Temp issues

[Leftycatcher]

We are new to Chams and have yet to receive our new little guy till after the new year. We have a 24*24*48 inch screen cage with a house temp of 69-71 and house humidity of 21%. The cage at the top (with two ceramic 150w at the bottom corners away from branches) a red 100 w heat lamp on top. 60 w basking bulb (both elevated 1.5 inches to keep basking and top climbing spots below 100). The cage temp ranges from 96.8 in the basking spot to 69 at the lowest in his hiding spot... to around 72 to 80 in different spots. We have a small 4 inch fan flowing air from one heater to help move some heat and lower the temp near one of the ceremic heat bulbs. We purchased a temp and humidity gague to put in the enclosure and it reads at 79 and 31% at its lowest. When the mist King system turns on, the cage temp drops dramatically for about 1 to 1.5 hours. Hiding spot is down to 64 and basking is down to mid/upper 70s. (This is probably due to positioning of the mister.) There are spots that don't get wet and those stay in the mid to upper 80s. Are we over analyzing out cage set up or is this not OK for the temps to drop that low???? I also didn't mention that we have Velcrod plastic to 3 sides of the cage to try to keep heat in

 

[Alexander1]

Well the cage will drop temp when it's misted for sure, the heat from the basking light will remain the same temp, the sensor is most likely wet and is giving you a false reading until the water dries off and the probe is able to absorb the heat to report it, its ok, if the ambient temps in your home are in the 70's your Cham will be comfortable. The heat you need to worry about is at the basking area, the rest of the cage can be room temp and your Cham will regulate his temps as he or she pleases.

 

[Alexander1]

You don't need the ceramic heat emitters at the bottom of the cage, there has to be a temperature gradient. That probe is going to get wet and fail, only leave the probes inside the cage, the unit has to be out the cage.

 

[Leftycatcher]

So temp is to 87 closest accessable spot without walking on the ground to the lights and basking spot is 95-100. The coolest spots get to 73 before mist. Humidity is at 34 and up to 65 with the Long mist shower. I'm scared to take the heaters off because it took two of them to get it that warm and i know the temp drops significantly with the water. Basically, do you think it would be OK for me to keep the two heaters

 

[jajeanpierre]

What species of chameleon and what age?

My gut feeling is that you have far too much heat in the cage. Younger chameleons should be kept cooler than adults, babies especially so.

 

[Leftycatcher]

Panther, about 4 to 4.5 months

 

[Amateur Chameleon]

Then your temp. needs to be dropped to an 82-85 degree in the basking spot. A temp. at your heat can easily kill your young cham.

 

[Leftycatcher]

Yikes... Turned off one to see what we get to. I'll get a 50w bulb instead of a 65 for the basking and see how that goes. Jeeze... Thank you

 

[Amateur Chameleon]

When he gets to be about 1 year old a low 90's basking spot is fine.

 

[Peachypink]

Yikes... Turned off one to see what we get to. I'll get a 50w bulb instead of a 65 for the basking and see how that goes. Jeeze... Thank you

Read through the care sheets, that will be your best friend for set up.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/panther/

Having the right temp at your basking spot is hugely important. The whole cage doesn't need to be "warm" as long as he has the spot to warm up in and bask. Having the different temp gradients throughout the cage gives him the chance to thermoregulate his temp to what he needs.

 

[Ilike4hornedchams]

Wow you fit so much in there, awesome job!

 

[Leftycatcher]

Read through the care sheets, that will be your best friend for set up.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/panther/

Having the right temp at your basking spot is hugely important. The whole cage doesn't need to be "warm" as long as he has the spot to warm up in and bask. Having the different temp gradients throughout the cage gives him the chance to thermoregulate his temp to what he needs.

I think what really scares me is how cold the whole cage gets for an hour after it mists...It drops significantly

 

[Peachypink]

I think what really scares me is how cold the whole cage gets for an hour after it mists...It drops significantly

That's normal and it's ok.

 

[Leftycatcher]

So we pulled one of the ceremic heaters.. added a drainage system and pulled the other ceramic heaters back and removed the small fan. We have had a red light heater on the whole time to help with maintaining heat, but now the red light is causing one of the vines to reach 95.5. We pulled the plastic from the top corner and had to raise it more (it's now about 3 inches from the top of the screen and about 1 foot away) which brought the temp at that vine down to 92.5. The cage with it on at night will go down to the 69/67 range in some spots.. is this OK? Or do we need to remedy the hot spot?

 

[Peachypink]

Don't use a red light. Just use a regular day bulb and work to get the right basking temp. It needs to be at 85 for a juvenile panther. He will thermoregulate himself from there and go to various parts of the cage for the temp he wants.

You do not need it at night. He needs the temp drop for his metabolism.

 

[Graves923]

Also in regards to light at night, they need darkness. The red light being on all night most likely will keep your cham from having a proper sleep cycle.

 

[Leftycatcher]

With out the red light in addition (the basking light and spot is in a different location) we would lose significant temp in the whole cage .. especially at night. It drops to lower to mid 60s which I thought was too low .. the mid range of the cage during the day would stay in upper 60s lower 70s

 

[Leftycatcher]

Also in regards to light at night, they need darkness. The red light being on all night most likely will keep your cham from having a proper sleep cycle.

I thought the red light was like a night light. Something that would not disturb his sleep cycle
That's what I thought i have read

 

[PJK]

With out the red light in addition (the basking light and spot is in a different location) we would lose significant temp in the whole cage .. especially at night. It drops to lower to mid 60s which I thought was too low .. the mid range of the cage during the day would stay in upper 60s lower 70s

Nighttime temp in the lower 60s is fine. As long as the basking spot stays relatively consistent during the day, he can warm up in the morning when the lights go on. The red light will cause nothing but problems. just get rid of it. A ceramic heat emitter will do the same thing, but not emit any light.

 

[Peachypink]

I thought the red light was like a night light. Something that would not disturb his sleep cycle
That's what I thought i have read

Nope. It doesn't matter the color of light, they can see it. They need the day/night schedule to help set their internal clocks and regulate hormones. You sill start to see them develope a schedule where they know when lights go on and off and start anticipating it. There is a lot of misinformation out there.

60s at night is fine as is the day ambient temps you are talking about. Even 55 at night is fine. They will thermoregulate themselves and go closer to the basking spot if they need to warm up.