cage is in a cold room

[Hyperpower]

my chams cage is in my bedroom and the basking temperature seems to fluctuate like crazy.
its to do with
-my own heat dish being on (not always on when im out)
-door being opened (it will literally start to freeze if it's left open long enough)
-if I keep my door closed with no heater being on it will also start to get cold

What should I adjust the temp to? it can honestly changes 10 degrees f to do with my heater/door/cold basement

if I turn the heat up because my door is open its almost like the thermometer is lying ...I could have it at full blast (which I know is extremely hot) but the stupid thing is lying because of the screen.

 

[Riktor Scale]

What kind of cham are we talking about?

 

[Hyperpower]

What kind of cham are we talking about?

veiled chameleon, hes the baby in my avatar. basically i'm wondering should I adjust the tempt when the room is at its coldest or hottest? cold is kind of hard to say ...im sure the poor guy would be freezing unless he were near the infrared basking light

 

[Hyperpower]

how do I keep the ambient heat at the proper temp when its actually just the room I gotta worry about? lol, it's basically impossible in my situation...the only way to do would be to cover the back and sides of the cage to keep the right amount of heat in, right? but obviously that's not good for them. the basking light temp will drop enormously if I leave my door open, it's almost like its lying to me even though I know it's pretty hot there.

 

[Shayla]

Get a stronger basking bulb, I was having the same problem but make sure they can't burn themselves on it.

Also, covering the sides won't do much for the temperature. Make sure you also have a good night time bulb so the temp doesn't drop too much.

 

[ChameleonsByVanGogh]

my suggestion is to get a strip timer..iknow I know there pricey but hey this is a expensive hobby. get a infared heat porcelain emmiter a uva basking light aim the basking light in a corner on a perch. the fixture should come with a clip. no matter how cold it gets the hot spot should not fluctuate to much if the light is close enough. put the heat emitter close to the center of the top of the cage depending on the ssize of the cage get a high wattage for your environment I use a 100watt on a 36' screen cage. during the day my temps have gotten to 90 + and at night I have the timer cut off the uva basking spot and temps get to 58-60. fluctuation is ok as long as its in your chams range. as long as you have a gradiant in your cage he/she will regulate her own body tempature by moving around the cage...if it gets to cold they will move close if not in the basking spot when they get hot they will move away. completely natural. good luck have fun

 

[Kate]

You must stay in a very cold place. It can get quite cold here in the winter so I have a ceramic heat emitter attached to a thermostat just in case the temps plummet overnight. Your Cham needs a good drop in temperature overnight in order to slow down his metabolism in order th sleep. They can take temps of around 55f.
I do not find that chams move away from anything too hot, that is why we see so many thermal burns on here.

 

[Hyperpower]

You must stay in a very cold place. It can get quite cold here in the winter so I have a ceramic heat emitter attached to a thermostat just in case the temps plummet overnight. Your Cham needs a good drop in temperature overnight in order to slow down his metabolism in order th sleep. They can take temps of around 55f.
I do not find that chams move away from anything too hot, that is why we see so many thermal burns on here.

it drops to about 58f at night with no heater on. the only problem is I can't get a correct basking light reading. I have it turned down quite low, and he still has yet to use it. I could have it up full blast and it would still say 75f even though I know that is wrong because with my door closed and my heater being on it can go past 85f. what do I do?!

 

[Hyperpower]

my suggestion is to get a strip timer..iknow I know there pricey but hey this is a expensive hobby. get a infared heat porcelain emmiter a uva basking light aim the basking light in a corner on a perch. the fixture should come with a clip. no matter how cold it gets the hot spot should not fluctuate to much if the light is close enough. put the heat emitter close to the center of the top of the cage depending on the ssize of the cage get a high wattage for your environment I use a 100watt on a 36' screen cage. during the day my temps have gotten to 90 + and at night I have the timer cut off the uva basking spot and temps get to 58-60. fluctuation is ok as long as its in your chams range. as long as you have a gradiant in your cage he/she will regulate her own body tempature by moving around the cage...if it gets to cold they will move close if not in the basking spot when they get hot they will move away. completely natural. good luck have fun

I have a uvb and a infrared light for basking. the uvb almost gives off no heat.

 

[Kate]

Do you have a digital thermometer? The kind with a probe. Are you placing it where your Cham would bask? The danger with basking/ infrared lights that you have too high is thermal burns. Some chams won't use a basking light. Try switching an ordinary household bulb with your infrared. The light would be more natural like the sun. I wouldn't use the infrared at night as chams have a parietal eye and can detect some light which may disturb his sleep pattern. If you do need something at night use a ceramic heater on a thermostat. I would check your temps with a reliable thermometer first.

 

[Carlton]

Also, covering the sides won't do much for the temperature. Make sure you also have a good night time bulb so the temp doesn't drop too much.

Not really true. When the cage sides are covered it slows down the temp drop of the cage contents because less cold air from the room reaches their surfaces as fast. The covering may be thin, but it does act as a buffer for a while. Even dense foliage helps (which is one reason why chams live in dense bushes in the wild instead of out in the open).

It sounds to me as if the OP needs to buffer these radical changes in temp that can happen quickly, or slow them down at least. The lower nighttime temps into the 50s are not a big problem as long as the cham can bask longer the next day. What is most important is whether the cham can warm itself up during the day to actively hunt, drink, and digest his food, basically behave normally.

It does sound as if the OP will need a thermostatically controlled light so it can modify itself when no one is in the room. And, IMHO, it is safer to get a little cooler than ideal than to get too hot!

 

[Hyperpower]

Not really true. When the cage sides are covered it slows down the temp drop of the cage contents because less cold air from the room reaches their surfaces as fast. The covering may be thin, but it does act as a buffer for a while. Even dense foliage helps (which is one reason why chams live in dense bushes in the wild instead of out in the open).

It sounds to me as if the OP needs to buffer these radical changes in temp that can happen quickly, or slow them down at least. The lower nighttime temps into the 50s are not a big problem as long as the cham can bask longer the next day. What is most important is whether the cham can warm itself up during the day to actively hunt, drink, and digest his food, basically behave normally.

It does sound as if the OP will need a thermostatically controlled light so it can modify itself when no one is in the room. And, IMHO, it is safer to get a little cooler than ideal than to get too hot!

right now im using an infrared light that he doesn't even use and I keep it quite low but the rest of the room (including the cage) ranges from 72-76f

 

[lisagr07]

We had one room with a Cham, frogs and feeders in it and had to keep the door closed most of the time because of our cats....
We had a horrible time regulating the temp in the room so this is what we did...
Bought a door, cut out and screened the top portion... Now it can be closed off but temp is consistent with the rest of the house, much easier to regulate.
Granted a screen door is not something everyone wants to have inside but it looks ok and works!!