My chameleon is always dark while basking

[Jakama]

Do you remember what the wattages were of the two bulbs you used were?

 

[JohnnyMurderus]

i have a 120v 60hz 125 w solar glow bulb from exoterra, plus the duel uv bulb i have this sitting about 6 inchs from his main basking area

 

[Jakama]

Sorry, I meant the wattage of the bulb you switched out and the one you replaced it with.

 

[Affordable Exotics]

wheres the heat....

She is in a big cage it seems.While her basking temp is high,what is her ambient temp in the middle of the cage.Vieleds can be weird about thier colors in the heat.I think because your heat isnt a visual heat for her,she is instinctively turning black thinking it is making her warm....this happens alot with mine until i change to a good uva basking bulb,try it and see if she stops and let me know...

Jonathan Jones

 

[Jakama]

I have a 100W UVA basking bulb, but I don't like using it because it gets the basking spot really hot- up around 110. Also, I'm not sure what you mean by visual heat.

 

[JohnnyMurderus]

ive always got the same bulbs for my veilds the one i posted before is the one i use for heat

edit 125 w see other post for full info

 

[Jakama]

So you use a 125W for your female? What is the basking temperature there?

 

[JohnnyMurderus]

no that's for my male, basking temperature about 84ish verys, my point was maybe you just need a new bulb not so much a different one if your finding the basking temps are good, but just a new bulb same one as you are using now.

 

[jojackson]

Jakama does your lizard look like this? (your pics are dark, poor lighting)

 

[Jakama]

What about that picture should I be looking for in my chameleon?

 

[jojackson]

Is its color normally like this?
The only other suggestion I have is that your lizard is sitting under the UV more than the heat bulb because its brighter (thats what the other meant by visual heat), if thats the case move them closer together and see if it makes a diff.

 

[Jakama]

Nope, doesn't look like that. Just looks like she's been desaturated in photoshop. Also, the basking light and the UV light are right next to each other.

 

[jojackson]

Desaturated, yes thats what I thought was wrong with your pics.

Try changing the UV incase its shot? Try adding additional light (brightness, not heat)
Im out of ideas, when did she slough last? might be due?
How long has it been lacking color? No changes to anything around the time it started?
Is it like the pic above when its not basking?

 

[Jakama]

When she is not basking she is a normal dark green color scheme. What does slough mean? She has been dark around the basking light since I got her. I just had a thought, though. When we bought supplies we were pretty dumb about it, did not do as much research as we should have and didn't know not to trust pet stores, so we bought a 10.0 UVB bulb instead of a 5.0 like the folks on this site reccomend. Could that have something to do with it? We haven't replaced it yet since we figured it couldn't do too much harm, and we might as well get some use out of it while we had it. I am willing to go out and buy a 5.0 if the current UVB bulb is damaging, though.

 

[jojackson]

Slough means shedding, or Ecdysis.
Possibly the 10 is outputting really high levels of UVB, but I wouldnt think it related to the problem. (if its a problem at all) You could raise it some, see if that makes a difference.
The photo I posted is a normal relaxed coloration. Darker schemes with dots and whatnot, ususally indicate alarm/excitement (see pic below).
I asked before what its color/behaviour was like while it cant see you observing it, this makes a difference.

I note the diet could be improved, both the variety and the gutload, snap peas dont constitute much variety nutrition wise. Sandrachameleon and others here have extensive blogs on nutritional values of various fruit & veg and other gutload. An improvement in diet may see better coloration overall. Cheers

Sorry, should've clarified: the temperature doesn't vary from 70 to 85- there is a temperature gradient from 85 to 70.

Are you sure you understand thermal gradient? (difference between coolest and hottest)
Given your basking temp (highest) is described as mid 80's this would mean your lowest temp at the bottom gets to between 15f and zero, (85h-70L =15) I dont think so mate, unless your an eskimo!

At night it gets pretty cold, so I use a space heater to keep the temperature at about 60 degrees.

So your day thermal gradient is just 15f. (difference between coolest and hottest)
A gradient of just 15f (difference between coolest and hottest) is not really a gradient at all, I would call a decent gradient, no less than 50f/10c (difference between coolest and hottest). Again please see my notes about gradient and grab yourself a real thermometer.

Excitement/alarm color (fired up) same lizard as before.

 

[Jakama]

When I walk in on her, she is usually in her basking spot, with that same coloration. It is easily differentiable from her stress coloration, which is a very dark solid grey. You said I needed to get a temperature difference of about 50 degrees Fahrenheit. This seems somewhat ridiculous. What you are implying is that, if I have an ambient temperature of 70 F, then she needs a basking spot of at least 120 F. Also, it doesn't make sense to measure temperature gradient in both Celcius and Fahrenheit, since they change at different rates. At no temperature is 50 F equal to 10 C. Please clarify on what temperature gradient I should use.

 

[jojackson]

You said I needed to get a temperature difference of about 50 degrees Fahrenheit. This seems somewhat ridiculous. What you are implying is that, if I have an ambient temperature of 70 F, then she needs a basking spot of at least 120 F.

No, I said I consider a decent gradient to be of minimum 50f (thats 50f between coldest and hottest) I also said such a gradient would be very difficult to achieve in an all screen cage. I imply nothing of the sort. 120f/48c is way too hot, no chameleon would bask in that for long. Thats plain silly mate! Common sense please.
You have an ambient temp of 70f BECAUSE you cant create a gradient in an all screen cage.

Also, it doesn't make sense to measure temperature gradient in both Celcius and Fahrenheit, since they change at different rates. At no temperature is 50 F equal to 10 C.

What??? 50f IS 10c , no matter how you cut it! I used Centigrade along with Fahrenheit for clarification, and because Im an Aussy, suit me! Do you understand temperature measurement at all?

Please clarify on what temperature gradient I should use.

The best (WIDEST) gradient you can manage to achieve within your means.
That means, the greatest possible difference you can create between whatever the hell your basking temp might actually be and the opposite end of the cage , ok.
If your convinced your analogue thermometer is good and your readings correct
Then dont change it, just provide the lizard a suitable egglaying place.
I think your lizards lack of color saturation, as you describe it, is attributable to a range of factors which unfortunately I am unable to quantify for you.
I suspect ambient temperature fluctuations may be a factor and advise moving the cage from the window as others advised. There is no special benefit your lizard can derive from daylight through glass anyway.
I must concede defeat at this point, sorry I can't help you mate. We are both getting frustrated here and I think its best if you are really concerned, you visit a vet with your lizard and have it a checkup and explain to him/her.
cheers

 

[Jakama]

F=(9/5)C+32. I will agree, though. Thank you for your help.

 

[jojackson]

and reverse [°C] = ([°F] − 32) × 5⁄9 Hows your math? 50f =10c Trust me!

 

[Jakama]

But you were talking about temperature as a quantity, a specific difference between two values in the particular gradient, not a particular temperature.