Sleeping

[Moosma]

Not sleeping through the night

My little green guy doesn't seem to sleep through the night.
His crate is in my bedroom, and when I walk by he's rolling his beautiful eyes around often enough, that now I am asking if this is normal.
Sometimes he naps during the day... but that's to be expected if he isn't sleeping well.
The thermometer just outside hiis crate reads 74 degrees & he has a night heat (50 watt) red bulb. He is 5.5 months, big as a moose, wire crate, feeds on crickets & worms and the occasional fly, he free-ranges in the kitchen when I am in there.
He seems bold, sassy, content; I'd say happy and he obviously has me well trained to dote on him:
As I type, he is asleep in my hand because he was up when I walked in the room and I know he chills out in my hands, and sure as can be, he's out now. (I don't usually take him out at night, but today, because I was going to post this, I just did.)
Anybody know if I should worry?
PS - he is gorgeous!

 

[Kate]

My little green guy doesn't seem to sleep through the night.
His crate is in my bedroom, and when I walk by he's rolling his beautiful eyes around often enough, that now I am asking if this is normal.
Sometimes he naps during the day... but that's to be expected if he isn't sleeping well.
The thermometer just outside hiis crate reads 74 degrees & he has a night heat (50 watt) red bulb. He is 5.5 months, big as a moose, wire crate, feeds on crickets & worms and the occasional fly, he free-ranges in the kitchen when I am in there.
He seems bold, sassy, content; I'd say happy and he obviously has me well trained to dote on him:
As I type, he is asleep in my hand because he was up when I walked in the room and I know he chills out in my hands, and sure as can be, he's out now. (I don't usually take him out at night, but today, because I was going to post this, I just did.)
Anybody know if I should worry?
PS - he is gorgeous!

Hi there. Sleeping during the day is not normal. Can I suggest you remove red night light as it may be keeping him awake. Are you measuring his temps? Does he have a basking light? What kind of Cham is he. Could you take some tome to fill in form and someone will be along soon to help you. Link below.

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

 

[chameleonkev]

Agreed the red night light will not be doing him any good, if you need extra heat at night use a ceramic light, what's his day bulb? And sleeping during the day isn't good, I would fill the help form out soon as you can and I wouldn't ever inturupt his sleep at night if you can help it

 

[Moosma]

Not sleeping well!

Chameleon Info:
Phi is a Veiled Chameleon, male, 5.5 months old. I have had him since 6/11/12, when he was 4 weeks old.
I handle him at least three times a day. He comes out to eat in his feeding station, he comes out to free-range & he is handled when I shower (he hangs out in his pothos plant)
He eats crickets and LOVES mealworms. He is an assassin of flies. He consumes ~10-15 3/4" crickets & 10 small mealworms daily (I let him eat as much as he wants); when he's finished he climbs out of his station. I gutload with Flukers High Calcium Cricket Diet, greens, apples, potatoes, & a watered sponge, etc. The crickets that are his meal are fed the Flukers exclusively for 24hrs before they 'meet' Phi.
Crickets are dusted with Miner-All (calcium/mineral supplement, phosphorus-free + VitD) 2 times weekly.
Phi drinks water in the shower (plant is seriously well watered), he has a drip system going during the day, and he is learning to drink water drops from my fingertips when he's hanging in the kitchen window.
I mist at least 3x daily.
His droppings are a source of pride; large, dark brown & firm. His urates are white.
He hasn't been tested for parasites yet.
He seems like a happy chameleon. He looks very self-satisfied. He is quick to handfeed, he is curious about his surroundings, and except for the sleeping, he is a gem. He has a very firm grip. He has beautiful color.
He has treated himself to grape leaves and dandelion flowers; I am careful to keep only plants from the 'Safe List' I found at ChameleonForums.

Cage Info:
Screen cage, 16x16x30.
Repti-Sun or ZooMed UVB tube, 5.0 and a basking light during the day (7:30am to 7pm) Red 50 watt heat bulb for night.
It is 74* just outside his crate, measured by thermometer in light switch. 85* near basking light... those temps are pretty constant.
Humidity level measurement - I drop the ball, but he joins me for showers almost daily. The cage gets misted by my mate & me as we remember. It is at least 3x daily and that is a conservative measure. I have not measured humidity.
He has 2 ficus, 1 umbrella tree, 2 pothos plants, grape vines.
His crate is in bedroom corner on my dresser. The top of his crate is ~ 6' from the floor. I do walk past his crate a lot.
It is not near any fans or air vents.
We live in Oregon, USA.
Current Problem - He sleeps intermittently during the night. I see his eyes open often enough for me to start worrying now, and I don't know how long it's been that way. He naps (eyes closed) during the day for short periods.

 

[Kate]

Thanks for filling in form. Your problem could be the red light as discussed before. Because I'm in uk our supplements are different brands. Generally speaking it is recommended that you dust with phos free calcium without d3 every feed and calcium with d3 twice a month. You will also need a multivit twice a month. Gut loading with fluckers anything is not good i believe. He sounds a happy chap I hope this helps.

 

[camimom]

Sounds like hes nto sleeping because of the red light. get rid of it.

chams can take temp drops down to the 50's at night. so its just fine if it gets colder.

you need a calcium without d3 every feeding,a calcium with d3 twice a month, and a multivitamin twice a month.

also, your gutloading needs to be improved, that flukers stuff is just crap.

read blogs by sandrachameleon on gutloading.

 

[Moosma]

Thank you both!
Red light will be repurposed ;-)
I shall go with SandraChameleon's recipes, and the little green guy is probably grateful to you too (two).

I am attaching photos for your viewing pleasure! One is him climbing into his feeding station and the other is Phi looking cute.

 

[Kate]

Thank you both!
Red light will be repurposed ;-)
I shall go with SandraChameleon's recipes, and the little green guy is probably grateful to you too (two).

I am attaching photos for your viewing pleasure! One is him climbing into his feeding station and the other is Phi looking cute.

He is a cutie. Sandra's stuff is great. You will still need fruit and veggies. Good luck.

 

[camimom]

hes great looking!
He looks like a grumpy butt, haha. love the pose and the eyes at the camera.
sandrachameleons blogs on gutloading are the best.

 

[SarahcoadunatioZac]

Thank you both!
Red light will be repurposed ;-)
I shall go with SandraChameleon's recipes, and the little green guy is probably grateful to you too (two).

I am attaching photos for your viewing pleasure! One is him climbing into his feeding station and the other is Phi looking cute.

I really like your "Feeding Station".

 

[mcbdz]

I really like your "Feeding Station".

I do to. May try something like that when Zeke gets older. Thanks for the idea

 

[Moosma]

He's been eating from there since we picked him up.
With my first one, the vet told me Chameleon's ate 5 or 6 crickets a day. We then had an issue with Mozart being thin. A whole bunch of stuff... long story, short: Phi is as big as Mozart was when Mozart was 18months old.
Phi is 2weeks shy of 6 months and he's never eaten just 5 or 6 crickets. He eats a lot & I let him eat as much as he wants. When he's done, he climbs out.
If you choose to feel yours the same way, all the luck to you; it means you get to play with your buddy that much more!
He is beautiful!
Thanks again for coming to his rescue. He should be sleeping through the night tonight!

 

[Moosma]

Guess who's sleeping like a log!
Thank yous again!

 

[MollyT]

I'm glad you got good advice and he is now sleeping well! He certainly is a handsome guy! I also like the feeding station idea. I think I may start doing that with Kush. That is a really cute picture of him looking at the camera! He looks like Mr. Attitude! I love veileds!

 

[Kate]

Guess who's sleeping like a log!
Thank yous again!

That's great to hear.

 

[mcbdz]

Glad he got some good rest. Now he can give attitude with umph behind it. LOL