Male Parson's

Action Jackson

Chameleon Enthusiast
This is one of my male Parson's. His name is Darby. He's one of a pair I got from Garrett. He's has been brumating for about 5-6 weeks and I haven't seen him eat in that time. He's looking good and cruises around a bit but mostly just hangs out.
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Can you talk a little about the brumation process for Parsons? Is this a phase he "put himself into" in response to changing weather (do you even HAVE changing weather in SoCal, lol?) or is this an active process for you as a keeper/breeder?
 
I am very interested in this as well. It has always been a topic that comes up every once in a while and peaks my interest. I have read various articles and books that suggest putting certain species through a "soft brumation" is beneficial to their overall health while other studies maintain the stance that it has zero benefit for the animal. So, I am also interested in knowing your thoughts behind replicating this process and as to whether you feel there are noticeable benefits. Beautiful specimen by the way!
 
With my Orange Eye Parson's they almost stop eating from November to about April. They will occasionally take food during this time though. I keep my Parson's outside most of the year and in the Winter I move them to my garage where the temperatures get down into the 50's at night. They often will move around a bit but just don't feed as much. I think since my Parson's are outside so much and see cooler temps this has become part of their yearly cycle. I do think it helps with their overall health.

I don't use any basking lights on my Calumma species. They do see pretty high ambient temperatures some times in the summer even up to 100 degrees but during these times I run misters for long periods of time and they are in heavily planted enclosures. This year during our hot spells I observed no signs of heat stress.
 
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