How long can he stay out of his terrarium?

[Jen0413]

Hi guys,

So Espio is about 6 months old now and had decided he wants to explore the world. Lately whenever he sees me in the room he starts running to his terrarium door and clawing to get out. So I set up our sun room with some of the sticks from his terrarium and his plant. I opened the screen door for sunshine and let him at it. He seems to love it! He's been climbing around the screen door and on his sticks exploring. My only question is, how long can I leave him there before I have to worry about him getting cold? The temp in that room is about 75, so not cold but not as warm as his basking area in his terrarium. Will he give me any signs he needs to go back to his terrarium to get warm or should I put some kind of time limit on his out of cage exploring?

Thanks for your help guys!

 

[unknown91]

i think the problem is the humidity, not the temp ... if he's cold, he will go near the light bulb, on his basking spot

 

[jm400]

That is a good question. I am subscribing to this thread for future reference thanks for asking.

 

[absolutbill]

There are a few questions here that will help us give you a good answer

1. What type of cham do you have?

2. Where geographically are you located?

3. The area that he is exploring outside of his cage, is it glassed in, or screened in?


The reason for these questions is that while chams can get UVB when not under their lights, but not through glass. I am in Florida, and let my veiled and 2 panthers out on my screened in lanai, but the temps are similar to what they are in their respective cages. 75 is fine for a little while, but you may want to set up a basking area so that he can get warmer when he needs to out in the sun room. Just my 2 cents, good luck!

 

[Jen0413]

Absolutbill-

He's a veiled chameleon and we live in Northern Colorado. It's the sun room, so it's basically just a normal room in the house that gets a lot of sunshine and has a screen door. When he was exploring it he tended to stay over by the screen door in the sunshine. If I set up a basking area in there with a light will he be able to sense where to go to get warm? Or should I put him in the area first so he knows where it is?

Thanks for your help! I'm jealous you live in Florida. Here in Fort Collins we get about 3 months of warm and then it's 50/50 for snow... lol

 

[junglefries]

The only real heat necessity is for food digestion. It can get down to the 60°f's in their locales for periods of time. Maybe setup a nice mercury vapor or powersun bulb, where he can't get burned. Or even a small electric ceramic heater ($20 @ walmart). On days he isn't eating, he is probably fine for a good long while. Probably more important, to make sure he is in his enclosure for the first three hours of the day. That way he can warm up to operating temps. An even easier solution, would be to setup an entry way to and from his cage. Let him walk in and out on his own. If he were to get too cold, he would seek out his heat lamp. They are smarter than we think, if not instinct driven.

 

[absolutbill]

Absolutbill-

He's a veiled chameleon and we live in Northern Colorado. It's the sun room, so it's basically just a normal room in the house that gets a lot of sunshine and has a screen door. When he was exploring it he tended to stay over by the screen door in the sunshine. If I set up a basking area in there with a light will he be able to sense where to go to get warm? Or should I put him in the area first so he knows where it is?

Thanks for your help! I'm jealous you live in Florida. Here in Fort Collins we get about 3 months of warm and then it's 50/50 for snow... lol

I like JungleFries' ideas about him being out there longer on non-feeding days. I'd probably set up a basking light, over a tree (real or fake, but if it's fake watch that he doesn't eat the leaves), where he can't get to the light, but he can stay warm. Maybe put it off to one side of the tree, letting him wander around the tree as he wishes, in and out of the warmth.

My parents have friends in Ft. Collins - any chance you know the Ptack family (I think that's how you spell it)? Naples is fantastic - the heat and humidity is intense, but I haven't shoveled snow in over 12 years since I've been down here!