More basking help.

[ViolentJ]

Chameleon: 5 month old Male Yemen

His basking area is 85F but he keeps climbing up the side of the enclosure and then hangs upside down directly under the basking light which is about 1" from the top of the enclosure. It must be too hot for him as he was just doing it with his mouth open.

What should I do? I've opened the window and given him a bit of a mist. He has moved away from it now but what can I do to prevent him doing this every day? Also, he makes me very nervous being upside down!

 

[WelshOneEmma]

I have my basking light on a dimmer, so you can control the temperature. Also makes it easy to turn the lights on in the morning without startling him awake!

 

[ViolentJ]

I tried it on a dimmer but it wouldn't work, it was either on or off, no dimming. What type of bulb are you using? At the moment I'm using a 60 watt screw in R80 (Reflector)

EDIT: I've just tried the dimmer stat again and it does appear to be dimming, the filament is red but there's no visible light. The bulb is making a horrible buzzing/whining sound though!

 

[WelshOneEmma]

We just got a standard (cheap) dimmer from do-it-all and wired it into the cable for the light. It is also just a standard household bulb (i think 60watt). Works fine. Maybe there is a problem with the dimmer? We just find that it helps to wake Hugo up without scaring him, and also we can control the temp in the cage with it. Might not be for everyone, but works for us!