Juvenile Basks all day..normal?

[ChamOh]

I have a 3 1/2 month old panther that basks nearly all day long--about 90 percent of the day. He only stops basking to take a trip around the cage or to feed. He also remains a drab brown the entire time he is basking. He will turn lighter colors when he is not basking or in the foliage. I have a digital thermometer and his temps are in the correct range.

Is it normal for him to be basking so long?

Here are all the details of his setup:

Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Panther, Male, 3 1/2 months, in my care for less than two weeks

* Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
haven't yet

* Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
"Small" crickets, approx 10-12 per day in the morning, gut loading crix with Zilla Cricket and Insect Food, greens, carrots, and providing them with water crystals.

* Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Reptical, Reptical w/ D3, Reptivite. Schedule from breeder which is a rotating schedule, which consists of two weeks. Week one: calcium, none, calcium, vitamins, calcium, none, calcium. Week Two: Vitamins, calcium, none, calcium, vitamins, calcium, none. Calcium w/ D3 is used instead of regular calcium once or twice a month.

I will be switching out the reptivite for herptivite, because I'm concerned about all the Vit A in Reptivite, where as herptivite uses beta carotene.

* Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Drip system and misting. Mist two to three times per day. I used 1/2 of a water bottle which causes a humidity spike in the 80-90 percent range. I occasionally see him drinking. There is also a drainage system i built in to collect run off water--it's the jug below the cage. I wish I would see him drinking from the dripper--he occasionally goes to it like he wants to drink but just watches the drops fall--he lunges at each drop sometimes as if he wants to catch them, but they fall too fast. I'm trying to move it around to see it there he likes a location better, but not luck so far. I would have it drip right onto the plant, but I think It may drown the plant from water all the time. I use tap water allowed to sit overnight.


* Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
Brown and white. Consistency unknown. Not tested yet for bugs.


Cage Info:

* Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
screen 18x18x20

* Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
retisun 5.0 linear tube, 34 watt incandescent house bulb. 12 hrs on, 12 off.

* Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Floor is around 70 degrees, basking is 80, ambient around 70, over night around 67, digital thermometer readings.

* Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
room humidity is as bad as 20 percent. Cage stays around thirty when dry, after misting spikes up to 80 and stays humid for a while. Back and 1/3 of sides of cage are enclosed with aquarium background that helps keep humidity in cage.


* Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? schefflera, pothos

* Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
Bedroom, Bottom of cage is about 3 ft off the ground.

* Location - Where are you geographically located? Eastern Pennsylvania.

 

[FAIL]

mine does about the same. Wait till summer if you live in a cold state or have him with lower room temps.

 

[ShaunaLynnA]

Mine also does the same and he is about 4mo old!

 

[OOOst16]

Yah its normal. Mine does aswell....but with age the brown color becomes more colorful.....instead of brown...you get dirty drab colors lol. Just make sure your cham isn't gaping with his mouth open while basking. That indicated temps are to high.

 

[OOOst16]

Also make sure the chameleon is moving around the basking area.....the cham needs to be moving in different basking positions throught the day. You don't want him ploped in one spot all day...this is why multiple climbing instrements should be placed under each baskin area.

 

[pssh]

My female panther never basks for that long, even when she was 4-5 months. She will bask for 4 hours max every day spread out with the largest chunks of time in the morning and mid afternoon.

 

[Chase]

I think it is normal. Chameleons(reptiles for that matter) need heat to digest food, so him basking is normal. My Veileds did this when they were this age. Just make sure he gets enough water.

 

[Fidel]

80 is low for the basking site. Bump it up a few degrees for now, as he gets older you want to raise it to around 90.

 

[ChamOh]

80 is low for the basking site. Bump it up a few degrees for now, as he gets older you want to raise it to around 90.

Isn't the consensus that 80 is the correct temp for a juvenile panther?

Hopefully, this thread will continue as I've heard a lot of different theories on this. Some people say it's normal, others it's not.

Could diet play a role? Just a wild guess here, but a cham that's fed more will bask longer maybe since it has to digest more? Likewise, fed less bask less... Like I said, just a wild guess at one possible answer to this.

Pssh, how many crickets did you chams eat at this age? My guy is on about 10 small to mediums per day. Typically all in the morning.

 

[pssh]

I fed them both about 8 appropriate sized crickets in the morning about 45-60 minutes after lights on. My male basks a bit longer than the female, but he chills out around his cage during the day. I think his hormones are starting to kick in, he's started to headbob at me.

 

[fluxlizard]

With nearly any diurnal basking lizard you can tell how you are doing with the basking site by watching the behavior.

If he warms up for an hour or so in the morning and then moves away from the hottest basking area, and then returns periodically throughout the day, that's when things are correct.

Most of the basking during the day should be spent near the warmest spot, but not directly on the warmest spot- that means he can go warmer or colder when he wants because it's available.

If he's spending all day basking in the warmest spot he's trying unsuccessfully to get warmed up for normal operations- he can't get warm enough so he keeps trying the best he can.

If he spends all day away from the warm spot- it's too hot and he needs it cooled down.

 

[Fidel]

Isn't the consensus that 80 is the correct temp for a juvenile panther?

I don't know what the "consensus" is, but your chameleon is basking all day long, and is dark. That indicates to me that he is a little cold. I have over 50 panthers and not one of them basks all day long.

 

[ChamOh]

Fidel, please don't take my remark as me doubting your expertise on chameleon care--certainly you know way more than I do and I really appreciate any advise you can offer. I am only here to learn, make some friends, and share my experience raising a healthy (hopefully!) cham. I really appreciate your participation in this thread.

I must say, what you just told me was my gut reaction--he is dark and basking all day... he must need more heat! But my basking zone was 86 degrees already, and I was hearing that I need to lower that to 80 degrees or risk burning my guy!

So you can see why confusion was setting in...and why I'm still confused.

So, anyone, do I increase the heat as he is exhibiting some signs of being not warm enough and risk burning him!? Or keep heat where it's at (which is the temp many people seem to use)?

 

[Fidel]

What type and brand digital thermometer so you have? You may be getting an inaccurate reading. What wattage bulb are you using? Try to put multiple branches under the light at various distances so he has the option to choose his own basking temp, starting with one a little hotter than the one he uses now.

 

[jeanjacket812]

My babies basking spot maxes out at 84 and it basks in the morning and throughout the day but its mostly on the move. Maybe some are just more active than others?

 

[Elizadolots]

Confusion is my normal state on this board....conflicting information is extraordinarily common.

I think that every chameleon is different and while most will fall into a set "normal range", some will not. Your chameleon seems to need more heat than it's getting now, so try to find ways to up the heat that don't risk burning him. (because I'm afraid that if you get the basking light hot enough for him to feel comfortable, it might not be safe for him) Can you up the heat in his area with a radiant oil heater or something? Once your chameleon is behaving as though he has enough heat, you can work on whether your tools for measuring are adequate.

 

[fluxlizard]

Watch the behaviour of the lizard. He knows far more about when he is comfortable than the thermometer does and certainly isn't confused about it.

Temperatures are guidelines, not commandments. They get you in the ballpark. Just make sure the enclosure is large enough that the lizard can get away from the heat if he wants, then watch his behaviour and adjust the strength of the basking site.

Your cham won't burn at 86 by the way. LOL (sorry not laughing at you, just laughing at some of the stuff that gets passed around the internet- it's sort of like that game where one kid whispers in anothers ear and the message goes around the circle and comes out the other side completely different than what the first kid said.). If he can't escape that heat and move away from the basking site at that temp he may dehydrate though...

If you are concerned about burning- just make sure that the room isn't like 60 and the basking site like 120 so the poor lizard has to either freeze or cook. That's when burns are most likely to occur because the poor lizard will have to sit long enough to get his core temp up and his skin will heat up much faster than his insides. 86 should be very safe burn wise- just be sure he can move away from the heat when he wants...

Another concern is how far he is from the bulb when he basks- if it's 86 and the bulb is only 5 inches from the branch, and he's 2" tall, the skin on his head and back are much closer to the bulb percentage wise and may be much hotter than the temp on the branch. If the site is 12" from the bulb, his 2" isn't that much of a distance difference percentage wise and is much safer.

That's another reason why basking temps are a guidelines- where is the temp measured? the surface of the branch? The air next to the lizard same distance from the bulb? The lizard itself? His belly or his dorsal surface? Different folks may use different methods to measure and thermometers can be a few degrees off, depending on quality...

 

[ChamOh]

Thanks everyone..

I use an Acurite digital thermometer I bought from Home Depot. It says it is an outdoor/indoor thermometer. Found it in the garden section. It has a probe, which I was just setting it where he likes to sit and bask--directly on the branch. so when he is standing or poking his head up as he likes to do, as flux said, it will be pretty hot for him!

using a 34 watt incandescent, regular house bulb.

I'm going to give him more of a basking range today with more branches and see what happens. I hope I don't cook my friend :/

It's been rather cold here lately, my ambient temp is 68 this morning.. Do you think I need to bring up room temp a little?

 

[Fidel]

Bringing the day time ambient temp up above 70 will help. Chances are your thermometer is +/- 3 degrees in accuracy. With a 34w bulb you should have a basking spot pretty close the top, I use 40w on my 20" cages and I have the basking spot just about slammed up to the top.

 

[ChamOh]

Bringing the day time ambient temp up above 70 will help. Chances are your thermometer is +/- 3 degrees in accuracy. With a 34w bulb you should have a basking spot pretty close the top, I use 40w on my 20" cages and I have the basking spot just about slammed up to the top.

Thanks Fidel...

What kind of temps are you getting in your basking spots with that setup?