temperature control

[peetree]

how do you control the temperature when you have a mesh wire cage? I'm worried about doing that because my house can get drafty at times. I have my glass cage set in a corner of the house on interior walls to try to control the draft. How do you regulate the temp during the cold months with a mesh cage?

 

[OOOst16]

turn up your thermostat....

 

[jessica]

turn up your thermostat....

Thats a helpful answer


I just went through my house and changed all of my chams basking bulbs to a higher wattage. When summer comes I'll put back in the 40 watts.

When you say DRAFTY do you mean actually breeze or just colder then ususal?

 

[OOOst16]

yeah i relize it was a dumb answer ....but if you do turn it up it should soulve your problem (since most humans live in modern day housing with a furnace..) and yeah like jessica said... test out differnt wattage of bulbs with a digital thermometer with a probe...higher watage = higher temps usualy.

 

[jessica]

ooost16 said, "yeah i relize it was a dumb answer ....but if you do turn it up it should soulve your problem (since most humans live in modern day housing with a furnace..)"

Well not only will that spike your bill but could take the moisture right out of the air.

Not sure were you are located but like ooost16 mentioned check your temps.

Here is a sticky by Brad, it has good info you can use to reference temps

https://www.chameleonforums.com/general-care-true-chameleons-5943/

 

[sandrachameleon]

how do you control the temperature when you have a mesh wire cage? I'm worried about doing that because my house can get drafty at times. I have my glass cage set in a corner of the house on interior walls to try to control the draft. How do you regulate the temp during the cold months with a mesh cage?

Well, you could not use an all screen cage. A cage with mostly solid sides will control heat and humidity loss much better than a screen cage.

You could increase/regulate the temp of the room in which the cage is placed.

You could cover one or more sides of the mesh cage, to protect from drafts.

 

[tkilgour]

I think you received some good answers. You can cover a side of the screen, bump up the wattage on the basking bulb, turn up the thermostat or buy a space heater to heat the room.

 

[hallenhe]

I'm in Michigan, too, and we keep the chameleon in the warmest room of the house. Our thermostat is set to 68 daytime, 64 at night; the first few years we had chams, it was 60 at night and when I discussed this with the breeder, they said that was fine and he didn't need supplemental night heat. If your cham is within that temperature range, he's probably fine. If you're talking an active draft - i.e. cool air is liable to be blowing on him - you might put up something to block the airflow to that side of the cage. My guy is free range; his basking space is warmer, but he usually spends less than an hour a day there.

 

[holmesese]

Good answers, watch where your cham spends most of its time... more time under the basking light than normal may mean its a little cool.

 

[summoner12]

I put up plastic on the side of the cage if I need to keep it warmer.... shower curtains from Target are a good idea...

A good idea with putting a hotter lamp... like a spot lamp and going from 50-75w... put the lamp on an angle a bit... I find this works really well in general... but if your lamp faces straight down be sure to put it at an angle when you upgrade. A cham (or at least one of mine did this when i changed his lamp..) just went along with the normal day to day routine and got too close and burned himself. If you angle it he'll notice things are a bit off and have to adjust by moving to a new place. plus it will be a bit more natural... the times they bask is in the morning and later afternoon... when the sun is at an angle.