Can a cold grey day affect a chameleons activity/sleep

Mtnlaurel

Mtnlaurel

Member
It's gross today. My house is 66 degrees. It's taking my chameleon an awful long time to get moving today. He's not asleep, just cold, dark and in his sleeping spot,tail curled and not getting up and moving.
Yesterday he had a great day, up and active, eating well, etc.

Should I be worried?

On occasion I have seen him go to bed extra early (like 2 hrs) on an overcast day as well.

I worry too much about him in general. Could this just be related to ambient temps that are too cool and a darker day?? I moved him up to his basking spot.
 
If his basking and UVB lights are on I wouldn't think a gloomy day would affect them. My apartment is regularly in the low 60s and once the lights come on at 7:30am my chameleon starts getting his day on. I'm sure once his cage warms up a bit he will start moving around.
 
Mtnlaurel said:
It's gross today. My house is 66 degrees. It's taking my chameleon an awful long time to get moving today. He's not asleep, just cold, dark and in his sleeping spot,tail curled and not getting up and moving.
Yesterday he had a great day, up and active, eating well, etc.

Should I be worried?

On occasion I have seen him go to bed extra early (like 2 hrs) on an overcast day as well.

I worry too much about him in general. Could this just be related to ambient temps that are too cool and a darker day?? I moved him up to his basking spot.
Click to expand...
what is the cage temp and basking temp?As soon ads I bumped up the basking temp mine got moving and eating again.
 
His basking temp is about 85. I'm more worried that the ambient temps are too low. It's not uncommon for my house to have periods in the low 60s.

Once he warms up he seems fine. Still it bothers me that he isn't waking up and seeking out the warmth of his basking spot..
 
In my opinion it's a little strange for a panther in general not to be interested in basking right away. I would be less worried if it was a montane species. Due to their weird acceptance of general cold seasons and not wanting to bask all the time. That and a lot of montanes readily go into brumation and it stimulates breeding in them. How long did it actually take him to get basking? Before you moved him? I don't find that going to sleep early on those days is weird.
 
tch... that means it was taking a bit too long in my opinion for the ambient temperature to pick up. Especially since it took that long for it to go from 66 to 70. It should have been there way before then.
 
I usually keep my daytime temps no cooler than 68 F, I would definitely fill out the form though if he's napping, I wouldn't assume automatically that is from the chill of a day. Also provide pictures of set up and his over all body. Hopefully it's something easy.
 
IMG_0436.JPG
 
Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - Male Panther chameleon, under my care for two months, age 7 months
  • Handling - every few days I will move him to a large ficus tree in our house for an hour or so
  • Feeding - I am feeding crickets, blue bottle flies, dubia, BSFL, superworms, waxworms, and hornworms on occasion. I just accidentally cooked all my silkworms, so I never got to feed them off. I gutload the crickets and dubia with Repashy Bug burger plus collards, mustard greens, sweet potatoes, summer squash, apple, orange, bee pollen, ginger, on rotation. The BBF's eat honey, dried milk and bee pollen. He eats about 5 medium crickets, and maybe 5-7 flies daily, or 5-7 BSFL, sometimes more, sometimes less, but is generally gaining weight well. Others on a treat basis
  • Supplements - Zoo-med Calcium No D3 daily, biweekly with Rep-Cal +D3, Reptivite or Herptivite
  • Watering - I have a mist king programmed to run 5 minutes at 8, 10, 4 and 6, and for 15 minutes at 1:00. I also have a humidifier plumbed directly into the cage. Humidity within the cage ranges from the 50% on up to 100% when its "raining" I see him drink frequently, perhaps too frequently.
  • Fecal Description - Normal feces, slightly orange urates, although they have been improving. we are getting over a hunger strike. He chewed some bark off a branch and swallowed it, and threw it back up. We went to the vet for a work up. He suspected that he may not be eating due to soreness from swallowing/vomiting bark. His appetite has been returning, and has been defecating more frequently, and his urates have been improving. I have been occasionally doing an hour long addtional misting. Fecals were done at the vet visit, he had an abnormally high flagellate count, and he did a 5 day course of Flagyl. He has made tremendous gains in weight, over 50% body weight from early January to mid-February, 50g to 76g. I worry he looks a little skinny, but a couple weeks of not eating much will do that. I worry that he is dehydrated, but I'm hoping that it is just the long time period between each defecation.
  • History - I purchased him from Chameleon Paradise in early December, at 5 months. He had a Respiratory Infection which was treated with Fortaz in early January and has since cleared up.

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Screen, DIY cage, 24"x24"x48"
  • Lighting - Arcadia 6% and a 6400K daylight t5 twin bulb set, 60 W household incandescent bulb, 6:30 am to about 7:00 pm
  • Temperature - Temperature ranges from 95 on the ceiling, quickly falling down to around 85 within the first three inches. Regular basking spot is right around 85, falling down to around 60 at night. In addition to the lightbulb I have a ceramic heat emitter that comes on with the lights. My situation is complicated by the fact that I heat my house with a wood stove - I do not have central heat. This can create wide household temperature fluctuations, particularly at night. the nighttime can begin with temps in the high 70s and falling off into the low 60s overnight. It can often take a few hours to raise the house temperature in the morning. I have some concerns about the effect this may have on chameleon sleep patterns. I measure temperatures with a heat gun, probe thermometers, and an ambient household thermometer/hygrometer.
  • Humidity - 50% to 70%, with occasional fluctuations as low at 30%. I pipe cool mist humidifier vapor directly into the cage through the floor. I also have a pothos and ficus and a mistking set to go off every two hours.
  • Placement - My cage is upstairs in the TV room. There are no fans or vents, but it is upstairs in a home heated by a woodstove. We watch TV here in the evenings. Most of the time that room is empty.
  • Location - I'm in the mountains in Virginia

Current Problem - I'm worried about his sleep. I can't say for certain he is napping, he just looked at rest and may have had his eye closed. He was wide awake once I walked over there and has gone back to cruising around and being generally awesome. I am obsessively compulsively worrying about him like a newborn child, as usual. I did not know chameleon insanity was even a thing until I got this guy. These guys should come with a Prozac prescription. Its completely possible I just need to chill out.

He did not "get out of bed" until I moved him at 9. He was awake, just not seeking heat. Some days he will go to bed early.



#1
 
You could have the ceramic heat emitter come on earlier than your lights so the cage temp comes up before "dawn". Try it and see if it helps. He would still have the night time temperature dip it just wouldn't last as long. You might loose some humidity to the emitter so don't start too early. Don't forget to back it off once spring arrives.
Don't beat yourself up for worrying chalk it up to good observational skills.(y)
 
That's kind of genius. I will try that and see if it helps. I think the temps are my problem. Its just so darn hard to keep them stable when the house jumps around so much.
 
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