Schick2583
New Member
Thanks. Once I put the new cage together I'll make sure not to put subtrate in it. I just figured it would help with the humidity.
Sleeping during the day
- Thread starter Schick2583
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pantherlover
New Member
What are reptiworms?
brandychams
New Member
repiworms are the larve from the black soldier fly very nutritious and my guys go nuts for them when they turn into flies 
pantherlover
New Member
Oh... learn something every day... Thanks
swordfish1030
New Member
You said he is eating and drinking? He isn't losing weight. Most creatures sleep during the day if they are content or bored. Chams in the wild sleep during the day as they bask in the sun. If he appears healthy I'd simply say he is comfortable with you.
carol5208
Chameleon Enthusiast
you are right, most creatures do sleep during the day but NOT chameleons. How do you know chams in the wild sleep during the day as they bask in the sun? Have you seen this or seen pictures of this? Just curious. My chameleon basks in the hot sun everyday and I have never ONCE seen him close his eyes. There is something not right, if you chameleon keeps closing his eyes.
swordfish1030
New Member
Yes I have witnessed this.. I even have a friend who is a pilot for a Major Oil company, he lives in Madagascar. He is the one who got me interested in Chams years ago. I have seen all sorts of video footage as well as creatures that are
colors that we would all dream to own!
colors that we would all dream to own!
carol5208
Chameleon Enthusiast
Yes I have witnessed this.. I even have a friend who is a pilot for a Major Oil company, he lives in Madagascar. He is the one who got me interested in Chams years ago. I have seen all sorts of video footage as well as creatures that are
colors that we would all dream to own!
well then I guess I stand corrected but the only chameleons I have ever seen basking with their eyes closed are the sick ones in the pet stores where the lighting is wrong or the temps too high!!! i live in Florida and the temps can get very intense here, much hotter than Madagascar and never witnessed this. Interesting though....
ataraxia
Avid Member
a sleeping chemeleon in the wild is easy prey for intended predators. i honestly dont think a animal with no defense or hearing would risk being killed by a bird or any other animal in the wild by sleeping while basking in broad daylight..in captivity yes a bored cham may sleep during the day but i would agree with carol something is 99.99% probably wrong in most instances.
if this has been witnessed in the field i would think the said chameleon would be sick.
if this has been witnessed in the field i would think the said chameleon would be sick.
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Schick2583
New Member
Thanks guys I think it may be the light, it might be bothering his eyes. I left it off all day yesterday while I was at work and when I got home he had his eyes open and he was very alert and normal like the day I got him. I put the light back on today just as a test to see if he keeps his eyes closed again. The only other thing I'm thinking is it that it may have been the shed aid and the humidifying mist I used on him, either it bothered his eyes or stressed him out. I'll let you know later when I get home if he's sleeping again.
Tandra Lee
New Member
what is "avestation"? this i do not know..thanks for the clarification..ps..smile today
jojackson
New Member
"Aestivation ", is defined as a state of reduced metabolic activity in which certain animals become quiescent. It is a resting interval associated with warm, dry periods in areas that have alternating wet and dry seasons. Animals are induced to aestivate when drought and heat interfere with their activities. With their bent for pathological interpretations, biologists also define aestivation as "the state of torpidity induced in animals by excessive dry heat." Physiological and physical quiescence should not be mistaken for a state of torpor.
Aestivation is seen chiefly in the tropics during the long, hot, dry season, when food is scarce and vegetation is taking a rest. A few animals in the temperate zones, especially in the desert regions, also aestivate. Alligators, snakes, certain mammals, as taurec, insects and land snails become dormant.
During the dry season in the tropics the pools and streams dry up. The crocodiles aestivate in Summer, "sleeping" through the dry season without feeding or emerging from the mud in which they have buried themselves. It is said that they are able to "sleep" in this almost "lifeless" state for a whole year. The alligators, the American division of the crocodile family, hibernate in this country very much like frogs, but in the tropics they aestivate. When water is no longer obtainable the South American alligator, and some other animals, bury themselves in the mud, reduce their physiological activities to a bare minimum, while the earth above them is baked into a hard crust. When the rains come again, they resume activity, and come forward renewed by their long fast and rest.
Hibernation is a dormant state of existence, accompanied by greatly diminished respiration, circulation and metabolism, in which animals in the temperate regions spend the winter. During this period the animal functions are nearly suspended; the body heat is lowered to or nearly that of the air, the action of the heart is much reduced and the animal loses from thirty to forty percent of its weight. During hibernation the mammal may not feed, depending entirely on the stored food reserves within the body. The evidence at hand indicates that in such instances the body weight may drop as much as fifty per cent. Indeed, in bats, it drops more than this. In other animals food is stored within their winter nest and the hibernating animal awakens from time to time to consume its food.
Brumation is an example of dormancy in reptiles that is similar to hibernation. It differs from hibernation in the metabolic processes involved.
Reptiles generally begin brumation in late fall (more specific times depend on the species). They will often wake up to drink water and return to "sleep". They can go months without food. Reptiles may want to eat more than usual before the brumation time but will eat less or refuse food as the temperature drops. The brumation period is anywhere from one to eight months depending on the air temperature and the size, age, and health of the reptile. During the first year of life, many small reptiles do not fully brumate, but rather slow down and eat less often. Brumation should not be confused with hibernation; when mammals hibernate, they are actually asleep; when reptiles brumate, they are less active, and their metabolism slows down so they just do not need to eat as often. Reptiles can often go through the whole winter without eating. Brumation is triggered by cold weather, lack of heat, and the decrease in the amount of hours of daylight in the winter.
Diapause is a predictive strategy that is predetermined by an animal's genotype. Diapause is common in insects, allowing them to suspend development between autumn and spring, and in mammals such as the roe deer (Capreolus capreolus, the only ungulate with embryonal diapause), where a delay in attachment of the embryo to the uterine lining ensures that offspring are born in spring, when conditions are most favorable.
Diapause can also refer a period of differing temperatures experienced naturally by the eggs of some reptiles in the wild, particularly those with long incubation periods, such as chameleons.
Aestivation is seen chiefly in the tropics during the long, hot, dry season, when food is scarce and vegetation is taking a rest. A few animals in the temperate zones, especially in the desert regions, also aestivate. Alligators, snakes, certain mammals, as taurec, insects and land snails become dormant.
During the dry season in the tropics the pools and streams dry up. The crocodiles aestivate in Summer, "sleeping" through the dry season without feeding or emerging from the mud in which they have buried themselves. It is said that they are able to "sleep" in this almost "lifeless" state for a whole year. The alligators, the American division of the crocodile family, hibernate in this country very much like frogs, but in the tropics they aestivate. When water is no longer obtainable the South American alligator, and some other animals, bury themselves in the mud, reduce their physiological activities to a bare minimum, while the earth above them is baked into a hard crust. When the rains come again, they resume activity, and come forward renewed by their long fast and rest.
Hibernation is a dormant state of existence, accompanied by greatly diminished respiration, circulation and metabolism, in which animals in the temperate regions spend the winter. During this period the animal functions are nearly suspended; the body heat is lowered to or nearly that of the air, the action of the heart is much reduced and the animal loses from thirty to forty percent of its weight. During hibernation the mammal may not feed, depending entirely on the stored food reserves within the body. The evidence at hand indicates that in such instances the body weight may drop as much as fifty per cent. Indeed, in bats, it drops more than this. In other animals food is stored within their winter nest and the hibernating animal awakens from time to time to consume its food.
Brumation is an example of dormancy in reptiles that is similar to hibernation. It differs from hibernation in the metabolic processes involved.
Reptiles generally begin brumation in late fall (more specific times depend on the species). They will often wake up to drink water and return to "sleep". They can go months without food. Reptiles may want to eat more than usual before the brumation time but will eat less or refuse food as the temperature drops. The brumation period is anywhere from one to eight months depending on the air temperature and the size, age, and health of the reptile. During the first year of life, many small reptiles do not fully brumate, but rather slow down and eat less often. Brumation should not be confused with hibernation; when mammals hibernate, they are actually asleep; when reptiles brumate, they are less active, and their metabolism slows down so they just do not need to eat as often. Reptiles can often go through the whole winter without eating. Brumation is triggered by cold weather, lack of heat, and the decrease in the amount of hours of daylight in the winter.
Diapause is a predictive strategy that is predetermined by an animal's genotype. Diapause is common in insects, allowing them to suspend development between autumn and spring, and in mammals such as the roe deer (Capreolus capreolus, the only ungulate with embryonal diapause), where a delay in attachment of the embryo to the uterine lining ensures that offspring are born in spring, when conditions are most favorable.
Diapause can also refer a period of differing temperatures experienced naturally by the eggs of some reptiles in the wild, particularly those with long incubation periods, such as chameleons.
Schick2583
New Member
The only thing with that is his cage isn't dry, his food isn't scarce and the temperature hasn't gotten any warmer.
pantherlover
New Member
...so was it the light? Remember to grab some plain calcium as your primary dust...
Schick2583
New Member
He seemed to be fine again today with the light on too. Do you think it could have been the shed aid or the humidifying mist?
