Thermostats for my chameleon

[ncf]

Hello everyone! My name is Nuno.

I'm currently thinking about purchasing a chameleon on the next 2 weeks, I've been researching a lot and i've decided to get a male Veiled chameleon.

I've been researching temperatures and humidity (I especially like the caresheet from this forum) but a doubt came along.

Do I need to get a thermostat to regulate the temperature for the chameleon enclosure or should I just get a timer?
I'm saying this because I work from 8:30 to 5:30 and can't be there all the time to control temperatures and I'm afraid it will be too hot without regulation.

Another thing: I live in portugal, it's not particularly cold, but will the chameleon be able to cope with night temperatures in the winter? My house never really is under 16ºC and I can always turn on the AC if it's too cold, but is it better to get some sort of night time heat source?

Thank you all for your help, this forum is a goldmine in terms of information for new owners like me!

Cheers,
Nuno

 

[nightanole]

If its a veiled/panther then night time temps are not a problem as long as they are above 15c. In their native spots they can hit well under 10c in cold snaps.

As for a heat source, they really only need a good projector bulb that can heat up a basking area to around 35c. The rest of the cage can be 20-25c.


If you are worried about it getting too hot, you can setup this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-Tem...-Thermostat-Equipment-Wine-220V-/121085779698

There are a million of them on ebay in different voltages. You just set it to 35c +-2c and put the probe in the basking area. If it gets over 37c it will turn the basking bulb off till it drops to 33c.

We use them here to control small air conditioners, they do have a wattage limit, but ours are only in the 200-300 watt range.