Temperatures ?

[crosscutts]

So up here in the hills of the central coast California we’ve had some cold rainy weather outside temperature not much more than 45 , we’re on propane , so we don’t leave the heat on in the house during the day , House temperature at home is around 68 . Tank temperature Ambient top 74 48% humidity bottom tempered 68 40% humidity , basking site 79 -80 . Bold for basking is an 80 w Grow light , came home very light in color seem to be ready for bed for hours early , should he be warmer ? should I be trying 100 W incandescent? Domelight sits right on top of cage 4 to 6 inches from basking site .

 

[CasqueAbove]

Your temp is fine. You don’t need to go warmer. My ambient temp has barely been 73 and they have stayed active and feeding. I don’t say cold is best but they handle it very well. Their natural habitat gets pretty cool

 

[crosscutts]

Your temp is fine. You don’t need to go warmer. My ambient temp has barely been 73 and they have stayed active and feeding. I don’t say cold is best but they handle it very well. Their natural habitat gets pretty cool

Great , I figured as much . Just want to be on top of it thank you ..

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

+1 your temps sound fine (very similar to mine).

Species? (Not that there's a whole lot of difference, temp-wise).
As long as any basking bulbs are incandescent or halogen (and not LED) it should be OK.

I have a male panther, and our ambients hover around 70F. I let him out a couple times a week for 'enrichment'—climbing around on the Missus' houseplants, and he does fine down into the high 60s.
We had an outage last week that dropped us into the lower 60s, and likewise he was fine.

 

[crosscutts]

+1 your temps sound fine (very similar to mine).

Species? (Not that there's a whole lot of difference, temp-wise).
As long as any basking bulbs are incandescent or halogen (and not LED) it should be OK.

I have a male panther, and our ambients hover around 70F. I let him out a couple times a week for 'enrichment'—climbing around on the Missus' houseplants, and he does fine down into the high 60s.
We had an outage last week that dropped us into the lower 60s, and likewise he was fine.

Thank you I have a panther five months old , yeah one of my biggest concerns is a power outage , I picked up a temperature laser today , quite surprising with the actual readings are in certain parts of the tank , just outside the basking area it drops to 71 under the bulb at his basking site it’s about 85 not even a foot down it drops into the 60s and in the lower section it’s literally 60 , can’t believe how much difference in temperature in this tank is.

 

[crosscutts]

Thank you I have a panther five months old , yeah one of my biggest concerns is a power outage , I picked up a temperature laser today , quite surprising with the actual readings are in certain parts of the tank , just outside the basking area it drops to 71 under the bulb at his basking site it’s about 85 not even a foot down it drops into the 60s and in the lower section it’s literally 60 , can’t believe how much difference in temperature in this tank is.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Thank you I have a panther five months old , yeah one of my biggest concerns is a power outage ,

IME (I've been through many where I live—not the best infrastructure), short-term outages aren't much at all—even in the Great Lakes/Northeast US.

One thing you can do is look up climatological data for where your chameleon is from, e.g.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=climatological+data+ambilobe+madagascar
(or whatever locale you have). Keep in mind that the data is usually in averages; actual spikes can go higher or lower, and chameleons still survive. They can be hardier than we might think.

This will at least give you a better handle on what conditions may be of actual concern.

I picked up a temperature laser today , quite surprising with the actual readings are in certain parts of the tank , just outside the basking area it drops to 71 under the bulb at his basking site it’s about 85 not even a foot down it drops into the 60s and in the lower section it’s literally 60 , can’t believe how much difference in temperature in this tank is.

Temp guns definitely have their uses, but they have some caveats as well. (Sorry, IDK how much you've looked into them, but for others as well...) They'll measure surface temperature, but not necessarily the air temp around that surface. Depending on the model, they (the more affordable models) don't take into account emissivity (more expensive models have settings for emissivity).

To get a more accurate picture of what's going on in our enclosures, a number (2-3+) of digital hygrometer/thermometers with probes can help.

To give an idea of how both can work together, I have a digital probe at my cham's basking site, and keep target temps at 80-ishF. However, while he's actually basking there, the temp reading off of his skin can be mid-80s or more. This is partly due to their ability to darken their color and absorb more heat.

 

[crosscutts]

IME (I've been through many where I live—not the best infrastructure), short-term outages aren't much at all—even in the Great Lakes/Northeast US.

One thing you can do is look up climatological data for where your chameleon is from, e.g.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=climatological+data+ambilobe+madagascar
(or whatever locale you have). Keep in mind that the data is usually in averages; actual spikes can go higher or lower, and chameleons still survive. They can be hardier than we might think.

This will at least give you a better handle on what conditions may be of actual concern.


Temp guns definitely have their uses, but they have some caveats as well. (Sorry, IDK how much you've looked into them, but for others as well...) They'll measure surface temperature, but not necessarily the air temp around that surface. Depending on the model, they (the more affordable models) don't take into account emissivity (more expensive models have settings for emissivity).

To get a more accurate picture of what's going on in our enclosures, a number (2-3+) of digital hygrometer/thermometers with probes can help.

To give an idea of how both can work together, I have a digital probe at my cham's basking site, and keep target temps at 80-ishF. However, while he's actually basking there, the temp reading off of his skin can be mid-80s or more. This is partly due to their ability to darken their color and absorb more heat.

Yeah I have a generator just makes me a little nervous when I’m not home of course my conditions here in California are probably not as severe as The great Lakes area. I hear ya it’s crazy but your comments are literally what I’m doing so I definitely must be on the right track , I have Madagascar on my weather settings and look at it daily , yes but I already bought a unit at Harbor freight it was around 50 bucks and I totally agree ambient temperature and surface temperature I totally get it . I started out with just The inexpensive mechanical units , Little things but wasn’t comfortable with me numbers since I had three in the tank they seemed a little off so I purchase some digital ones with sensors sometimes 5 to 10° difference temperature and humidity that’s why I wanted to get the gun to check his body temperature at Basking . But thank you so much for the reply confirming my thoughts I appreciate it

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

I have Madagascar on my weather settings and look at it daily

IDK if that's necessary, but it won't hurt anything. I've looked up climate data for the 3 reptiles we have—just so we have a handle on each one's range (not just the averages, but the extremes).

There's also an acclimation factor. Some animals can acclimate to conditions different than they're "born to" but there's little to no data on this.