Nervous something is not right.

StevensUneven

StevensUneven

Member
Hello, today is the second day that I have had my chameleon. I have noticed that he is constantly getting on the top screen.

First day I received him, he wandered around a bit, but as soon as the basking light shut off at 6 he got on the screen. He slept on the screen the entire night. Also it appeared he was starting to shed when I got him. Most of the skin fell of before the end of the day.
day1_a.png
day1_b.png


Today, when I put crickets in the enclosure he came down to eat them, sat in the basking spot for maybe an hour and then has been back on the screen since then.
day2_a.png
day2_b.png


Is this a sign something is not right?

I’ve done a lot of prep for this and I feel everything is in alignment. Please see my previous setup posts here.


Temperatures:
1721326996309.png


Humidity:
1721327017277.png
 
So the shedding is normal. So is the screen climbing. When they are babies they will do this. They start to stop doing this when they weigh too much and it is no longer comfortable to do so.

Can I see a pic of the entire set up including how you have your lighting placed?
 
Thank you, here are some pics of the enclosure taken right now.

I've not messed with him at all but was a little concerned he would get burnt, too high of UVB, or that the water spraying on him might freak him out causing him to slip.
 

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StevensUneven said:
Thank you, here are some pics of the enclosure taken right now.

I've not messed with him at all but was a little concerned he would get burnt, too high of UVB, or that the water spraying on him might freak him out causing him to slip.
Click to expand...
Tell me what is the distance from the screen top to the branches below and what UVB bulb strength are you using? Additionally can you adjust the rack he is on so that the cage sits 3-4 inches farther down so there is a distance of 3-4 inches between the top of the cage and the top shelf?
 
There is a 1 inch gap between the top of the rack where the light sits and the top of the enclosure. Inside the enclosure there is a 10 inch gap from the screen to the branches. So about 11 inches in total.

The lights are:

I grabbed 2 readings with the solar meter:
1 behind the basking branch.
IMG_1048.jpg

1 in front of the basking branch.
IMG_1047.jpg


I could lower the shelf a few inches, my only concern was that the UVB would not be strong enough if raised but I could just put it on the screen top rather than the rack, if I lower it.
 
Little bit of an update: I wedged another stick in the top and added a dripper. Within 5 minutes he came down and started drinking from the dripper. He then sat there for a minute and let the water bath him and now he is in the middle exploring.
IMG_1049.jpg
IMG_1050.jpg
 
StevensUneven said:
There is a 1 inch gap between the top of the rack where the light sits and the top of the enclosure. Inside the enclosure there is a 10 inch gap from the screen to the branches. So about 11 inches in total.

The lights are:

I grabbed 2 readings with the solar meter:
1 behind the basking branch.
View attachment 357244
1 in front of the basking branch.
View attachment 357245

I could lower the shelf a few inches, my only concern was that the UVB would not be strong enough if raised but I could just put it on the screen top rather than the rack, if I lower it.
Click to expand...
Ok So when you set up your UVB what you want are branches that are 8-9 inches from the screen. Reason for this is this UVB bulb has a burn in period. So at first yes the levels will sit a bit higher if you measure farther down right at the branch but after the burn in period you should see a 3 UVI at the branch. RIght now where your levels are sitting is at the top of the back after burn in these are going to reduce lower more to a 2 UVI. This is why I always suggest measuring so that it is at the branch levels. They will typically lean to bask exposing their entire side. So as they lean you want that 3 UVI min.

Let me know if I am not making sense. lol I realize for me this is all second nature and I see it in my head when I try to explain it but it does not always come out right.


So your branches are a bit too low.

Have you figured out how he is getting up onto the screen yet? Most of them like to be as high as possible... wedging the branch is a good option. Now check your levels where the branch is... If too high you need to rotate the fixture so it is not directly above that back right corner. Again looking for a 3-4 UVI at the branch. Might even see a 4.5 with a new bulb and that is still within limits. You do not want anything higher than a 6 UVI.

What are you using for a heat fixture?
 
Thank you very much. That makes sense absolutely.

I just finished zip-tieing the branch in place and ran the solar meter across it. The most I got was a about 5.8 on the branch. For the most part the UVB and Basking are pointing in between the new branch and the previous.
IMG_1053.jpg
IMG_1052.jpg


For heat I am using, I am using the following:
If agreed, I would like to see how wedging this branch does for a day or 2. I don't mind redoing some of the enclosure and moving stuff but with him this new I would hate to stress him out any more than he already is unless you think I need to make changes now.


Also going to post the below information from my last post incase it helps:

Chameleon Info:​

Cage Info:​

 
StevensUneven said:
Thank you very much. That makes sense absolutely.

I just finished zip-tieing the branch in place and ran the solar meter across it. The most I got was a about 5.8 on the branch. For the most part the UVB and Basking are pointing in between the new branch and the previous.
View attachment 357248View attachment 357249

For heat I am using, I am using the following:
If agreed, I would like to see how wedging this branch does for a day or 2. I don't mind redoing some of the enclosure and moving stuff but with him this new I would hate to stress him out any more than he already is unless you think I need to make changes now.


Also going to post the below information from my last post incase it helps:

Chameleon Info:​

Cage Info:​

Click to expand...
Gosh you are so on top of it. so good!

So yeah see how he does with that branch. UVI is still within limits at the high point. Can always pull forward the left side of the UVB fixture just slightly if you need to drop the UVI at the high point. See if he stops screen climbing so much.

Only note I have is the fan kicking off at 6pm. I would go ahead and trigger this to run until 10ishpm. It will help lower temps and cycle air before fogging starts at 11pm. Make sure night time temps are hitting lower than 67 for the fogger. really wanting to hit that 65 low at least.
 
I just realized I included the older schedule. I did make a few changes after that last post.

Mostly the fogger doesn't start until 1AM now and there is automation that it only starts when the bottom sensor is below 68. I could adjust this to only kick on when its lower but (and I don't know if this make a difference in the recommendation) it is a cool mist humidifier and I do notice that whiles its running the temps drop another 3-4 degrees.

  • Daily Schedule -
    • 1:00AM
      • Fogger starts if the bottom sensor is under 68.
    • 5:00 AM
      • Fogger stops
    • 6:55 AM
      • Mist for 1 minute
    • 9:00 AM
      • UVB and plant lights turn on
      • Heat lamp starts warming up
    • 9:30 AM
      • Basking spot at 80 degrees, maintains 80 all day with the herpstat.
    • 10:00 AM
      • Fan turns on
    • 4:00 PM
      • Add dripper to the enclosure, if needed
    • 6:00 PM
      • Heat lamp cools down over 30 minutes, then turns off
    • 8:45 PM
      • Mist for 2 minutes
    • 9:00 PM
      • UVB and plant lights turn off
    • 10:00 PM
      • Fan turns off
    • 11:00 PM
      • Mist for 1 minute
 
StevensUneven said:
I just realized I included the older schedule. I did make a few changes after that last post.

Mostly the fogger doesn't start until 1AM now and there is automation that it only starts when the bottom sensor is below 68. I could adjust this to only kick on when its lower but (and I don't know if this make a difference in the recommendation) it is a cool mist humidifier and I do notice that whiles its running the temps drop another 3-4 degrees.

  • Daily Schedule -
    • 1:00AM
      • Fogger starts if the bottom sensor is under 68.
    • 5:00 AM
      • Fogger stops
    • 6:55 AM
      • Mist for 1 minute
    • 9:00 AM
      • UVB and plant lights turn on
      • Heat lamp starts warming up
    • 9:30 AM
      • Basking spot at 80 degrees, maintains 80 all day with the herpstat.
    • 10:00 AM
      • Fan turns on
    • 4:00 PM
      • Add dripper to the enclosure, if needed
    • 6:00 PM
      • Heat lamp cools down over 30 minutes, then turns off
    • 8:45 PM
      • Mist for 2 minutes
    • 9:00 PM
      • UVB and plant lights turn off
    • 10:00 PM
      • Fan turns off
    • 11:00 PM
      • Mist for 1 minute
Click to expand...
So double check your top temps.... Your temps will always run cooler the lower you get in the enclosure but top temps will sit warmer. You really want those top temps to be below 68 before that fogger kicks on. Then the bottom temps will be sitting more around 65.

Note you might tweak misting times a bit. 1 minute honestly is not very long granted those are when lights are off. Of course you want to take into account your ambient humidity but typically 2-4 minutes is better as it allows them time to not only trigger a drinking response but clean their eyes if needed. Looks like you are only running 1 misting session with lights on.

As you make changes to schedule etc change 1 thing at a time. Watch where everything sits for a few days before tweaking anything additional.
 
Just a quick update: My guy has not climbed the screen today nor used the branch I wedged. For the most part he sat in the basking spot, stared at his feeder, and then moved around the middle for a bit.
1721428366255.jpeg


@Beman, im going to change it so fogger only kicks on if top temp is below 68 instead. As for the misting, I'll slowly adjust the first mist to about 3 minutes over the next few days and then the other 2 (lights off) to 2 minutes. We'll see how that is sitting. Humidity has been really high this week with storms rolling in but expect that to come down over the next few days.
 
StevensUneven said:
Also FYI, current temps and humidity since last night:

View attachment 357302

View attachment 357303
Click to expand...
Ok see how your humidity spikes in the morning? So this tells us you want to have less moisture in the AM instead you want longer mistings in PM. This will give you a lower morning humidity level. When I lived in CA on the coast my ambient house humidity was crazy high. I actually had to drop the AM misting due to this. Looking for that range of 40-50% daytime level. Now it can spike but it needs to reduce to this range.

For fogging just to be on the safe side I would reduce down the temp on when it kicks on. Depending on which device it is measuring it may kick on when temps are still too high. For most of us to get temps needed we will put in a window unit or portable air conditioner. Now the nice thing about both of these options is when you are dealing with a higher ambient humidity it will help pull this down. But the other aspect of this is it allows for cooler ambient daytime as well. I try to keep my ambient levels around 72 for day time in the bottom of the cage. Because temps will increase as you move up in a hybrid enclosure.

The PC fan you have on top is it blowing air in our pulling air up and out? Now I have mine pulling air up and out. And the reason for this is that I do not want to push in the hot air from the ceiling. PLUS the point of the fan is to help cycle the air in the cage with the chimney effect. I would have this kick on earlier than you have it set. Maybe an hour before your lights kick on. This is going to help pull humidity levels down as well.

I am glad he is settling now. I would leave the branch in that you wedged in. This gives him the option to get higher and easily get back down if he does go back to the screen.
 
Thank you so much for the feedback. For now I am going to remove the misting at 6:50 until either winter or when the humidity comes down in the house. I increased the first misting to 3 minutes last night, I'll see how this goes and increase to 4 tonight or tomorrow.

For the fogging, I'll decrease the temps even more for both bottom and top. The nice thing about this automation is it checks constantly and can shut off at any point it goes above the levels.

For the fans, I have both fans blowing air in. I did have it setup in the chimney effect before but was noticing that the enclosure was getting far too cold.
 
StevensUneven said:
Thank you so much for the feedback. For now I am going to remove the misting at 6:50 until either winter or when the humidity comes down in the house. I increased the first misting to 3 minutes last night, I'll see how this goes and increase to 4 tonight or tomorrow.

For the fogging, I'll decrease the temps even more for both bottom and top. The nice thing about this automation is it checks constantly and can shut off at any point it goes above the levels.

For the fans, I have both fans blowing air in. I did have it setup in the chimney effect before but was noticing that the enclosure was getting far too cold.
Click to expand...
I would reverse your fans... blowing air into a hybrid just does the opposite of what you need. You need it to help pull clean air through the venting at the bottom up out the top. The other thing about this is if your blowing air into the top you are now making your ambient levels temp and humidity all over the place. If the room is cool your now cooling the basking if too hot you are heating it up too much.
 
So today, when I went in to add the dripper, he looked different. He was just sitting in the spot where I had been putting the dripper and his colors seemed off and skin was a little flabby.
1721594770060.jpeg

I added the dripper and came back 5 minutes later, now he looks wonderful.
1721594795902.jpeg


Would this be an indication he is dehydrated or is this change normal?
 
StevensUneven said:
So today, when I went in to add the dripper, he looked different. He was just sitting in the spot where I had been putting the dripper and his colors seemed off and skin was a little flabby.
View attachment 357359
I added the dripper and came back 5 minutes later, now he looks wonderful.
View attachment 357360

Would this be an indication he is dehydrated or is this change normal?
Click to expand...
So the first pic he is responding to you. Thinning out and trying to look more stick like. This is totally normal. You can tell when they do this because their belly that hangs all the sudden they suck up. If you look at the pics before and after you will understand what I mean. Looks like a totally normal and healthy little man though.
 
You are absolutely on the right path and Beman is an excellent keeper to help guide you. One important thing to remember is that you just got him, so EVERYTHING there is new to him. He was checking it all out, learning about his new environment, and now that he's seen it all he's slowly starting to feel more comfortable. It generally takes them a week or 2 to settle in, learn the routines, etc. So, it looks like he arrived on the 16th, so now he's getting used to things, and getting a feel for when lights go on, etc. Keep it up and you'll have a friend for many years to come. Good luck!
 
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