My cham is staying on the light!

[Cturtle265]

My veiled chameleon, 6 months old, is hanging upside down right under the light that’s sitting on top of his cage. It’s a little cold here but I have some space heaters going and it’s warm enough according to his temperature gauges. Has food and water etc. any ideas why he might be doing this? Thank you.

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

My cham did that when she was younger. Do you have a horizontal basking branch/place underneath the bulbs (an appropriate distance away)? If you do not have a basking place, then your chameleon probably just wants exactly that. If you do have a basking place, then it might be because he is exploring. How long has you had him? Is this behavior new? What wattage of basking bulb is it? Lastly, what is your UVB index, 5.0 or 10.0?

 

[kinyonga]

@Cturtle265 ...welcome to the forum!

What is the temperature under the basking light at the closest place that the chameleon can sit? The rest if the cage temperature? Where in the room is the cage located. Is it near a vent, fan, window?

If you put your hand against the screen inside the cage below the light do you have to take it away because it's too hot?
If you're worried about the chameleon burning itself...then raise the light up off the cage a bit so you can hold your hand where I described and the basking temperature is right.

 

[Cturtle265]

Hey guys thanks for the welcome, I have his basking temp on his basking branch 5 inches away in the 80s the temp exactly at the screen near the light is around 97+. Ambient temp is low 70s humidity is kept around 50-70%.
The uvb is 5.0 and the heat light is 60 watt. He is staying Brown most of the time but when he goes up to the light like that it makes him turn greener. He stopped doing it since. I figured he was just hanging around trying to get some more warmth for some reason or exploring.

 

[kinyonga]

It's fine for him to hang around the light since it's on the outside of the cage but you want to make sure that it's not too hot right against the screen where it's sitting to burn him....which is why I said try putting your hand there.

 

[Cturtle265]

Cool thanks guys.