Sleeping on floor

Jewel

New Member
For the last week my 4 month old female Ambanja has been sleeping on the floor of her tank at night. She is never on the floor in the daytime, just to sleep at night. Is this normal?
 
Hi Jewels,

With regards to your chameleon sleeping on the floor at night. I think your first action should be to check the temperature in the area where your chameleon sleeps. If given different temperature in different areas of her enclosure, she can sense the warmth and migrate to the area most suited for her when she sleeps. Another thing that can cause her to sleep on the floor is that maybe she finds this area most secure at night, or this might even be the place with the least amount of light entering her enclosure should you turn on your room light. These are of course from my own experience and are only ideas to help you. Hope this helps...
 
Hey

I would say that is definatly not normal, id also check on what was posted above me. mabey you could give more info about the cham might help people toss out some ideas
 
Actually the floor would be colder because it is a glass aquarium (waiting for son to have time to make a new cage). I am in Ontario Canada and right now our furnace is off because it is getting warmer outside and she is in the basement where it is colder, usually in the mid to upper 60's in the evening. There is no light down there at night time.
 
If you can post a pic of your setup maybe we can help you out even further. Post the exact temps, during the night/day. But its hard to say if we can't see. It could be what was posted already a issue with feeling secure but not sure.
 
Here is a picture of her 15 gallon aquarium, sorry for the crappy pictures because I am in a rush because I am off to work now and her tank has a lot of water spots on it. I will get her temps tonight for the night temperatures and post later tonight. It is in the back left corner that she is sleeping.
IMG_6197.jpg
 
Sorry for taking so long to post the temps but we had a power outage.
Daytime
Basking temp: 88
Other end of cage: 73
Humidity 52%

Night time temp: 67
 
Does everthing seem ok for her? When should I increase her basking temperature, I was told by the breeder to keep babies at 80 degrees but she never said for how long?
 
She may be trying to get out of the heat. An aquarium can heat up very fast and she may not be able to cope with the high temps. What are you using to measure your temperatures? Are you misting? How much and how often? If you have time, fill this out and paste it into a reply. It will definitely help get an idea of what your husbandry is and will aid in suggestions given

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

The heat around 80 is good for the first few months. I would increase it slowly starting now (4 months). My panther's basking temps are around 88 - 92 for adults. Be sure that she can't get within 6 inches of the bulb or she could receive a really nasty burn. You may have to hang it about the cage or place some wooden blocks under the edges to raise it up away from her.

You really need to get an all screen cage ASAP, even if this means purchasing a small pre-made one while waiting for your son to build one. Aquariums don't allow enough air flow for chameleons. The stagnant air can cause URIs, and fungal growth among other things. They are very hard to regulate temps in. Water pooling in the bottom of them from misting and drippers is an easy place for bacteria to breed and cause illness in your cham. This is a VERY important part of owning a chameleon and must not be over looked.

Lastly, if you her behavior is troublesome, a vet visit will ease your mind and/or diagnose any problems she may be having.

Good luck :)
 
She is not trying to get out of the heat because she loves to sit under the light during the day. I use a digital temperature gage to check my temps so they are acurate. She only goes to the floor at bed time, not during the day. She is misted 3 times a day at least and is very active and eats great, she is not acting different in any way other than sleeping on the floor. I think she just likes to sleep on the floor. Tonight I am going to put some plastic vines down there where she sleeps and see what she does.
We don't use all screen cages here in Ontario because of our climate, they would freeze in one plus they would be to dry in the winter.
 
Never mind, I figured it out myself. I put a fake vine on the floor in the corner where she likes to sleep and since then she is sleeping on the vine in that corner. She just has taken a liking to that corner I guess.
 
Is your son making an all glass cage then?

No, we only use the glass for babies, it will have screen on the top and front and three sides either wood or corigated plastic. That combo works great for adult chameleons. It will be similiar to this, he has two out of three completed.
IMG_5518.jpg
 
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