outdoor basking...

[QuioteCham]

I have an adult male panther and live in Long Beach, CA. He often sun bathes on a hibiscus tree outside in order to get as much real sunlight as possible. With the winter months now here, I want to make sure what is too cold for him to be outside. I have been told they can withstand cooler temps, but Im the paranoid cham mommy type and want to make sure. What is too cold for outdoor tree time?

 

[OOOst16]

well what are the tempatures outside there? also you can rig basking lights on the tree outside to obscure the colder temps.

 

[jannb]

Do you have a temp gun or a way to measure the temp when outside? Normally, in the direct sun it can get pretty warm. Even when the temps are a bit cool here (70's) I will take mine out of a short period of time and they will get up in the 80's sometimes in the direct sun.

 

[QuioteCham]

so below 70's is too cold then?

 

[OOOst16]

i wouldnt take him out to bask in anything below 60...and if he is basking make sure hes directly under the sun light and ....i wouldnt leave him out as long as you would normaly in nice weather. and if your worried rig a basking heat light on the plant....(but make sure he cant touch it)

 

[hallenhe]

If below 70s were too cold, we'd hardly ever get the chams out in Michigan! - I'll take mine out down to 60 (nighttime indoor temperatures in winter here); my subjective evaluation is, if I can comfortably sit still without a jacket, it's warm enough.

 

[jannb]

I would think so but here in south FL we stay warm all year.

 

[Howdyco]

If below 70s were too cold, we'd hardly ever get the chams out in Michigan! - I'll take mine out down to 60 (nighttime indoor temperatures in winter here); my subjective evaluation is, if I can comfortably sit still without a jacket, it's warm enough.

I am in Colorado and agree with hallenhe.
Flash was out this morning for a stick walk on my deck where it was 58 degrees actual air temperature.
However here at nearly 5700 feet in elevation, I could stand comfortably in a short sleeve shirt, and it felt like nearly 75 or 80.
When the temps are like this I will try and give Flash at least 15 minutes a day in direct sunlight.

 

[draetish]

Do you have a window in the house that the sun shines through? You could open the window and place a limb on the windowsill (providing you have a screen). Just make sure the breeze isn't too cold. Check out my post "catchin some rays".

https://www.chameleonforums.com/catchin-some-rays-34210/

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy,


Manhattan Beach being ~20mi up the freeway from Long Beach, CA; we pretty much have the same weather . Many months ago I posted that when the outside air temp was something like ~62F, my Panther's skin temp was something like ~85F. So with clear, calm, sunny weather, you might see a ~20F increase in body temp from sunshine. As Jannb said, use a temp gun ($20-$45) to measure a chameleon's body temp. (I like the ones with 6:1 or better "distance to spot" (D:S) ratio.)

 

[rnara002]

I think its safe to say the temps should be both above 60 with direct sunlight available.