Chameleon hanging out under the UV light fixture

cigdoll

cigdoll

New Member
I've witness this a few times since I brought home my chameleon Kiddo.
This is his 3rd day home and I am fairly new to the chameleon world.

He climbs right under the screen where my UV light fixture is and stays there a minute or two. As he is moving around under there, his arms are shaking as he takes his steps(is it because he's upside down?). When he is walking right side up, his arms are normal and not shaking.
 
Especially when they are youngsters they like to hang around :D As long as he can't burn his little feets there is no harm.
 
my chameleon did that also when he was a baby. It never hurt him in anyway. When they are small they like to hang upside down for some reason.
 
Phew..what a relief..I'm glad I have all of you here to help me ;)

So just to confirm..
The light(Reptisun 5.0 T8 Florescent) will not be too hot that can cause thermal burns?
Also, it won't be too much UV for him?

Thanks a bunch! :)
 
If your uvb bulb is above the mesh it blocks around 50% of uv rays. I'm not an expert but I think you should use 10uvb. What are your temps?
 
Nope 10.0 is too strong especially for a youngster. Like everyone said, they just like to hang around. Btw he looks great
 
I would always use a 10.0 above the mesh too aswell as a refelctor. It wont hurt them aslong as they can get away from the uv rays if they wish. This is the method I have used with all my three. Some people dont like the 10.0 bulbs though but tbh the 5.0 really doesnt give off loads of uv.
 
A 10.00 UVB can be to bright, i had a repti glo 10. with my lil cham and after a few days i noticed him started to sleep or close his eyes quite regulary. As days passed i noticed him start closing his eyes longer. I asked for help on here and alot of people said its far to bright ( i have my uvb in my viv ). As soon as i could i got an arcadia d3 6% UVB bulb. Since ive changed to this bulb i have had no problems and also noticed that my cham seems happier :)
 
Callum1168 said:
A 10.00 UVB can be to bright, i had a repti glo 10. with my lil cham and after a few days i noticed him started to sleep or close his eyes quite regulary. As days passed i noticed him start closing his eyes longer. I asked for help on here and alot of people said its far to bright ( i have my uvb in my viv ). As soon as i could i got an arcadia d3 6% UVB bulb. Since ive changed to this bulb i have had no problems and also noticed that my cham seems happier :)
Click to expand...
Did you use 10 ubv trough the mesh?
 
Sorry, I haven't got back to this thread. By the way, Kiddo is now 9 weeks old.

I have a horizontal branch about 5" under the light.
Temperature of high is 78f-79f and low of 75f-76f.

Update: He is not hanging under the light as much now, he would just crawl under it for less than a minute and then moves on to his wandering.

So far I've had him for 6 days now and so far so good. He has grown a little bigger from what I can see. Here are some pictures of Kiddo, and can you tell by looking at a chameleon if they are absorbing too much uv or not enough uv?
 
It really depends on how thick the mesh is, but the average mesh you will only need 5.0. Babies need more UV so 10.0 can be okay for them, but really any higher than 5.0 is not necessary and could even make them ill. As long as they have a 5.0 and a well-balanced diet with the correct calcium supplement they will be happy and healthy. (Higher % can also make their colour darker too). As for the little guy hanging about upside down, he's just having fun and the shaking is normal for youngsters as they are still coming to grips (excuse the pun) with their arms/tale/grip etc. When mines was only a couple of months he wasn't sure how exactly his tail worked and had his tale wrapped around a small twig, he continued to walk around with the twig curled up in his tail for a good 20mins :')
 
All lights/heat lamps should be kept outside the cage as remember chameleons are climbers and believe me they WILL climb onto them and could burn themselves (you'd be surprised how hot the light can even heat up!)
 
cigdoll said:
Sorry, I haven't got back to this thread. By the way, Kiddo is now 9 weeks old.

I have a horizontal branch about 5" under the light.
Temperature of high is 78f-79f and low of 75f-76f.

Update: He is not hanging under the light as much now, he would just crawl under it for less than a minute and then moves on to his wandering.

So far I've had him for 6 days now and so far so good. He has grown a little bigger from what I can see. Here are some pictures of Kiddo, and can you tell by looking at a chameleon if they are absorbing too much uv or not enough uv?
Click to expand...

Too much UVB normally they will look very dark in colour (which is not unusual in general day to day life for them, but if it's consistent it could mean too much UVB)
 
Thanks for winterbones! Are my temperatures too hot for Kiddo? For the 6 days I've had him; his mouths gapes open a little, but not very wide. He doesn't only do it under the light, but also pretty much anywhere in his cage.

Should I be concerned of anything? I've done some research and I'm not coming across any symptoms of respiratory infection with Kiddo.
 
cigdoll said:
Thanks for winterbones! Are my temperatures too hot for Kiddo? For the 6 days I've had him; his mouths gapes open a little, but not very wide. He doesn't only do it under the light, but also pretty much anywhere in his cage.

Should I be concerned of anything? I've done some research and I'm not coming across any symptoms of respiratory infection with Kiddo.
Click to expand...

74-78 during the day for a baby cham and make sure from his bedtime till rise it's between 62-68. His mouth should only be gaping when he's under his heat or too warm, so he may be a little too warm or dehydrated. Increase his misting to 5 times a day for a good few minutes and see if this helps. Also make sure you have a substrate of some sort for the bottom of his cage to help with humidity. Going by the picture you posted of him it looks like he may need more vines to give him full access around his cage to help with thermo-regulating. Try make sure there's a vine zig-zagging from top to bottom to help him with this
 
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