Sleeping too early?

[Chevy-steve]

Hi so just a couple questions, I have a baby veilied male, probably about 5in nose to tip of tail, only had him for a week now... my question is I'm trying to get him on a 12 on/ 12 off schedule 9am on to 9pm off, but it seems like around 730ish sometimes even before that he closes his eyes and stays in one spot, almost as if he's sleeping. Any vibration near the cage he pops his eyes open and moves around.... so my question is am I trying to keep him up too late? Should I adjust the lights to come on and then turn off sooner, still maintaining the 12/12 schedule of course... also I have never seen him drink, but still getting good white urate in his poops (usually 2 a day) and he eats like a tank, usually 10, 1/8 crickets a day and have started adding reptiworms to his diet, usually 5-9 of those a day, misting at least twice a day and running a homemade dripper about 1/2qt. in the afternoon (getting dubias shipped in soon to help with diet diversity) anyways thanks in advance... here's a couple of him "Sleeping" and one awake...

 

[nightanole]

My guy is on the sleeping stick by 5-6pm, it doesnt matter when i turn on his lights, or when they turn off (7pm) or when it gets dark outside (5:30-8:30 depending on the time of year). After the noon cooldown, they will start hunting for a spot.

 

[kinyonga]

What UVB light are you using?

 

[Chevy-steve]

What UVB light are you using?

It's a EXO-TERRA reptile uvb100

 

[Tattersb]

I try to keep my Jax and my quad on a 6a-6p schedule, but the Jackson's puts on his jammies and is in bed by 5:00 if not 4:30. HIs house, his rules I guess.

 

[MSMorgan]

I concur w/ above. Lucky is usually in his spot or close to it by 1700-1730 on a daily basis. He's up at 0630 (lights on) and then asleep by 1800ish or so as the lights go out. Try adjusting your timer to the season and see if improvement is made. You might fill out the "how to ask for help" form:

https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/

to give us a bit more to go on. Start a log of his behaviors in a note book if you haven't already, so you remember what you did, and report back.

 

[rkudulis1957]

My chameleon bed time is between 4and 6 and no later he is ready, he gets where he is going and rolls tail up
and I turn his lights off so the one you have is a baby and he is probably ready for bed early. I'm sure everything
will be ok

 

[Graves923]

My veiled is usually up at 6:30am when the sunlight starts to enter my living room. Lights turn on at 7:30am and off at 7:30pm. I always find my guy perched on his night time branch around 5:30-6:30pm. Your cham will eventually adjust to your schedule.

 

[Angelwolf]

I would adjust his schedule a little bit earlier. Mine is 8am-8pm and my boy is usually getting into his jammies and into his bed by about 7 or 7:30. Sometimes, he stays up till after the lights shut off, but as soon as they do, he hits the sheets. He may just be ready for bed earlier than you have him scheduled for. He may also be stressed. Chams will often close their eyes and pretend to hide when they are stressed. Is there a lot of traffic around his cage? Do you stand/sit outside of it and watch him? Where is his cage in your home? He may also still be acclimating to your home. Also, does he get disturbed when he's sleeping? If there are lights on (of ANY kind) or movement around his cage, he will not sleep properly at night, resulting in sleeping during the day. Either way, that's not good. Their sleep is very important. You don't run any night lights, like the red ones or blue ones, do you? He needs pitch black at night.

 

[Chevy-steve]

Ok update on the situation:
I've adjusted his schedule to be a little sooner, 8am-8pm, his cage is in the corner of my office, so not too much traffic, a little whenever I first get home from work (around 4pm) but other than that usually very light traffic, I do have 2 fish tanks in the room that I was leaving a blue evening light on, but have turned off for the past few days to see if that was part of the issue. He still sleeps off and on during the tail end of the day (around 6pm) sometimes in precarious positions but usually right out in the open, so I don't believe he is trying to hide, he has also started to rub his right eye every now and then so I may believe a doctor's appointment is in the works, I'm currently doing some research on a couple vets in the area. We still are eating and drinking well with normal bowel movements and good white urates but if something is wrong with him I want to get it taken care of as soon as possible... here's a pic of his odd sleeping positions lol

 

[Chevy-steve]

• Chameleon - Veiled, male, been in my care 2 weeks, still a baby only a few inches
• Handling - maybe once or twice a week for 10-15 mins
• Feeding - 8-12 crickets daily( free roam in tank, removed at night) dusted with calcium w/o d3 daily, w/d3 once a week, and reptivite planned on once a month, 6-12 reptiworms (in feeder) he doesn't seem to like these too much only once he's hunted all the crickets will he think of eating them so every couple days... recently bought dubias but haven't had the chance to try them yet

• Supplements - Repticalcium w/o d3, Repticalcium w/d3, Reptivite
• Watering - hand misting twice a day, homemade dropper, (automated mister on it's way ordered it on Monday)
• Fecal Description - Brown/black fecal with white urate, usually at least once if not twice a day
• History - none

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - screen cage 16"x16x20" (note:temporary cage till he gets a little bigger)
• Lighting - Exo-tera reptile uvb100, exoterra sunglo 100w basking bulb
• Temperature - Basking temp maintains around 84 degrees, low areas of cage are typically 71 degrees, with plenty of shade, measured with all living things digital thermometer
• Humidity - humidity averages around 56% at the moment, by hand misting and running dropper, measured with all living things digital hygrometer
• Plants - 3 live plants in cage, all checked for compatibily for chameleons
• Placement - office, low traffic except for between 4-6 medium traffic from myself and my dog who has absolutely no interest in the cham, ( nothing quiet like a 75# pitbull that's scared of a 4 inch lizard lol)
• Location - slightly north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

 

[SnowyChamMom]

Hello, what a cute little guy you have! I started with a baby female and she would always shock me with how early and diligent she was with her bedtimes, ha Your little one is probably just fine. And your care sheet above looks great - way to go on ordering an automatic mister (it makes life so much simpler).

One quick thought: giving extra supplementation of retinyl palmitate (a specific kind of vitamin A) generally helps with chameleons' eye health. Sometimes it seems that the vitamin A that's included in reptile supplements is not quite as easily metabolized, so providing this other source can benefit our chameleons and help prevent eye infections. It's usually in the vitamin section of grocery stores, but just be sure to read the label and specifically look for "retinyl palmitate". It just occurred to me since you mentioned Lucky was rubbing his eye....

Good luck, Lucky (and owner).