need help with plants/lighting/sleeping

[chameleonman707]

so i have my lights on a timer too turn on at 12 in the afternoon and turn off at 12 at night since i stay up late and sleep in. however ive notived my chameleon waking up early around 11 am. im wondering if anyone has had experience with this. as there is only forums about falling asleep before the lights are out which isnt the case here. my question is.. do i turn on the lights when i notice him awake? or leave them on the timer schedule? also im wondering how everyone takes care of there plants..? i have a hibiscus and ficus in my cage. when the water gets too fill up the drain bowl do you empty it every time? or just soak it up with a towel too prevent bacteria? lastly does the 81-85 basking temp for baby panthers have too be met exactly when they wake up? or can it gradually get too that area through out the day... thanks in advance for the help!

 

[juice28]

hopefully one of the experienced member can chime in better than me, my cham is up about a half hour before my lights are on and about the same for when they go out, bout 20-30 minutes before, everyone is in there fav sleeping spot.

as far as plants go..what do you mean by "how do you care for your plants" ? i dont have excess water in my cages they all drain pretty good, i drilled a few holes on the bottom to kind of make it drain faster also though but i dont really get alot of water in my drain bucket...i get more water draining from watering the plants directly than i do from misting the cages. That may change once i set up my mistking though whenever it gets here.

as far as the temp...it would be an instant thing anyway. its going to heat up as its on then get to a point where it just stays a pretty constant temp. if you touch a light bulb as soon as its on it wont burn you but touch it after 5 minutes.. it will. The area will heat up pretty quickly but in nature its not an instant temp swing either

 

[jackschamnewbie]

If there is any light from your home or the sun getting in the room then your timer needs to be set to turn on near the time the sun comes up. The natural sarcaydian rhythm is meant to follow the sun and they make routines very quickly. This can be adapted of coarse but really, perhaps you should wake up for the chameleon instead of vice versa. That's just how I do and is natural

 

[chameleoman]

My boy always wakes up and hour before i turn his lights on.

 

[juice28]

my lights come on at 930 am and i work an evening shift. im sure there are plenty of people whos lights come on after 6-7 am and have perfectly healthy chams

 

[chameleonman707]

thanks for the help everyone! so its nothing too worry about?

 

[natureboy86]

I would say noon is probably too late for your lights to come on unless the room you have him in is very dark. I know, in my place, the sun starts shooting through the blinds around 630-7 am. I have his lights come on around 7. I keep them on til about 8, so he gets about 12-13 hours of light. I tape his daylight time off by a few hours in the winter.. Pretty much, you want to mimmick mother nature as much as possible. Time changes, etc..

As far as you plant issue, if you have water buildup, it sounds like you need a drainage system. How often are you misting? Do you hand mist, do you have an automatic, timed mister, dripper?

I have my enclosure sitting ontop of a vanity (sink/cabinet without the fossit). I drilled some holes in the bottom of the enclosure, and my umbrella plant sits ontop of the holes.. All water buildup drains from the enclosure, into the sink, and into a bucket i have in the cabinet of the vanity. Just an idea.