why does my cham sleep on the floor?

chameleon884

chameleon884

Member
occasionally my chameleon will sleep on the floor. he did it in his old cage and last night, the first night i had him in his new cage, he did it again.
i assume it has something to do with the temps.

i do have a nightlight. the reason i have it is because im scared he might get to cold at night. at night temps in my house drop to about 65 degrees.
daytime temp is about 75-85 degrees. night temps are about the same.
should i lower the night time temps?

also he has a very good appetite for food and water. he basks all day when hes bored.
hope this helps.
can somebody plz answer my question?
 
Is it darker down on the bottom, where maybe he cannot be affected by the night light so mcuh?. I cover my cage at night with a big towel to make it as dark as possible because it is in a room with my bird(yes a bird and he is fine) and I dont want the bird sitting in the dark all evening . 65deg is not that cold. They can take temps around 50deg or so. I would ditch the nightlight and see if moves to the top to sleep. It is worth a try.
 
turn off the night light. keep the room itself a bit warmer if needs be, or as a last resort use a ceramic heat bulb (emits no light).
65F isnt a problem for most species - what type of chameleon do you have?
 
sandrachameleon said:
turn off the night light. keep the room itself a bit warmer if needs be, or as a last resort use a ceramic heat bulb (emits no light).
65F isnt a problem for most species - what type of chameleon do you have?
Click to expand...

How low does a temp have to get before it becomes a problem? With winter approaching here in WI. I want to make sure my panther cham stays warm.
 
its not really a problem. ill take out the night light. thanks for the advice.

age- 10 months
sex- male
cage- 18x18x36
lights- uvb linear tube. uva light. night light. all by exo-terra
 
Sleeping on the floor is not normal. I would fill out the Ask For Help form and post some pictures of you cham and the set up.
 
Last edited:
chameleon884 said:
its not really a problem. ill take out the night light. thanks for the advice.

age- 10 months
sex- male
cage- 18x18x36
lights- uvb linear tube. uva light. night light. all by exo-terra
Click to expand...

Fill out the complete form......
 
Silkyslim said:
How low does a temp have to get before it becomes a problem? With winter approaching here in WI. I want to make sure my panther cham stays warm.
Click to expand...

What I feel are the ideal temps:

Panther/Fucifer Adult male :
day basking spot up to 90F/32C
day cooler spot / ambient range 70-80F /21 -26C
night to a low of 65F/18C

Panther/Fucifer Adult female :
day basking spot 81-83F/27-28C
day cooler spot / ambient range 70-75F /21 -23C
night to a low of 65F/18C

young
day basking spot up to 81F/27C
day cooler spot / ambient range 70-75F /21 -23C
night to a low of 68F/20C

Veiled/Chamaeleo:
day basking spot 96.5F/36C
day cooler spot / ambient range 70-80F/21 -26C
night to a low of 60F/15.5C
 
Sandra keeps her chameleons warmer that we do. We got the Panther basking spot of 85 from Sandy (Gesang) years ago and it has worked great for my daughter and me in our area.



Panther Adult male: basking spot 85
Ambient 70-80F
Night no lower than 68F

Panther Adult female: basking spot 80-81F
Ambient range 70-78F
Night no lower than 68F


Young Panther or Veiled: basking spot up to 80F
Ambient range 72-76F
Night no lower than 70F

Veiled Adult male: spot 89F
Ambient range 74-81F
Night no lower than 68F


Veiled Adult female: basking spot 80F

Ambient range 74 to 77F

Night no lower than 68F
 
jannb said:
Sandra keeps her chameleons warmer that we do. We got the Panther basking spot of 85 from Sandy (Gesang) years ago and it has worked great for my daughter and me in our area.



Panther Adult male: basking spot 85
Ambient 70-80F
Night no lower than 68F

Panther Adult female: basking spot 80-81F
Ambient range 70-78F
Night no lower than 68F


Young Panther or Veiled: basking spot up to 80F
Ambient range 72-76F
Night no lower than 70F

Veiled Adult male: spot 89F
Ambient range 74-81F
Night no lower than 68F


Veiled Adult female: basking spot 80F

Ambient range 74 to 77F

Night no lower than 68F
Click to expand...

So, as it stand now my temps are within the acceptable range. If I do have a hard time keeping the ambiant temp up at night and decide to get a ceramic heater. Where in the cage would be it's ideal place?

My guess is you would want it in the lower part of the enclosure?

Before I would buy such a thing I would most likely attempt to keep heat in by wrapping up the top portion of teh cage. What is the ideal wrapping material? Is there even one, I have lots of spare cloth around the house, I could probably create a makeshift cover no problem. I just hate the idea of covering up some of the cage as it might get in the way of my viewing pleasure, that would suck because I rather like just sitting there watching Samson cruise around.
 
Do not put any type of bulb inside the cage. Your cham could get burned. I would recomend putting it several inches above the top because they get quite hot.
 
my chameleon- veiled chameleon, male, about 10 months. ive had him since he was a month old.
handling- almost never.
feeding- crickets, i will occasionally buy some types of worms, supers, hornworms. ect.
supplements- rep cal calcium, repcal calium with d3, and herptivite.
watering- i mist 3-5x a day. i see him drink all the time.
fecal description- normal brown poops. his urates are usually white. (about 80% of the time
history- i got him from valpo pet and hobby shop in downtown valparaiso.


cage type- screen aluminum cage. 18x18x36
lighting- exo terra uva and night light. and a exo terra reptiglo 5.0 linear tube.
temps- daytime- 70-85, nighttime temps or the same.
humidity- 40-60 percent.
plants- i dont have any live plants but i want to though, but i have fake leaves.
placement- it is in the left side of my bedroom. it is not near any air vents.
where am i located- valparaiso, in porter county.

problem- my chameleon sometimes sleeps on the floor. i dont know why. i assume it has something to do with temps but i could be wrong.

also he is never down at the bottom during the day except for when he is hunting crickets sometimes. but ive rarely seen him go to the bottom during the day. only at night.
 
chameleon884 said:
my chameleon- veiled chameleon, male, about 10 months. ive had him since he was a month old.
handling- almost never.
feeding- crickets, i will occasionally buy some types of worms, supers, hornworms. ect.
supplements- rep cal calcium, repcal calium with d3, and herptivite.
watering- i mist 3-5x a day. i see him drink all the time.
fecal description- normal brown poops. his urates are usually white. (about 80% of the time
history- i got him from valpo pet and hobby shop in downtown valparaiso.


cage type- screen aluminum cage. 18x18x36
lighting- exo terra uva and night light. and a exo terra reptiglo 5.0 linear tube.
temps- daytime- 70-85, nighttime temps or the same.
humidity- 40-60 percent.
plants- i dont have any live plants but i want to though, but i have fake leaves.
placement- it is in the left side of my bedroom. it is not near any air vents.
where am i located- valparaiso, in porter county.

problem- my chameleon sometimes sleeps on the floor. i dont know why. i assume it has something to do with temps but i could be wrong.

also he is never down at the bottom during the day except for when he is hunting crickets sometimes. but ive rarely seen him go to the bottom during the day. only at night.
Click to expand...


I think that is the problem. Temp drops at night are supposed to be good for their sleep. He could be a little too hot at night which might cause him to get as low as he can go so he is as cool as he can be.
 
Silkyslim said:
I think that is the problem. Temp drops at night are supposed to be good for their sleep. He could be a little too hot at night which might cause him to get as low as he can go so he is as cool as he can be.
Click to expand...

ok thanks!:)
when i made my hypothesis i was 500% SURE it had something to do with temps. ok thanks again! :D ill be sure to do that.
 
OMG! hes doing it again! i even turned off the light.



another theory i have is that his old cage was very low, and he would sometimes sleep on the ground. do you think my chameleon is not used to heights and wants to sleep on the ground?
 
chameleon884 said:
another theory i have is that his old cage was very low, and he would sometimes sleep on the ground. do you think my chameleon is not used to heights and wants to sleep on the ground?
Click to expand...

No. Its unlikely the chameleon feels better lower down - they typically like to be higher up.
You dont have any plants - is there any kind of place for it to shelter/hide higher in the cage? Im just wild guessing.
Ive known younger chameleons to sleep all over the show. high, low, vertical, horizontal, upside down. Its not necessarily a problem.
But do let the temp drop some at night.
 
Last edited:
Do you see him sleeping on the floor? Or do you come downstairs and find him on the floor?

Is it possible that there are more lights visible near the bottom of the cage so when he wakes up before you do, he heads to the light?

It's just an idea.

Another idea is that now that he has a habit of sleeping on the floor, it's going to take him a little while (maybe a week or so) to re-adjust to sleeping higher up.
 
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