Temperatures

WyteAnjal

New Member
Okay, so since someone suggested my darling was gravid I ahve been doing a lot of research. There is something I dont get though, and I think that is the problem with having such a search engine lol. I have found people saying keep her temperature low at room temperature and others have said make sure to keep it high at about 27-28C most people say keep it high to keep humidity up but then that will cause her to be gravid I thought?

What temperature do you keep your girls at, have they been gravid?
 
what species are you referring to? If a Veiled, a basking temperature should try best to avoid temperatures over 82 degrees. Higher temperatures metabolizes what the chameleon eats, thus produces infertile eggs or aids to fertile egg production. by moderate and appropriate feedings for the age of chameleon plus lower temperatures will eliminate infertile clutch laying or reduce the size of the clutch by a lot

in regards to "some say keep her temperature low at room temperature" i would say this would be fine, as long as it doesnt get to cold. high 70's would be minimum suitability (between 78-79 degrees F)
 
what species are you referring to? If a Veiled, a basking temperature should try best to avoid temperatures over 82 degrees. Higher temperatures metabolizes what the chameleon eats, thus produces infertile eggs or aids to fertile egg production. by moderate and appropriate feedings for the age of chameleon plus lower temperatures will eliminate infertile clutch laying or reduce the size of the clutch by a lot

in regards to "some say keep her temperature low at room temperature" i would say this would be fine, as long as it doesnt get to cold. high 70's would be minimum suitability (between 78-79 degrees F)

Veiled chameleons, along with many other species, maintain body temps in the mid 80's to low 90's F (~29-33 C). This is where their physiology is optimized and, especially for delicate physiological processes like egg development, forcing the animals to cope with suboptimal temperatures seems like a very bad idea to me. Female Veiled in my care always basked a great deal when developing eggs, and I've heard the same from other people with other chameleon species. Allowing the animals to behaviorally thermoregulate and therefore have access to a hot basking site of ~90-98 F (32-37 C) as well as cooler ambient temps in the upper 70's F (~25 C) elsewhere in the enclosure allows normal behavior, and one would think it is especially important when a female is developing eggs.

Keeping clutch size at a reasonable level by controlling food intake seems appropriate (i.e., avoiding overfeeding). However, trying to do so by forcing the animal to cope with suboptimal temperatures seems like a decidedly bad idea to me.

This wide temperature gradient is close to what I'd use for most any species, not just Veiled, since the available data shows that diverse species of chameleon (lowland and montane; Bradypodion, Chamaeleo, Triceros, and Furcifer spp.) tend to maintain rather similar body temps, even though they come from diverse environments. Giving the animal a strong gradient allows it to choose the body temp it wants (which can change depending on the physiological demands at a given moment), just as they do in nature.

My suggestion: regardless of species, give her access to temps in the 70's (21-25 C) in the coolest part of her enclosure, and a basking spot that reaches at least 90 F (32 C) with a gradient in between. This will let her regulate her temp as she needs to, and give her and the eggs the best shot possible.

cj
 
Chris said..."Keeping clutch size at a reasonable level by controlling food intake seems appropriate (i.e., avoiding overfeeding). However, trying to do so by forcing the animal to cope with suboptimal temperatures seems like a decidedly bad idea to me."...I agree with this.

I've fount that egg production in veileds can be stopped completely by controlling the diet and lowering the temperature into the mid to low 80's in the basking area to slow the metabolism. My females generally live to be over 6 years old and some of them to well over 7. I have taken some of these females that have been stopped, returned them to producing eggs, hatched the eggs, kept some of those females and raised them to live for 6+ years as well.
 
Just to make it clear, if your female is already gravid then you definitely don't want to keep her too cool.
 
I keep my female veiled at about 80-83 degrees at her basking spot and she is 7 months old. She has not laid any eggs nor shown any signs of being gravid.
 
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