setup for montane species

[Brad]

I am very curious how people keeping montane species deal with the lower temperatures they require. Currently I am not setup to provide the drop in temperature they seem to require at night. The only solution I can think of is to use a sealed off area and a portable ac type unit.

 

[lowendfrequency]

An ideal location for montane species would be a basement. Low temps and high humidity. For those of us that aren't fortunate enough to have a basement, you'll have to create a microclimate for them. I house all of my montane species as well as my leaf chameleons in a walk-in closet off of my bedroom. My reasoning for this is that specific room is air conditioned, so I can hold the temp at 70 degrees. I use low wattage incandescent bulbs to keep my basking temps around 80. Keeping them close together in the closet is the key to keeping the humidity up with the a/c trying to suck the moisture out of the air. Fortunately for the chams, my girlfriend and I both like it to be cold while sleeping, so I drop the temps to 65 degrees at night. The a/c isn't always necessary, so it isn't as expensive as you'd think to run all that juice.

Remember the key is keeping the temps low, the humidity high, heavily planted cages and lots of misting.

 

[ChameleonsTree]

An ideal location for montane species would be a basement. Low temps and high humidity. For those of us that aren't fortunate enough to have a basement, you'll have to create a microclimate for them. I house all of my montane species as well as my leaf chameleons in a walk-in closet off of my bedroom. My reasoning for this is that specific room is air conditioned, so I can hold the temp at 70 degrees. I use low wattage incandescent bulbs to keep my basking temps around 80. Keeping them close together in the closet is the key to keeping the humidity up with the a/c trying to suck the moisture out of the air. Fortunately for the chams, my girlfriend and I both like it to be cold while sleeping, so I drop the temps to 65 degrees at night. The a/c isn't always necessary, so it isn't as expensive as you'd think to run all that juice.

Remember the key is keeping the temps low, the humidity high, heavily planted cages and lots of misting.

lol how does your girlfriend feel about you taking away her walk in closet

 

[lowendfrequency]

lol how does your girlfriend feel about you taking away her walk in closet

Haha! Actually, it was a tradeoff. I'm also into horticulture and that takes up some room, so I had to surrender up my bigger closet to her in exchange. She also makes me get up in the middle of the night and remove noisy crickets from the cages. Just what I want to do at 3am!

 

[Jerm]

Hey guys,
I use the bedroom that is closest to my central ac unit and I crank down the temp. I partially close the vents in the rest of the house. I use a large humidifier and a lot of misting (2-3 times a day). They have drippers on them and I put them in the shower atleast once a week. I move them outside on rainy overcast days until the temp reaches 80 or above. Right now I am housing Tanzanian and Camaroon species in there.

 

[edub2017]

lol how does your girlfriend feel about you taking away her walk in closet

There are times when my girlfreind will be watching t.v. or listening to her music really loud at night, keeping my chameleon awake at all hours. Not a big deal, i just gather up a water source and some fresh food and move everything into the closet. With my girlfreind locked away, my chameleon can rest peacefully.