Not basking???

[naich]

So my guys basking till around 2 in the afternoon and he starts 10 mins after lights on...but when i come home he is hiding in the leaves and mabey baskes later at like 5 for an hour or so...but sometimes he just chills out in his darker colors in a tangle of plants....? normal?


Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? 2 by 2 by 4 all screen by lllreptile
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? 6:30 on 7 off
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? digital thermometer...85 at basking spot, 73 at floor area, and 65 at night as the lowest
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? there at 45 normaly and 80 after a mistking mist
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? dwarf umbrella, small ficus, pothos
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? In my room away from traffic just me in and out about 4 times a day for a min each...theres a window but its only cracked open when we have 75 degrees plus...i also turn the fan on on the lowest possible to get the cricket smell out of the room...its a ceilling fan, and i find when its on he rarly baskes???why?
Location - Where are you geographically located? New Jersey...a mile from the beach

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? From screameleons...he is now 7 months and got him when he was 4 months..male panther.
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?Once a month to take outside and clean
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? Crickets, butterworms, silks, horns, and the occasional waxie and super...every day exept sunday...as much as he will eat till 4 pm.
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Calcium 4 times a week...D3 3 times a month...will only be once a month when he goes outside every 3 or 4 days in the summer, multivitamen once a month.
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? He likes to drink in private so i havent seen him drink in like 3 days...mistking 4 times a day for 10 mins each
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?Brown and a little slimmy..soft and held together...white urnate, and about 2 inches long
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
Current Problem - The current problem that you are concerned about. Stated in the intro above

 

[Syn]

Is your ceiling fan rattly? Does it vibrate at all? Chameleons feel vibrations and may feel threatened.

Chameleons also have great vision, perhaps he can see the fan moving and it looks like a big scary, 4,000-armed predator.

Oh, and if his urates are white, he's probably a shy drinker. Perhaps you are just too scary and he's afraid of you, so he hides!

 

[SliK JiM]

How long has he been doing it for? It sounds fairly normal as my guy does something similar to this just before he's about to shed. Has he been taking food well lately, or has his eating slowed down?

 

[naich]

eating slowed down and he shed 2 weeks mabey 3 weeks ago.....the fan is a little rattaly...could be it.

mabey i should just get a room freshener to keep the crickets oder away.

 

[jojackson]

Dont use room sprays, move the crickets or better clean them out more.
Probably the breeze/movement of the fan disturbs him, most likely the movement, especially if its a ceiling fan.

 

[Syn]

Absolutely no sprays. That's just that. If you really want to know why sprays are bad, just do some research.

 

[jojackson]

P.S the drier you keep the crickets the less odour you will get. When you gutload/feed them with anything, dont overdo it, no more than they consume entirely in a day.
The process of decay, especially with green veg begins to produce odour from the word go.
The fresher (and drier*) the produce, the less decay advances.
Here our greengrocers always spray their produce with lots of water, no idea why (perhaps they think it looks more attractive to buyers with water droplets) but then greens tied in bunches will rot in hours if not seperated and dried out (i use paper toweling) as soon as you get it home.

Cricket poo in itself is not particularly odourous and should be dry granules (great for the garden)

 

[SliK JiM]

As said sprays = bad. Any noise/movement/smells can easily stress a cham out, but he would be stressed almost constantly if it was the fan/spraying etc, unless there's some correlation between sprays and hiding?

When did you last see him shed? He may be struggling with this one a little. How often do you mist and for how long?

 

[warpdrive]

personaly, I see nothing wrong at this time with his basking and hiding.
it sounds totaly normal for a panther to only bask when needed, and to hide the other times each day.

I have no idea why you feel you need to mist for 10 mins at each misting.
maybe only 1 min for each mist and a 2 min shower for the fist misting to help rehydrate the cage after a long dry night might be better and less stressfull.

I totaly disagree with jojackson about wet gutloads.
veggies that are dry and warm will wilt and decay faster, and thus smell.
the reson they mist at the stores is to help keep the veggies cold and wet to prevent decay.
I buy organic romaine and kale...grab them after the mister goes off, place them in a plastic bag and never remove said bag when placed in the fridge.
the greens should not be soaked, but still have droplets of water on them to help with moisture absorbtion.

there can be only two reasons that your cricket keeper smells.
decaying food and lack of cleaning up the poop.
try to clean the cricket keeper at least once a week and you will never have any smells.
old leftover gutload needs to be removed each day too to keep smells to a min.

use D3 suplements just one time less per month and you'll force your cham to bask more under the UVB bulb for D3 absobtion.
but again, I see no reason for alarm if he hides alot. that totaly sounds normal.

my panther has plenty of shade to hide from the lights if needed.
while in my cage you can see him almost at all times, he still might be in the shade 50% of the time or more in a day.
he only goes into the "bright" areas when he needs to help with digestion or light absorbtion.
otherwise he just chills out in the shade.

just my thoughts,
Harry

 

[tburgcris]

In my opinion, Its the rotting bodies of the dead crickets that stink so bad. Keep removing the dead crickets and the smell is very little, in my opinion anyway...I agree with harry that the markets spray mist to keep thing fresher longer.

 

[naich]

k thanks he just ate several butters so he is stille eating normal...thanks