To many plants?

funkycox

New Member
Cage Type - 24X18X36 screen from screencages.com
Lighting - reptisun 5.0 zoo med sun glo 150 zoo + med 75 watt when its cold Temperature - 80 in the cool side 95 under the lamp
Night temp? low 70's high 60's
Humidity - Basically it sucks when I spray it gets to like 75% but drops quick
Plants - 2 schefflera one huge one small, 1 ficus med, 1 bamboo
Location - In a nook in my bedroom.

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Adult male jackson's
Feeding - free range crickets gutloaded with flukers cricket food, occasional superworms dusted once a week
Supplements - rep cal
Watering - drip system + misting 2 to 3 times a day
Fecal Description - Normal
History - I was the guy with the petsmart cham they sold to me with the 20 gal aquarium w no uvb bulb and thanks to this forum was able to figure it out and raise a healthy cham
Current Problem - Pee Wee will move to the part of his cage that is just above the floor and will chill there for hours. I usually come back from class and he is very dark and ice cold to the touch. When I coax him onto my hand and put him under his basking light he gets bright green or pale blue again and seems to be happy and active again. My question is do I have too many plants in the cage? some light shines through to where that chill spot is but not that much. The reason I have so many plants is cause the humidity levels suck so bad. should I add a light in the middle, get rid of some plants or just let him chill.
 
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perhaps you have it too hot in the basking site and he has to make the choice that he will be cold instead of overheated.

Just one way to look at it.
 
The cage temp used to be in the 70's with a basking in the 80's but I got the higher wattage lamp to see If I could get heat to that spot where he chills.
 
You don't want heat for jacksonii.

Basking temp should be 83-85, in a small area. Ambient air temperature should be around 75, with high humidity.

Heat can cill jacksonii. I've talked to several people who have lost dozens of montaine species of chameleons from heat waves or heating malfunctions.

I'd use a 45-60 watt bulb only for the basking spot, and put it on a corner of the cage instead of the middle, so the heat doesn't spread that much.
 
what would be an explanation for his behavior. As I said earlyer when I find him he is extreemly cold to the touch and very very dark but when I bring him up to the light he is his cheerful self again. I can easily use the bulb with smaller wattage cause I have one, but I am worried about how cold he is getting when under the plants. When Im sayin cold I mean like just warmer than ice cube cold. Thats why I got the higher wattage bulb.:confused: Ill swtch back to the 60 watt I had on his previous cage and see if his behavior changes
 
I guess I do not have straight forward advice on this just an observation and my adjustments with a some what similar problem.

After setting up my last males cage I found that the humidity was a little dissapointing considering the plant make-up. Two very good looking schefferella abricolas. The humidity on the beginning set-up was 50% dried out and 65% after misting. Not bad numbers but I guess I expected more. Both plants were a little to much. For visual reasons I decided to prune the plants a little to brighten up the lower part of the cage. I did not go crazy or anything just enough to see the pots well and the floor a little better for cleaning. After the pruning I re-checked everything. The humidity was 55% standing and after misting is 83%. It has fluctuated a little since I have now had him in it but it stays very close to those numbers. The vegatation is good but after I opened it up a little it was great.

As for the heating I would drop that quite a bit. As said above 80* or a little above is sufficent. He maybe getting low to get out of the heat. I like Brock's suggestion of sticking the basking bulb on one side.
 
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