Outdoor Basking - Too hot at 68°???

[LaserGecko]

Hi everyone,

I took my girl outside for some supervised basking the other day at about 5:00pm. It was a very comfortable 68-70°F and the sun was setting. Since I had to work on the pool, I figured I would give her some time outside where I could watch her. The umbrella plant isn't that sturdy, so I wanted to be near her if she did some pole bending to escape.

This was in mostly full sun with no shade, but the clouds were blocking part of the light occasionally.

It wasn't long before she turned incredibly light, almost flourescent highlighter yellow. I kept a really close eye on her since I knew she was using the color to thermoregulate and a few minutes later, she was actually gaping to cool down. I moved her to the shade and she quickly returned to her normal coloration.

What gives? It was only 70°F out.

I never would've imagined that she could overheat on what was actually a wonderful, pleasant day. The plant didn't provide much cover, so that's why I never got more than 20' away from her, but I couldn't imagine her getting too hot in those conditions.

 

[Vibrant Chameleons]

She wasn't too hot in those conditions, that's for sure. I'd think she was stressed out.

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy Jason,

A nice sunny day with air temps at 75F will produce 90-100F skin temp on my Panther. At that point, he usually moves into the shade. I use an infrared thermometer to experiment with what temps he deals with in his enclosure compared to outside. Get one with a distance:spot ratio of 6:1 or better yet 8:1 so that you can be many inches away and still get a tight, local reading. 6:1 is just fine and you can even get a 1:1 but you'll need to get an inch or closer to get a narrow enough localized temp measurement. With a little searching you can find 1:1 for as low as $10 .

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93984

http://www.tempgun.com/order.html#pe2

http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog...d-thermostats/-/infrared-temp-gun-with-laser/

P.S. The built-in laser diode is just to help you point the sensor to the right location .

 

[Vegas Chad]

Nawww its she is fine... I take all of mine out whenever I am able. I mist them with the hose about once an hour to cool them off and give them a drink. If she gets too hot she will move to the shade.

 

[dodolah]

Hi everyone,

I took my girl outside for some supervised basking the other day at about 5:00pm. It was a very comfortable 68-70°F and the sun was setting. Since I had to work on the pool, I figured I would give her some time outside where I could watch her. The umbrella plant isn't that sturdy, so I wanted to be near her if she did some pole bending to escape.

This was in mostly full sun with no shade, but the clouds were blocking part of the light occasionally.

It wasn't long before she turned incredibly light, almost flourescent highlighter yellow. I kept a really close eye on her since I knew she was using the color to thermoregulate and a few minutes later, she was actually gaping to cool down. I moved her to the shade and she quickly returned to her normal coloration.

What gives? It was only 70°F out.

I never would've imagined that she could overheat on what was actually a wonderful, pleasant day. The plant didn't provide much cover, so that's why I never got more than 20' away from her, but I couldn't imagine her getting too hot in those conditions.

maybe next time make sure that some part of the tree is in the sun and some of them in the shade in case your chameleon thinks it's too hot.

 

[PardalisGirl]

Outdoor Basking..

The only other thing I can think of is concrete or stone. Was she and her plant on a concrete or stone patio? That holds and radiates heat like crazy. It's actually works really well when temperatures start a seasonal drop as it will extend the outdoor basking season.