Behaviors of a chameleon that is too cold?

[Arpretty]

Hi everyone,

Nikko has been acting a bit different lately as the temperatures have become much colder here. So, our heater is broken and the property manager sucks, so we've been living with no heat. I know...you're probably like uhhhhh, what is your problem but, it's complicated. I do have portable radiators in different rooms, but I turn them off at night since I know they can be a fire hazard.

So in the middle of the night, I do not know what the exact temperature is, but around 7:30 in the morning, the ambient temperature in his enclosure is approximately 61 degrees F. Nikko has been staying in his sleeping spot through most of the mornings now. I have begun to put him on my hand and move him up to his basking spot and when I do, he feels very cold to the touch. If I've moved him up there, he tends to act mostly normal, but a little less spunky than usual. if I don't move him up, it almost seems he is too cold to move himself.

So, what would one typically see if a chameleon is too cold? Otherwise, literally nothing has changed in his care or routine, or with my insects. Just the temperatures have dropped pretty drastically pretty quickly. I use a fogger at night now to keep humidity levels high and periodically check on the humidity levels during the day, which stay around 55-65%.

 

[Beman]

Hi everyone,

Nikko has been acting a bit different lately as the temperatures have become much colder here. So, our heater is broken and the property manager sucks, so we've been living with no heat. I know...you're probably like uhhhhh, what is your problem but, it's complicated. I do have portable radiators in different rooms, but I turn them off at night since I know they can be a fire hazard.

So in the middle of the night, I do not know what the exact temperature is, but around 7:30 in the morning, the ambient temperature in his enclosure is approximately 61 degrees F. Nikko has been staying in his sleeping spot through most of the mornings now. I have begun to put him on my hand and move him up to his basking spot and when I do, he feels very cold to the touch. If I've moved him up there, he tends to act mostly normal, but a little less spunky than usual. if I don't move him up, it almost seems he is too cold to move himself.

So, what would one typically see if a chameleon is too cold? Otherwise, literally nothing has changed in his care or routine, or with my insects. Just the temperatures have dropped pretty drastically pretty quickly. I use a fogger at night now to keep humidity levels high and periodically check on the humidity levels during the day, which stay around 55-65%.

61 really is not low at all. If it was dropping below 50 down to 40 I would be concerned. You could get a govee sensor to put in there to know what temp and humidity is at any point. Then you can go back and check in the morning.

I think turning the radiator off at night is good they need the cool down. Kick it back on in the morning so that the room warms up a bit.

This time of year I change my lights so that they are kicking off a bit earlier. Following more of a real sunrise to sunset. I think they know that the days are shorter and having the lights on later can effect them IMO.

Have you double checked everything else in husbandry? Did this start when your heater went out? What temps was he getting at night before?

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

So, our heater is broken and the property manager sucks, so we've been living with no heat.

OT Aside... See: https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c053/index.html and
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=delaware+landlord+obligations+heat

So, what would one typically see if a chameleon is too cold?

Pretty much what you describe—listlessness, dark colors, but it shouldn't affect their tongues.
https://www.npr.org/2010/03/08/124471846/chameleon-tongues-stay-speedy-in-the-cold

Here's some climatological data for our little PITAs (Ambilobe, Madagascar)...

The daily average high (red line) and low (blue line) temperature, with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands. The thin dotted lines are the corresponding average perceived temperatures.

Average Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec High 89°F 88°F 89°F 90°F 89°F 87°F 86°F 87°F 89°F 92°F 93°F 91°F Temp. 81°F 80°F 80°F 80°F 78°F 75°F 74°F 75°F 77°F 80°F 82°F 82°F Low 73°F 73°F 72°F 71°F 69°F 66°F 64°F 65°F 66°F 69°F 72°F 73°F

https://weatherspark.com/y/104776/Average-Weather-in-Ambilobe-Madagascar-Year-Round

Note: These are averages; some nights it may go quite a bit lower.

If it drops below that for more than a day or two, you might consider a Ceramic Heat Emitter (CHE) for nighttime heat, but IDT you're there yet (and I hope things don't get that bad).

 

[Lindasjackson]

You could get just a tad higher watt basking bulb for in the cold mornings but you need to monitor the basking spot temp closely so he doesn’t get burned. I live in Maine and our temps are in the 30’s at night now. I keep my heat set at 65 at night but my Jackson’s cage gets down to 63 or 64 at night. He actually should be in the 50s at night but my cat and I would freeze! I know veileds are ok with temps in the 60s at night so your guy should be fine.

 

[Arpretty]

Thank you all so much for your responses!
@Beman - Nice to hear from you! I smiled when I saw your name . My current light cycle (UVB & Jungle Dawn) is about 7:20 am - 7:30 pm. Basking light is on from 7:45 am - 4 pm. Should I maybe have his lights going off at 6:30 pm now?
I think there may be a discrepancy between the temps I get when I look at his temperature probes vs. temp gun. The 61 degrees was from his ambient temp. probe, the temp gun seems to read somewhere around 5 degrees lower when pointed at the same spot.

I believe the temps do drop into the 50's at least at night, and it takes quite a long time for things to warm up in the morning since all I have is sunlight and radiators so I feel like the morning coldness is the main issue...I noted today that his basking temp read 72 on the probe and 67 on the temp gun around 8:45 am. Which is like, at least 10 degrees cooler than what it was at that time up until now.
All other husbandry components are exactly the same, but with the addition of the fogger now at night. What I really realized this morning was that I was absolutely frigid, so then I was like omg...he must be freezing too.

@Klyde O'Scope - thank you for that information! It's helpful to see their natural temperature ranges. Listlessness is exactly how I would describe it. When he's all curled up & cold looking, if I put a favorite feeder right near him, he will eat it. After he gets moved up to the basking area he will eat per usual.

Off-topic side note/rant...if one were to go back and pursue my threads, I BET I have mentioned my negligent property manager before . Dude, our living situation here legit seems like is based on a sitcom script. It is freaking wild. I've told him more times than I can count that "if ___ doesn't fixed, my chameleon is going to die." For real! AC, heat/insulation, and refrigerator issues all the time. Like, the actual basic necessities are so janky here. Ugh okay, I will refrain now but man I could really use a good rant session about him lol.

Apparently, an actual technician is coming out next Wednesday to replace this AC/heat unit. Fina freakin ly. I called him this morning and hit him with the "my chameleon is gonna die" - which he knows not to take lightly bc my prior chameleon did actually pass after we moved in. Anyways, for now I think I need to be turning the radiators on earlier in the morning so they have more time to kick in...

 

[Beman]

@Beman - Nice to hear from you! I smiled when I saw your name . My current light cycle (UVB & Jungle Dawn) is about 7:20 am - 7:30 pm. Basking light is on from 7:45 am - 4 pm. Should I maybe have his lights going off at 6:30 pm now?
I think there may be a discrepancy between the temps I get when I look at his temperature probes vs. temp gun. The 61 degrees was from his ambient temp. probe, the temp gun seems to read somewhere around 5 degrees lower when pointed at the same spot.

I believe the temps do drop into the 50's at least at night, and it takes quite a long time for things to warm up in the morning since all I have is sunlight and radiators so I feel like the morning coldness is the main issue...I noted today that his basking temp read 72 on the probe and 67 on the temp gun around 8:45 am. Which is like, at least 10 degrees cooler than what it was at that time up until now.
All other husbandry components are exactly the same, but with the addition of the fogger now at night. What I really realized this morning was that I was absolutely frigid, so then I was like omg...he must be freezing too.

Buy one of these... Make sure it is outside of the spray pattern because it can not get wet. It has an app on your phone that works with it. It will really tell you what ambient humidity and temp is running. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07R586J37/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I do not like temp guns for the simple fact that they measure surface temp. Surface is not very accurate.

So it will take a while to warm up in the morning. That is why he is moving slower. It does not mean that there is something wrong though. It is just opposite from what your used to seeing. Since they need the heat to warm back up and get moving. So if your ambient is dropping lower then that means it may take a bit more time. Beman will do this as well when there is a larger drop in temp. Also when I deal with power outages... They move less because it takes less.

So basking and ambient. If your ambient drops lower it does take longer for basking to get warmer faster. It is hard in cages because we are relying on a few bulbs to do what the sun does. It obviously is not going to be the same. But in the wild they are not up and at em at sunrise either lol. So kick on the space heater in the room a few feet away from the cage. This will help with ambient heat which in turn boosts your basking fixture temp. The other thing you can do is put an oscillating fan in the room. This will help move the heat around rather then it all rising.

Now I personally would not stress unless temps get below 50. 45-50 for me would still be within a range I would allow but yes I would stress. Anything below 45 I would not do personally.

 

[Arpretty]

@Beman thank you so much!!! I feel much more at ease. Definitely was feeling really worried. I’ll just be more intentional with the radiator earlier in the morning. Also will look into the gauges. This is my first fall/winter with Nikko, so I guess I’m an uber-watchful mama when there’s a change in behavior!

 

[Beman]

@Beman thank you so much!!! I feel much more at ease. Definitely was feeling really worried. I’ll just be more intentional with the radiator earlier in the morning. Also will look into the gauges. This is my first fall/winter with Nikko, so I guess I’m an uber-watchful mama when there’s a change in behavior!

No worries. It freaked me out my second winter with Beman. I did not see it the first winter because he was so young all he did was bask from eating all the time. But the second winter he would do this. Stay low and not come up for a few hours. I did not have central heat so I had to use a radiator heater in the room to get my ambient temp up. There are a few things I do winter to summer with changes in my husbandry. It is just all a learning curve with your environment.