in so much food and needing the basking light to digest. I would consider pushing that back at least to 2pm.

Great information. I really appreciate the feedback.
I have a temp and humidity data logger in the tank running constantly. I will take note of that 67f mark for the fogger.

I was running the basking lamp for all 12 hours…and later I read about people having the basking lamp on for a much shorter time frame. Do you think for the “baby” stage keep that basking bulb on for 10 or 12 is better?

Thank you.

 

[ehdee6]

If you're dimming the lights on and off, as you stated, I don't think the extra hour will matter. It equates to a dusk/dawn moment.

 

[Beman]

Great information. I really appreciate the feedback.
I have a temp and humidity data logger in the tank running constantly. I will take note of that 67f mark for the fogger.

I was running the basking lamp for all 12 hours…and later I read about people having the basking lamp on for a much shorter time frame. Do you think for the “baby” stage keep that basking bulb on for 10 or 12 is better?

Thank you.

I have always kicked basking lamp off earlier in the day. It allows for the cage to start cooling. Most of the time I would have UVB kick on along with any plant lighting staggered about 15 minutes apart then basking would kick on last. Then I have them start kicking off in reverse order starting with basking and ending with UVB lighting. In the evening I allow for more time between lighting kicking off so it is more gradual lights off.

Note... I always had black out curtains on my cages... My bottom panel of the cage was screen for the service door while the rest was solid. So I cut my curtain bottom and attached command hooks to the cage then sewed rings to the curtain so it would hang without obstructing airflow on the top. But by cutting it shorter it leaves full air circulation. I left my curtains up the entire time lights were off.

 

[nightanole]

Great information. I really appreciate the feedback.
I have a temp and humidity data logger in the tank running constantly. I will take note of that 67f mark for the fogger.

I was running the basking lamp for all 12 hours…and later I read about people having the basking lamp on for a much shorter time frame. Do you think for the “baby” stage keep that basking bulb on for 10 or 12 is better?

Thank you.

Generally babies dont get a lamp. I keep my lamps on for a much shorter about of time unless its winter and im using for general cage heat. During the summer my lamps are off by 10-11am. Once cage heat hits 75f, its really not needed. During the winter i keep small (under 50 watt) halogen wide floods on just as long as the UVB bulbs. But during the summer ant no body basking once air temp hits 80f, they all start hanging out in the cool bottom of the cages. I even turn off my UVB from like 10 till 2 for the heat of the day.