Sulley sleeping at odd times

jpw0006

New Member
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Nosy be Panther Chameleon. He's about 16 months old. I've had him over a year.
Handling - I handle his less than once a month. Most of the time I let him out, I put a vine out so he can walk in and out as he pleases.
Feeding - I mostly feed him crickets. He get's 10-12 crickets every other days. Every once in a while I feed him waxworms and superworms. My crickets are fed with potatoes, cricket food and fruit and I use cricket quench
Supplements - Reptivite with D3 and Calcium without D3. I dust with calcium at every feeding and he get's his reptivite 2-3 days a month

Watering - I mist him and use the dripper. I mist 2-3 times a day and use the dripper twice every other day (opposite his feeding days so I don't drown his food). I watch him drink all the time, it's one thing he's not shy about.

Fecal Description - Yesterday's was mostly white with a little orange in it (I made sure he drank plenty of water) and his poop was its normal brown.
Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? No
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. Not that I can think of

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen. 18x18x36"
Lighting - Reptisun 5.0, Zoomed 50watt basking lamp
Temperature - Cage ranges from mid to high 70's and basking lingers around 90
Humidity - 40-60%
Plants - Fake
Placement - Cage is located in the corner of me room that is low traffic, and opposite of air vent.
Location - [B]Spanish Fort, Alabama (it's next to Mobile, Al)

Current Problem - Lately Sulley has been going to sleep early. He crawls to a lower, darker part of the cage and has been asleep around 5pm. Today I woke up to find him still sleeping at 10:30am. I've never seen him do this. Normally, this is his most active time of the day. He's usually so active that he often wakes me up. Also, He normally sleep with his tail coiled below him and lately it's been hanging straight down.[/B]
 

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I'm not sure if this is part of the problem, but I think you need to figure out a way to have the dripper going every day. Punch holes in the feeder cup, or cut the bottom out and replace it with screen if that's why the feeders drown. It doesn't sound like he's dehydrated, but I really think they need access to water every day.
 
He gets water everyday, just not the dripper. I'm worried about him. It's 1pm and he's still sleeping!
 
Is your cham exposed to any light through windows? My chams find their sleeping spots earlier throughout the winter. As for waking up late Im not sure...
I doubt its the problem but what kind of cricket food are you using? Is it good for chams? Id also take it easy on the potato. You are trying to create a 2:1 calcium to phospherous ratio in your feeders & potato is high in phos. Does your gutload contain preformed vit a? or beta carotine? Reptivite contains preformed vit a. Be sure that your gutload isnt loaded with it or you could be over doing the vit a.
 
The mesh of the cage may be blocking out a large part of the light. Try adding another just regular household lamp ontop of his cage to brighten things up. What brand cage is it that you have him in?
 
Maybe it's time to take him to a vet? I mean, there are little things that are not what is typically recommended in your set up, but I kind of doubt any of them is enough to cause him to suddenly start sleeping during the day.
 
I took my 2.5 year old panther to the vet for the same thing. We came to the conclusion it too much calcuim.I switched from rep cal to reptical. The reptical has more calicum in it. I backed off to every 10 days on the calicum and cut back on his feed and it seemed to help.

ced fron rep cal to repti cal
 
imcurt....you're contradicting yourself. You said you thought your chameleon was getting too much calcium so you switched to reptical which has more calcium in it??
 
I thought chameleons were good at venting extra calcium. And, in other animals, excess calcium usually results in "stones" in organs, not lethargy.
 
I know you have had him over a year.....so when is the last time you changed out your UVB light???? Just wondering....
 
Pantherlover - He does get some sunlight but he likes to go towards the darker parts of his cage and sleep. As far as the potato goes, I only use it when I run out of my usual (Fluker's Cricket Diet). It is low in phos and from what i can see, low in Vit A as well.

Moviemanmania - I don't know what brand it is. You can check pics on my profile to see the set up.

imcurt - When you changed the calcium supplement how long did it take to see a change in your cham? I currently use rep-cal for his cricket dusting. I can cut back on his dusting and see where it gets him.
 
Current Problem - Lately Sulley has been going to sleep early. He crawls to a lower, darker part of the cage and has been asleep around 5pm. Today I woke up to find him still sleeping at 10:30am. I've never seen him do this. Normally, this is his most active time of the day. He's usually so active that he often wakes me up. Also, He normally sleep with his tail coiled below him and lately it's been hanging straight down.[/B]

Why has nobody asked about the animals photoperiod? (except panther, indirectly)

JPW, please tell us what time your lights go on/off . Consistent photoperiod is just as important a factor in husbandry than any other, yet so undervalued and overlooked.
A messed up inconsistent photoperiod will result in a diurnal animal sleeping at odd hours.
The longer this occurs the more associated issues a lizard will have.

Regulating your animals light period by means of a timer will, for the most part, ensure this dosen't become an issue. However, an inconsistency between your artificial lighting and natural lighting entering the room, and/or other unaccounted for lighting, or illumination at night, will often undo the whole thing.

Be sure this is not an issue first, before looking into other causes. :)
 
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His lights go on at 7am and off at 7pm. He's usually very timely with his schedule which is why this is so concerning for me. Normally he gets up right when his light go on, and he's usually in his sleeping spot about 30-45 minutes before lights out.

The timer shedule and the natural light are pretty closely timed together.
 
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You could certainly expand on the variety of gutload and feeders, and having it tested for parasites can't hurt.
How long has this sleep anomaly been going on? Has there been any changes in his environment, in or outside the cage since it began?
Can you describe any other behaviours you've seen that you may not have mentioned? Has its basking duration changed?
You mention hiding in the darker areas of the cage?
Where is your cage positioned? Is it near a window? Can you post pics of the cage as a whole?
Clearer (not through mesh) pics of the lizard?
 
I try to expand on his feeders. There's not a lot in my area and I haven't had much luck finding stuff online (silkworms, mantis's...). There has been no changes in his environment. His behavior has only been this way for the last several days. He still goes to bed at his normal time in his normal manner but he is sleeping in. Yesterday he wasn't up and acting normal until about 3pm. Once he was up everything seemed completely normal.

In the pic of the cage (you obviously can't see Sulley) but he usually crawls down towards the bottom right where the foliage is the thickest and it's the darkest.
 

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OK, by any changes, I meant literally anything at all. Any changes to your habits since the behaviour started? aka, been up nights, any tv's, pc's, lamps or other light sources (even from another room) on after cage lights go off?
I see he's by the window, It occurs to me that maybe, your cham, like mine is particularly sensitive to even a hint of light after dark?
Could there be lights outside during the night recently that shine on that window, that might be keeping him awake, while your asleep?
Could a neighbour be the proud owner of a new porch light? :)
Eliminating that possibility could be as simple as covering your window with a dark blanket at lights out, for a couple of nights in a row atleast, see if this makes a difference.
If its actually staying asleep the whole day (are you sure?) then in this case I think a vet visit might be in order. I'm normally the last member you see shouting 'VET', but in this case it may be worth it. Reptiles are notorious for not showing symptoms of illness, often until the problem is quite advanced, by which time they are in real trouble.
A poo exam to check for parasites (these can cause all manner of nasty issues) will atleast put your mind at rest.
If your lizard seems normal in all respects, no decrease in appetite, no increase in thirst, normal droppings, and is alert when its active, then Im afraid Im stumped mate!
Is it basking? more or less than usual? Spending less time high in the cage?
 
Unfortunately, no new lights in the area. He's good about sleeping through the night and I'm very careful to keep light to a minimum in the mornings (and I have been checking to make sure he's sleeping when I leave). I will double check things for the next couple of nights, but so far I can't any obvious causes of new light.

His basking and high time has decreased but that's only because he's sleeping during his normal times.
 
Er, sorry mate, Im tired, dont quite understand this....???

His basking and high time has decreased but that's only because he's sleeping during his normal times.

I understand your lizard prefers to sleep in the lower part of the cage, and its sleeping during the day, so basking is decreased yes?

What about when its awake?
 
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