Helmeted chameleon

Somemeeps

Somemeeps

Member
Hey guys I'm getting a baby helmeted chameleon from tikis geckos and I need ideas on how to drop the temperature night time. They need it about 40°F, I live in Arizona so thats my concern I've read up on them and I can't figure out how to drop the temperature that low.
 
I have never heard of dropping it that low for these guys... 50 is the lowest I have heard of. Take a look at this link for husbandry for them. https://chameleonacademy.com/trioceros-hoehnelii/

I am in AZ as well. Humidity and night time temp drops are hard here. Having a hybrid cage will help a ton with humidity especially with lots of live plants. As far as the temp drop I have a portable air conditioner in the room that my cham is in. Do not look at the digital ones. Just get one you can put on high or low. The digital ones do not have options colder than 62. At least none I could find here did. But either a portable that you can hook the vent up to the window or a window unit for the room will help with temp drops and keeping ambient day temps lower.
 
Beman said:
I have never heard of dropping it that low for these guys... 50 is the lowest I have heard of. Take a look at this link for husbandry for them. https://chameleonacademy.com/trioceros-hoehnelii/

I am in AZ as well. Humidity and night time temp drops are hard here. Having a hybrid cage will help a ton with humidity especially with lots of live plants. As far as the temp drop I have a portable air conditioner in the room that my cham is in. Do not look at the digital ones. Just get one you can put on high or low. The digital ones do not have options colder than 62. At least none I could find here did. But either a portable that you can hook the vent up to the window or a window unit for the room will help with temp drops and keeping ambient day temps lower.
Click to expand...
Do you have a fogger in it aswell?
 
Beman said:
I have never heard of dropping it that low for these guys... 50 is the lowest I have heard of. Take a look at this link for husbandry for them. https://chameleonacademy.com/trioceros-hoehnelii/

I am in AZ as well. Humidity and night time temp drops are hard here. Having a hybrid cage will help a ton with humidity especially with lots of live plants. As far as the temp drop I have a portable air conditioner in the room that my cham is in. Do not look at the digital ones. Just get one you can put on high or low. The digital ones do not have options colder than 62. At least none I could find here did. But either a portable that you can hook the vent up to the window or a window unit for the room will help with temp drops and keeping ambient day temps lower.
Click to expand...
I have a digital portable AC that cools down to 60F (though it doesn't cool down to 60F when it's 100+ degrees here). What temp does your mechanical portable AC reach? Asking for my own curiosity.😉

I've heard of people letting their hoehnelii get down to near freezing in the winter with no deaths. Though I wouldn't recommend this--probably puts too much stress on the hoehnelii depending on the locale.

Necas: https://www.chameleons.info/en/trioceros-hoehnelii-profile/ (nighttime temp between 32-60's F). Though I do like chameleon academy's caresheet better. Aim for 62F and under.

Window AC units are cheaper and more efficient. You just need to make sure your HOA allows them. Otherwise, a portable AC with an exhaust tube is the way to go.
 
Somemeeps said:
Do you have a fogger in it aswell?
Click to expand...
A fogger depends on your humidity. If you mist at night (e.g. using a MistKing) at regular intervals and your humidity is still below 75% humidity, then you definitely need to add a humidifier. If you can, you should get a humidifier anyways to boost nighttime humidity. As long as you are able to let the cage dry out during the cage, you can't really go wrong with approaching 100% humidity.
 
Mendez said:
I have a digital portable AC that cools down to 60F (though it doesn't cool down to 60F when it's 100+ degrees here). What temp does your mechanical portable AC reach? Asking for my own curiosity.😉

I've heard of people letting their hoehnelii get down to near freezing in the winter with no deaths. Though I wouldn't recommend this--probably puts too much stress on the hoehnelii depending on the locale.

Necas: https://www.chameleons.info/en/trioceros-hoehnelii-profile/ (nighttime temp between 32-60's F). Though I do like chameleon academy's caresheet better. Aim for 62F and under.

Window AC units are cheaper and more efficient. You just need to make sure your HOA allows them. Otherwise, a portable AC with an exhaust tube is the way to go.
Click to expand...
Have you heard of the zoomed repti cooler? I went into a reptile shop today to buy feeders and I asked them if they have any ideas for temperature drop an they showed Mr the repti cooler seemed to cool down pretty good.
 
Yeah, I've heard of it. The zoomed repti cooler uses evaporative cooling. Evaporative cooling is most effective in dry climates. However, it does have its limits. While it is advertised for montane reptile species like a jackson's chameleon or hoehnelii, this unit won't provide temps nearly low enough. Your best bet is getting a portable AC or window AC unit.
 
Mendez said:
Yeah, I've heard of it. The zoomed repti cooler uses evaporative cooling. Evaporative cooling is most effective in dry climates. However, it does have its limits. While it is advertised for montane reptile species like a jackson's chameleon or hoehnelii, this unit won't provide temps nearly low enough. Your best bet is getting a portable AC or window AC unit.
Click to expand...
I have them and they only get it down to 65 vs 70. So not a big difference but enough for my species
 
dinomom said:
I have them and they only get it down to 65 vs 70. So not a big difference but enough for my species
Click to expand...
Do you got some pics? I’ve never seen any captive kept besides underground reptiles pics. They’ve always intrigued me :)
 
Honestly, my T. hoehnelii are the last chameleons I bring inside in the winter because of cold temps and the last chameleons I bring inside because of hot temps in the summer. They really need night temperature drops, but they can handle temperature extremes quite well in both directions as long as they are able to bask during the day in the winter to warm up and in the summer they have ample shade to escape the sun, a decent humidity and hydration schedule and night temperature drops. I would not keep them outdoors in AZ in the summer (too dry and too warm), but I have no issue with it in SD with daytime temps in the 80s and 90s (I generally bring them in when temps are going to go into triple digits, although they never have seemed heat stressed in the slightest when I do) and nighttime lows into the upper 50s and 60s. It is much more humid here than AZ, however. In the winter, my T. hoehnelii are quite happy with nighttime temperature drops into the low 40s. I tend to bring them in when the low temps get into the upper 30s, but they always seems annoyed at me for doing it as they really just thrive outdoors even with these wide temperature swings. The areas they come from in Kenya are generally cool in the warmer parts of the year and cold in the winter, particularly at night, but the habitat is often very open and shrubby with very high exposure, so the sun can be quite intense causing their body temperatures to get quite high.

Chris
 
Mendez said:
I have a digital portable AC that cools down to 60F (though it doesn't cool down to 60F when it's 100+ degrees here). What temp does your mechanical portable AC reach? Asking for my own curiosity.😉

I've heard of people letting their hoehnelii get down to near freezing in the winter with no deaths. Though I wouldn't recommend this--probably puts too much stress on the hoehnelii depending on the locale.

Necas: https://www.chameleons.info/en/trioceros-hoehnelii-profile/ (nighttime temp between 32-60's F). Though I do like chameleon academy's caresheet better. Aim for 62F and under.

Window AC units are cheaper and more efficient. You just need to make sure your HOA allows them. Otherwise, a portable AC with an exhaust tube is the way to go.
Click to expand...
Yeah I ended up with the portable because my HOA does not allow window units. It is digital and lowest setting is 62. :(
 
Last edited:
Beman said:
Yeah I ended up with the portable because my HOA does not allow window units. It is digital and lowest setting is 62. :(
Click to expand...
Good to know, I'll make sure to mention that in future posts where I recommend an AC unit. Never knew this. (y)
 
Mendez said:
Good to know, I'll make sure to mention that in future posts where I recommend an AC unit. Never knew this. (y)
Click to expand...
Me neither. Got it home about died trying to get it in the house and upstairs. Then realized it only went down to 62 :hilarious:
 
Somemeeps said:
Hey guys I'm getting a baby helmeted chameleon from tikis geckos and I need ideas on how to drop the temperature night time. They need it about 40°F, I live in Arizona so thats my concern I've read up on them and I can't figure out how to drop the temperature that low.
Click to expand...
I have 10 helmeted baby’s, all I do is turn off the lights and heat and they do great
 
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