Does your cham "freak out" at bedtime

[CLP]

Montizooma, my 4.5 month old male veiled "freaks out" each night at bedtime. When I start to dim the lights for bedtime, he starts "running" around his enclosure looking for a spot to sleep. He'll go back and forth from one side to the next for 10-20 minutes sometimes like he can't find anywhere suitable to sleep . He eventually settles down, but it seems like an unusual thing to do. Does anyone else's cham do this?

 

[Decadancin]

My boy turns in right before sundown, and his lights go off a little after that. Does your cham have access to windows where natural light is visible? Also, do you have lights on timers? This can help to get your cham into a routine so he will know when to turn in, and it will not be a source of stress for him. My lights turn off one at a time to simulate sunset. Hope this helps .

 

[mirrinias]

How high do you have the cage,and how much foliage? Chameleons feel unsafe if they're not high enough or hidden enough to sleep.

 

[lovepicasso]

I will dime the lights in the room and Picasso will then find his spot, it is very easy on him to find and then the lights will go out to dark.

 

[lysinlight87]

I find timers are great. Neelix has a good biological clock- he knows what time his lights go off every night & gets ready for bed about 1/2 hour beforehand.

My new panther baby let me know what time he wanted to go to bed & I adjusted his lights accordingly. I set the timer to switch off at 7pm but he was going to bed at 6, so I just changed the timer.

My carpet baby just goes to sleep whenever the lights go off lol

They're all individual, but it does help if the lights go off at the same time every night

 

[lysinlight87]

Also, on the foliage point- my new boy sleeps behind a dense plastic hanging plant, it's like his blanket- it's cute! Neelix & Boo have regular sleeping spots too. I guess your guy will find himself some favourite spots over time

 

[MollyT]

My guy gets on his 'sleepy branch' about a half hour before lights out.

 

[Tifanydalpont]

if you have a timer for the light to go to bed ..me cammy will walk around the cage to find a sleeping vine...once the lights go off and the room is dark no other lights on..they;ll go to bed...once they find a good spot they will wait there till they go off...they like a routine

if my cammys lights go out and there's other light on and i check if his sleep... and he is not...He gives me a look with one eye saying"come on man i want to sleeep!!" then i either put a towel over his cage or leave the room turning off all lights

 

[CLP]

I have a 5 year old veiled that I rescued a week ago and he always sleeps in the same spot. My young guy though is a different story. To answer the questions, there are lots of plants/foliage in the enclosure. He has a ficus and pothos with many spots where he can stay hidden behind the leaves. His enclosure is about 5 feet off the ground at the top. I always turn off the lights in his enclosure first and leave the room lights on so he has time to find a spot to sleep before it gets completely dark. It's at that point the he freaks out. It's like he's going OMG, OMG, where do I go? He goes around and around trying out different spots until he finally makes a decision. And in some cases, he ends up back in a spot he "tried" several times already.

Anyhow, he's always done this, I was just wondering if anyone else had a similar experience.