My veiled gets tired every day around 7 oclock and its been this way for about a year. And for the past 6 months every time i put my lizard on the perch by my bed he falls asleep around 7, even if the lights are on. He either sleeps on his perch or climbs onto my leg or shirt and falls asleep. I mean, he's really active during the day and eats good and he has UVB light and heat lamps. I have been hearing people say that it is bad for chameleons to sleep when lights are on, but if my veileds been doing this for 6 months and hasnt died yet, what do you think is wrong with him?
My chameleon sleeps when lights are on but seems healthy?
- Thread starter DChalo
- Start date
summoner12
Avid Member
could you show some pictures of the perch? Sometimes when chams don't have enough light they will fall asleep. Let's see how you have things set up and maybe can give some feedback.
donnak0125
New Member
Well, if it's at 7 pm it just sounds like it's his bed time. I think it supposed to be worrisome if it's closing it's eyes and/or napping throughout the day....?
summoner12
Avid Member
This is true. He may not have issues at all and it might just be late, and low light, so the cham sleeps. But in general chameleons will stay awake as long as their is light. They don't have clocks in their heads to tell them 'hey, go to sleep, you've been up 14 hours already!'. They will stress out if the lights are on for odd time periods, say lights on 16 hours or longer.
I have almost never seen my Chameleon stress out for anything. In his cage he sometimes puffs up his body under his basking light and turns a shade of brown but im pretty sure that is to absorb the heat. Other than that he is always a light shade of green, even when he's sleeping. But thats another thing im worried about, i thought chameleons turned shades of white when they fell asleep, but mine stays light green
summoner12
Avid Member
My vieleds have gone light green. You don't want to see a white cham. White is somewhat of a universal sign of 'death is near' unless the animal is shedding it's skin. You might see some cloudy grey colored skin when your cham is close to shedding.
donnak0125
New Member
Yes, my male veiled turns light green when sleeping. Does anyone know how often an adult veiled will shed? When I had my female, while she was growing, she did it regularly every four weeks. Seems the adults shed much less often. Haven't had my adult male long enough to discover his cycle.
summoner12
Avid Member
I think in general 1-2 months is a good cycle. It depends on the age. after they are full grown it spaces out a bit. Honestly i forget how often my guys shed because they do it so well that I don't watch them shed... I just find the skin later lol.
Yes i have 2 males, this one is the one i have had since it was a baby, the other one was my dads, he gave it to me
I might take a video of the exact process he goes through before falling asleep sometime when i get my new video camera
summoner12
Avid Member
That would be kind of cool. Also post some stills of the setup. Pictures are worth a million words.
jojackson
New Member
Donna, shedding will be more frequent in the first 6-8 months of life simply because the lizard is growing at a phenomenal rate, frequency will slow down after this as the lizard approaches maturity and growth slows.
In general terms, there is no timetable for it, too many variables, such as, its diet, how much/often its fed, illness/injury burn etc, any given lizard will shed according to its needs.
Rather than have concern about the frequency of shedding, regular monitoring of weight will tell you if the lizards growth is nice and steady, and you begin to see a regularity in shedding as I described earlier.
Keeping a scrapbook where you record weight (say, once per month) and each shed will serve as useful tool when you look back through it. You will notice normal changes, such as the slowing of growth and food intake approaching maturity.
This can be a bonus when you get your next baby cham!
re the OP the importance of regular Photoperiod (day/night cycle) is in my opinion way underestimated. Lizards and other reptiles alike, depend on these signals for seasonal cycles which trigger brumation, breeding and so on.
Nature is very gradual and consistant in this regard. In captivity your lizard relies on regular day/night cycle as much as in the wild.
My thoughts are that perhaps its getting dark outside around 7 pm and your lizard knows this (it also notices fine changes in temp as evening approaches), or conversly that perhaps it became used to a cycle where lights went off at 7 with its previous owner???
Using a timer on your lighting is a great way to ensure a consistant cycle for your animal/s.
A week or two of regular lights on/off timing will see your lizard adapt, providing it matches as closely as possible the natural day outside (remember the temp drops will give it away)
cheers
In general terms, there is no timetable for it, too many variables, such as, its diet, how much/often its fed, illness/injury burn etc, any given lizard will shed according to its needs.
Rather than have concern about the frequency of shedding, regular monitoring of weight will tell you if the lizards growth is nice and steady, and you begin to see a regularity in shedding as I described earlier.
Keeping a scrapbook where you record weight (say, once per month) and each shed will serve as useful tool when you look back through it. You will notice normal changes, such as the slowing of growth and food intake approaching maturity.
This can be a bonus when you get your next baby cham!
re the OP the importance of regular Photoperiod (day/night cycle) is in my opinion way underestimated. Lizards and other reptiles alike, depend on these signals for seasonal cycles which trigger brumation, breeding and so on.
Nature is very gradual and consistant in this regard. In captivity your lizard relies on regular day/night cycle as much as in the wild.
My thoughts are that perhaps its getting dark outside around 7 pm and your lizard knows this (it also notices fine changes in temp as evening approaches), or conversly that perhaps it became used to a cycle where lights went off at 7 with its previous owner???
Using a timer on your lighting is a great way to ensure a consistant cycle for your animal/s.
A week or two of regular lights on/off timing will see your lizard adapt, providing it matches as closely as possible the natural day outside (remember the temp drops will give it away
)cheers
Last edited:
summoner12
Avid Member
Donna, shedding will be more frequent in the first 6-8 months of life simply because the lizard is growing at a phenomenal rate, frequency will slow down after this as the lizard approaches maturity and growth slows.
In general terms, there is no timetable for it, too many variables, such as, its diet, how much/often its fed, illness/injury burn etc, any given lizard will shed according to its needs.
re the OP the importance of regular Photoperiod (day/night cycle) is in my opinion way underestimated. Lizards and other reptiles alike, depend on these signals for seasonal cycles which trigger brumation, breeding and so on.
Nature is very gradual and consistant in this regard. In captivity your lizard relies on regular day/night cycle as much as in the wild.
My thoughts are that perhaps its getting dark outside around 7 pm and your lizard knows this (it also notices fine changes in temp as evening approaches), or conversly that perhaps it became used to a cycle where lights went off at 7 with its previous owner???
Using a timer on your lighting is a great way to ensure a consistant cycle for your animal/s.
A week or two of regular lights on/off timing will see your lizard adapt, providing it matches as closely as possible the natural day outside (remember the temp drops will give it away
cheers
Very good info here. A good reason to have good lighting control. I almost set my guys up on a photo sensor for my lights... but need to figure out how to delay the heat and UVB lights to make it more of a gradual change inside..... need some time delay relays...
summoner12
Avid Member
Maybe you can find a photosensitive rheostat? You guys have all the awesome reptile equipment!
I want the delay so that i can have a more gradual 'lights off' than just 'OFF' when the sensor doesn't see enough light to send an 'on' signal. Right now I just stagger the timing on the heat and UVB. I use an ecozone vivarium controller on my free range and gecko in the bedroom. This gradually dims the UVB light to give a sun setting effect. It is even more natural for me waking up to it... I wake up about mid cycle without being grumpy. Much better than an annoying alarm clock.
donnak0125
New Member
I didn't even think about weighing him regularly. They did it at the vets office on a digital scale that appeared to be exactly like one I use to weigh items for cooking recipies. Good tip! Thanks. The vet didn't mention that I should do that... hummm...
summoner12
Avid Member
Yeah, most people weigh their chams in grams. I used to keep real close track, but don't as much anymore. It is a great way to identify health issues. Say your cham goes on hunger strike... you can tell if it is an 'issue' by how much weight loss there is. But in general it is OK for a cham to go on hunger strike, but just saying.
jojackson
New Member
Well that's what we're all here for eh, your in the best possible place to pick up all kinds of neat tips!
summoner12
Avid Member
Well that's what we're all here for eh, your in the best possible place to pick up all kinds of neat tips!
You can say that again!
