Im sorry yall, I keep missing the important stuff. He is a 5mo old ambanja panther. Right now the room temp is about 72 and his digital temp therm. reads 70 in his cage. Its dark in the room so I sneak in there every so often to check the temp. What happens if he cant get a 10 degree drop? Will that hugely affect him?
Gotcha. In Madagascar where F. pardalis are found, during the warm season (when eggs are hatching and juveniles are growing) nighttime temps are usually in the 70-78 F range with daytime temps in the 85-95 F range. During the cool season temps are about 5-10 F cooler all the way around. For a juvenile panther I wouldn’t intentionally let the temp drop much below 70 F. A nighttime temp of 70-75 F seems very reasonable to me along with daytime ambient temps in the 75-80 F range, provided that the animal has access to a basking area where it can warm up to higher temps than that (e.g., 90-95 F in the basking area). I wouldn’t change the temp regime you have, except to make sure the animal has access to warm temps (basking) when it wants to warm up. These guys, along with many other chameleon species, tend to maintain body temps in the mid 80’s to low 90’s for normal activity during the day. They do that by shuttling back and forth between sunlight (hot) and shade (cooler) to behaviorally thermoregulate.
This may be true for jacksonii xanths in Hawaii and even other species that might be more tolerant or adaptable. In Cameroon, yes, species like cristatus only have a minimal night time drop. In the few articles I have read about jax jax and jax merus it calls for at least a 10 degree night drop and temperatures in the 40s can be tolerated as long as they are able to warm up at night. Hoehnelii are known to have significant night time drops in their range. Chameleons like goetzei, ellioti and bitaeniatus benefit from night time drops to lower 60s and lower. This is why it is important to know the range and what conditions the species you keep come from.
You can find T. goetzei, T. ellioti, T. hoehnelii, and T. bitaeniatus in the same or very similar habitats in East Africa as T. jacksonii jacksonii, T. j. xantholophus, or T. j. merumontanus. T. j. xantholophus are as much classical montane species as are any of these others. In their native ranges all of these can and do see nighttime temperatures in the 50’s and even the 40’s and tolerate them just fine, provided they are able to warm up during the day. However, generally temps that low only occur during the cool season, when juveniles aren’t usually present.
These species maintain body temps in the mid to upper 80’s F during the daytime, when they are able to, similar to other chameleon species. See here
http://compphys.bio.uci.edu/bennett/pubs/155.pdf and here
http://www.biol.vt.edu/faculty/andrews/pdfs/And_TB08.pdf for example. While these species tolerate cool or cold nighttime temperatures, I don’t see any reason to suggest that they “need” or necessarily benefit from these colder temps. T. j. xantholophus is as representative of these chameleons as any other species might be, and they thrive here in Hawaii with nighttime temps in the neighborhood of 70-78 F during the summer (and 5-10 F cooler in winter).
Yes, cooler nighttime temps seem to be what most articles and discussions suggest as preferable, and specifically a 10 F drop in temp, but why? Everyone seems to recommend it because, well, everyone seems to recommend it. The only empirical data we have suggests that these animals can live and breed very happily for generations (30+ here in Hawaii) with much warmer nighttime temperatures than they see in their native range. The data we have also shows that these species prefer to maintain operating body temps in the mid to upper 80’s F most of the time, just as lowland species do.
You say that some of these species “chameleons like goetzei, ellioti and bitaeniatus benefit from night time drops to lower 60s and lower.” I ask, benefit how? How do you know (i.e., what data or observations lead you to this conclusion)? T. j. xantholophus is ecologically as similar to these species as they are to each other, and they don’t require nighttime temps this low for normal good health, especially as juveniles.
You can call it a myth, dogma or whatever you like. I call it trying to replicate natural conditions. With so many un-natural aspects we put the chameleons through in captivity we should at least try to replicate any natural conditions possible. Night time temps being one of them. JMO.
Absolutely, and I see no problem in doing the best you can to replicate the conditions these species experience in nature (other than avoiding obvious negative influences, like predation, parasites, etc.). I do think that some degree of seasonality in temps can be very useful, especially when it comes to encouraging breeding behavior in many species, but I think it is a mistake to tell the average hobbyist that if they can’t get their room temp below ~70-75 F it will harm their chameleon. The available evidence suggests that view is simply wrong, and for young chameleons in particular it may not be desirable to push their low temperature limits.
And having said all of this, the species in question here is a juvenile F. pardalis. During the warm season, when F. pardalis are hatching and growing in Madagascar, nighttime temps are usually in the 70-78 F range where F. pardalis are found anyway. Hence, temps cooler than ~70 F would be unusually cool for this animal in its native range.
Best,
cj
plus the gas bill savings is a good excuse for getting another Cham. Lol.
