Struggling with heating in the UK

[grayson]

Hi everyone! I’m quite new to Chameleon husbandry, I’ve just rescued a few month old Panther Chameleon.

I’ve got a 150w Arcadia basking bulb but I’m really struggling to keep up the temperature in a mesh enclosure.

Do you guys have any recommendations to help keep the heat in? I live in the UK so it’s always cold!

I’ve looked at attaching perspex to the sides and back, but I’m not too sure.

Thanks!

 

[Gloriawood]

Covering the back and sides does help with keeping it warmer, but it will also keep in the humidity. What are your temps and humidity at right now?

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi and welcome. What temperatures are you trying to achieve and keep? For an adult male panther, you want basking temp to be no higher than about 29c. At night, you do want a good cooling off period. I don’t know if it’s available to you there - I imagine it would be - but insulating shrink to fit window film might be a good choice to put on the back and at least one side if not both. You do want to leave the front open for good ventilation. If you absolutely have to cover the front, you must at the bare minimum leave a good gap (I’ll say 10 cm) at the bottom for the chimney effect of ventilation.

 

[Beman]

150 watt is going to be very extreme and high risk of thermal burns.

 

[grayson]

Covering the back and sides does help with keeping it warmer, but it will also keep in the humidity. What are your temps and humidity at right now?

Currently struggling to keep 23°c during the day and around 20°c - 18°c at night. Humidity seems to be fine at 60 - 80% during the day and 90 - 100% at night

 

[grayson]

Hi and welcome. What temperatures are you trying to achieve and keep? For an adult male panther, you want basking temp to be no higher than about 29c. At night, you do want a good cooling off period. I don’t know if it’s available to you there - I imagine it would be - but insulating shrink to fit window film might be a good choice to put on the back and at least one side if not both. You do want to leave the front open for good ventilation. If you absolutely have to cover the front, you must at the bare minimum leave a good gap (I’ll say 10 cm) at the bottom for the chimney effect of ventilation.

Hello and thank you! I’m looking at getting it to 30°c for basking, 27/28°c for ambient and then 23°c ish for night times.

Definitely going to get something for the sides as it’s a real struggle to keep the heat in over here. It gets so cold!