Night time heat issues.

[broderp]

Meet Jackson: I named him this even before I knew it was a specific type of chameleon.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=91051&stc=1&d=1388737808


This is Jackson's home: (during a mist cycle)
https://www.chameleonforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=91052&stc=1&d=1388737834

How are you guys maintaing proper temp during the evening time and overnight?

My cage during the day is about 100-115 degrees on the "hot" side, and 70-75 degrees on the cold side. I am able to easily keep his humidity between 50 and 80%. (Thanks to my Walgreen's humidifier)

My issue is at night. The humidy stays high (I'm working on the proper timing and flow) but his temp drops down to the low 60's. The heat lamps I use to maintain his day temps are not on and his temp drops. As I'm writing this, his cage is at 64.0 degrees (humidity at a whopping 92%; I'm still messing with the timer to control this. It was at 88% prior to coming on. I just shut it down again to increase the delay. My goal is to get it to about 40-50% at night. )

Is there a simple solution, such as a heat rock or heat pad, or other device I can use to combat this?

 

[ridgebax1]

First welcome to the forums. Your hot temperature is way too high. Adult male Veiled chameleons need a basking temp between 90-95F. So your problem is actually the opposite of your concern. They can tolerate and actually need a night time temperature drop so your ambient night time temp is fine. I am not sure if it is just the lighting but do you have some type of water fall in the bottom of your cage? If so you need to take that out as it is a concern for bacterial contamination of your enclosure, especially with the humidity as high as it is. I am pretty sure that it should not be over 70%. You should not use heating pads or rocks as they can burn the animal. I would also suggest you add a little more greenery at the top of the enclosure.
To the left of the forum webpage is a link Care Resources. If you click on this link you can access care sheets for Veiled chameleons.

 

[camimom]

I wouldnt even go up to 90, i keep my adult male at 88.

That night time drop is fine, they can handle temps down to the 50;s, and a night drop is actually good for them.

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

Like others said, drop that basking temp down before he gets burned. Night time drops are really good for the Cham. No prob there

 

[Katrinaa]

I'm new to all of this, but have cared for many different exotics.. To me your little guy seems awefully skinny. Is he eating properly?

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

I would prob remove the decorations from the bottom and add a schefflera plant. In my opinion you need more horizontal walkways and more hiding places created by foliage.

 

[Psychobunny]

I agree, you need a lot more branches, vines, leaves, etc. for him to get around and be able to hide, so he feels more secure and reduce stress.

If a cham feels exposed, it will stress them, which could cause them to not
eat and/or drink, esp if they know someone is watching.

 

[pssh]

90 degrees in the basking temp is plenty warm for most veileds, and some people keep them even cooler. Adults can handle temperature drops into the low 50s (and even lower if they have a proper basking area during the day.) Your lowest temp is fine and is actually good for him. Your basking spot is likely to burn him severely eventually though.

 

[broderp]

Lots of good info, thanks!

Like others said, drop that basking temp down before he gets burned. Night time drops are really good for the Cham. No prob there

I'm moving his lamp further away or will try a 100W bulb.

I wouldnt even go up to 90, i keep my adult male at 88.

That night time drop is fine, they can handle temps down to the 50;s, and a night drop is actually good for them.

This was good to know in case a 100W bulb doesn't quite get to the recommended 95 degree point.

First welcome to the forums. Your hot temperature is way too high. Adult male Veiled chameleons need a basking temp between 90-95F. So your problem is actually the opposite of your concern. They can tolerate and actually need a night time temperature drop so your ambient night time temp is fine. I am not sure if it is just the lighting but do you have some type of water fall in the bottom of your cage? If so you need to take that out as it is a concern for bacterial contamination of your enclosure, especially with the humidity as high as it is. I am pretty sure that it should not be over 70%. You should not use heating pads or rocks as they can burn the animal. I would also suggest you add a little more greenery at the top of the enclosure.
To the left of the forum webpage is a link Care Resources. If you click on this link you can access care sheets for Veiled chameleons.

Understood, I do not have any type of water fall in the terrarium. How do you recommend keeping a constant humidity? With the lights on, the humidity disappears quicky when the humidifier is off. When I cycle it on the lowest setting and for the shorted cycle time of 30 minutes, the humidity reaches upwards of 75-80%. It quickly drops down to 48% or so after 30 minutes with the humidifier off.

I'm new to all of this, but have cared for many different exotics.. To me your little guy seems awefully skinny. Is he eating properly?

Let me tell you something...lol Jackson eats about 5-8 large crickets (gut fed of course) or 4-5 large meal worms almost daily. He always has a healthy appetite and I see him drinking at least every 2-3 days from the leaves in his cage. (im also needing to work on a drip system) I don't know why he seems so skinny. I'm looking at him now, and he has almost a what would be considered a big pot-belly. He's weird that way. He's about 9 months old, I think.

I would prob remove the decorations from the bottom and add a schefflera plant. In my opinion you need more horizontal walkways and more hiding places created by foliage.

I'll look into that. We change up his cage every cleaning, we do a complete tear down and washing and reinstall everything.

I agree, you need a lot more branches, vines, leaves, etc. for him to get around and be able to hide, so he feels more secure and reduce stress.

If a cham feels exposed, it will stress them, which could cause them to not
eat and/or drink, esp if they know someone is watching.

I hear yu loud and clear. I don't know a lot about him, but am learning! I don't believe he is stressed very much though. He's not afraid of me or a few of my older kids, and when we open up the front to feed or otherwise mess with his cage, he is very socialble. He loves to crawl up my arm and lets me pet him. He even goes to the glass and tries to get out. Its funny to watch because of his hands and feet being like they are. it looks like he is washing the windows and is then squeegeeing them. We open the door and he crawls right out onto us. (He also lets us know he wants to go back in aftert a short while.) My 18 year old son hold him while we clean out the cage, and he falls asleep in his hands. It's crazy.

90 degrees in the basking temp is plenty warm for most veileds, and some people keep them even cooler. Adults can handle temperature drops into the low 50s (and even lower if they have a proper basking area during the day.) Your lowest temp is fine and is actually good for him. Your basking spot is likely to burn him severely eventually though.

Burn? Good thing I'm moving it farther away!

 

[ridgebax1]

Lots of good info, thanks!

I'll look into that. We change up his cage every cleaning, we do a complete tear down and washing and reinstall everything.

I have wondered if that is something that would be beneficial or stressful for the cham. Rearranging things could be stimulating but the constant disruption of the environment could also be stressful. I guess it depends on the chameleon. Your guy sounds happy. Omar doesn't like me messing around in his cage. I am rearranging things right now because I have fungus gnats and am finally getting around to removing old dirt, improving drainage and adding new plants.

It is perfectly OK for humidity to fluctuate throughout the day. Some people put up a shower curtain or some other barrier around 3 sides of the cage to help keep humidity up.

 

[Balizar]

The all glass cage is cooking him. You should try and move to a screened cage. These little guys are not native to tropical places they are are from the Yemen/UAE area and the climate there is a lot different. And technically there is little but important differences between caring for the different species of chams.

 

[broderp]

I have wondered if that is something that would be beneficial or stressful for the cham. Rearranging things could be stimulating but the constant disruption of the environment could also be stressful. I guess it depends on the chameleon. Your guy sounds happy. Omar doesn't like me messing around in his cage. I am rearranging things right now because I have fungus gnats and am finally getting around to removing old dirt, improving drainage and adding new plants.

It is perfectly OK for humidity to fluctuate throughout the day. Some people put up a shower curtain or some other barrier around 3 sides of the cage to help keep humidity up.

It's a good point you make. I kind of based what I do on the fact he appears to be so social and loves to come to us and climb on us that he isn't so stressed out. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong!) I thought that a new environment would be stimulating for him. It's not drastically different, but enough that he spends some time getting use to his new perches and other sticks etc. I clean his cage out maybe one every 2 weeks. He's not really all that messy.

 

[broderp]

The all glass cage is cooking him. You should try and move to a screened cage. These little guys are not native to tropical places they are are from the Yemen/UAE area and the climate there is a lot different. And technically there is little but important differences between caring for the different species of chams.

I will respectfully disagree on some of this. He is in an Exo Terra terarrium. The top is mesh and the cage is designed for air flow thru it.

http://www.amazon.com/Terra-Glass-T...388807757&sr=8-1&keywords=exo+terra+terrarium


Per the resources I found here on this forum, he should be in a basking temp of 90-95 degrees and in a cool area of 75-80 degrees. His humidity should be between 40 & 70%.

As I sit here looking at him, his temps (with the new heat bulb I am trying) have him at 91 degrees @ 31% humidity in the 'hot zone' and 68.3 degrees @ 63% humidity in the cold zone.

Jackson is currently under his UVB lamp after basking under the heat lamp for about 30 minutes.

I don't think that sound like I'm cooking him. I dont' like screen enclosures, and it's been debated here on the forum as I have read. I hope to move him to the larger Exo Terra when he's larger.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0052Y3KTC/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_9?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

I do however appreciate your concern and thoughts.