pigglett79
Avid Member
Hello everyone,
I have been pretty low key lately, busy getting ready for a new (human) baby, but I wanted to share a quick observation as it may be helpful for others.
Last year I posted about my sambava panther George and issues I was having last winter with his dramatically decreased appetite, lack of activity and overall disposition change. I later realized I had recently changed his basking light and there was a decrease in his backing temp from around 90 to 83-85 ish. Once I returned the light to its previous type and bumped the temp back up around 90 he went back to his normal eating and behavior (was around a month or so of low basking then he returned to normal the day after changing back to a higher temp).
Well this winter I had a similar issue, his basking light went out and I replaced it with a different bulb type as I didnt have the flood I was previously using on hand. My ambilobe panther is doing just fine, his basking temp is around 84-85 and he is eating and behaving normally. George, the sambava however has not been eating, doesnt really move much and isnt basking at all. I finally went out and replaced his flood light (after a couple weeks of this) and got the temps back up around 90 and today (the next day) he is eating drinking and in his basking spot soaking up the heat.
When this happened last year many people thought it may be a coincidence as they didn't believe that small of a temperature difference would make that much of a difference, but I am convinced. A decrease of just 5 degrees really does make a big difference with him. Its pretty dramatic and immediate as well. Maybe it depends on locale as my ambilobe doesnt seem to be as picky about temp range? Not sure, but thought it was interesting.
I have been pretty low key lately, busy getting ready for a new (human) baby, but I wanted to share a quick observation as it may be helpful for others.
Last year I posted about my sambava panther George and issues I was having last winter with his dramatically decreased appetite, lack of activity and overall disposition change. I later realized I had recently changed his basking light and there was a decrease in his backing temp from around 90 to 83-85 ish. Once I returned the light to its previous type and bumped the temp back up around 90 he went back to his normal eating and behavior (was around a month or so of low basking then he returned to normal the day after changing back to a higher temp).
Well this winter I had a similar issue, his basking light went out and I replaced it with a different bulb type as I didnt have the flood I was previously using on hand. My ambilobe panther is doing just fine, his basking temp is around 84-85 and he is eating and behaving normally. George, the sambava however has not been eating, doesnt really move much and isnt basking at all. I finally went out and replaced his flood light (after a couple weeks of this) and got the temps back up around 90 and today (the next day) he is eating drinking and in his basking spot soaking up the heat.
When this happened last year many people thought it may be a coincidence as they didn't believe that small of a temperature difference would make that much of a difference, but I am convinced. A decrease of just 5 degrees really does make a big difference with him. Its pretty dramatic and immediate as well. Maybe it depends on locale as my ambilobe doesnt seem to be as picky about temp range? Not sure, but thought it was interesting.
