Which Montane Can Handle Some Heat?

[Zen Reptiles]

So the situation is, I have ALWAYS wanted to get into montanes. By far, trioceros species are my favorite.

The problem...right now, it's 85F in the coldest spot of my house right now. Last night it was 84F in the basement at 11pm....

For about 2-3 weeks every August, there's no escaping the heat here, we are often the hottest city in Canada, and a dry desert region, so there's next to no humidity some days, other days it's around 50% and muggy.

So, which species could handle the heat, year after year, for the short period of time that it would go on for?

ALSO, and this is important, which species should I stay away from? Which are most sensitive to heat?

I could make arrangements to cool them of course, but this is assuming worst case power outages, which happen during storms here at this time.

Thanks!

 

[Elizadolots]

Is there nothing you can do to cool things down a bit? Especially at night?

I have on my list of emergency things to do, should it get too hot: put frozen "freezer bricks" in the catch tray under the cage and, if it's really bad, on top.

Can you manage cage temperatures in ways like that? Because they aren't going to do well with more than a couple of days of really high temps (over 90).

I would stay away from the tiny species. It's just my gut feeling, but the little ones don't seem to have the inner resources to survive bad situations as long. (again, just a gut feeling)

 

[adamkwas]

Quadricornis or melleri sound right for you Brock . Those temps sound pretty hot for montanes, though. Could you house them outside for the night? Maybe that would be a little cooler. There's not a lot of variety in terms of chameleons up here, but you could probably find some Quads and melleri if you looked hard enough, or if you are willing to be patient. Werneri, sternfeldi are find-able as well. Certain locales of melleri come from hot climates so they, in my mind, would be the best species to keep in Kamloops.

 

[Thompson]

I believe Verrucosus can handle more heat than most since they do come a very dry and hot place in Madagascar. If I'm am incorrect please correct me

Just realized you were asking what montane species can handle heat. Sorry I don't know /:

 

[Thompson]

Quadricornis or melleri sound right for you Brock . Those temps sound pretty hot for montanes, though. Could you house them outside for the night? Maybe that would be a little cooler. There's not a lot of variety in terms of chameleons up here, but you could probably find some Quads and melleri if you looked hard enough, or if you are willing to be patient. Werneri, sternfeldi are find-able as well. Certain locales of melleri come from hot climates so they, in my mind, would be the best species to keep in Kamloops.

I would not get a mellers if the ambient temp is over 80 degrees. Heat stress will occur. Their basking temp should be 80-90 degrees.

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

I had the exact same problem for years out on the ranch house growing up. T.melleri would be the most tolerant. However there are a couple things that could be done. You could buy a portable swamp cooler for the room and in the reservoir add ice cubes. Another option is to keep all your montane species directly under you houses swamp cooler vents. Lastly you could buy a small AC unit that is just for there room where you keep your chameleons. I would start with those first. Once you have got a something figured for your temperatures your going to have to consider some way to keep the humidity high. If you find a spot that could handle misting I think ultra fine misters would work the best.

 

[Seeco]

If you have good drainage, frequent misting will counter-balance your heat problem. If so, Kinyongia multituberculta would be a good, cheap choice.

 

[Chase]

Quadricornis or melleri sound right for you Brock . Those temps sound pretty hot for montanes, though. Could you house them outside for the night? Maybe that would be a little cooler. There's not a lot of variety in terms of chameleons up here, but you could probably find some Quads and melleri if you looked hard enough, or if you are willing to be patient. Werneri, sternfeldi are find-able as well. Certain locales of melleri come from hot climates so they, in my mind, would be the best species to keep in Kamloops.

I don't agree at all. With my adult quads, I foun that temps over 80 made things uncomfotable for them. Even with frequent misting, having the temps that warm made them hide in their plant, so it wasn't benefitial. I don't think any montane would like those temps. Of course, if you had a misting system, a kinyongia multiturberculta would probably be your best bet.

LPR08

 

[eisentrauti]

Some montane species (btw, whats the definition of a montane species ?) will tolerate high temperatures by day but at night you will get definitly problems.
WC animals probably wont survive those high night temps for many days, the chances that CB specimen will do it are higher.
However, if you want to try it, do it with CB subadult or adult animals, provide screen cages which are extremely dense planted and mist the cages as often as possible. Small fans will help to.
The ice cubes mentioned by Jeremy are another thing which can cool the cages. The evaporative cooling can create the few °C which are needed to make at least the night temps lower. If possible put many ice cubes under the cage and some on the top of the screen

 

[Willardi]

Just go out and buy a cheap airconditioner, there really isn't another way to effectively keep the temps where you need them.

 

[fluxlizard]

I wouldn't go quads or even melleri.

I'd go buy an ac unit for the window and use it for the hot period of time each year...

 

[clarkrw3]

If it can be done in AZ it can be done anywhere. I run a window AC unit for the cham room (house AC is set at 77) and always have humidifiers going in that room. That way it does not effect the other house inhabitants. Just as a reference our average humidity is below 15% and our summer daytime temps are over 110 deg.

 

[Zen Reptiles]

Thanks for all the great feedback. Exactly what I wanted to know. Thanks.

 

[Hoj]

i keep abunch if montanes and keep them all below 75degrees. anything above 80 is too high for me....
jmo
hoj

 

[summoner12]

My melleri handle 85-90 degree temps.... I don't let the room get that hot, but the top of the cages will get 88 and the lower parts be 83ish and they are still up at the top of the cages, not looking stressed. Melleri don't like a ton of heat.... but if it is a peak time, and you can get them cool for the rest of the time, they seem to do OK. We let it get to that 88*f and then click on the AC... or we just turn it on before then. But there are lots of times when I get home from work (3pm) and it doesn't seem 'that hot' but it is, I click on the AC and cool things down.

I set the basking spot for my large melleri, Henry, at 95*. He will bask there and move away when he feels fine.... but he does sometimes just sit there for hours.

I think I remember reading that some melleri come from warmer parts... and so some WCs might just be more tolerable than others. It will also depend on their health I think.

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

My melleri handle 85-90 degree temps.... I don't let the room get that hot, but the top of the cages will get 88 and the lower parts be 83ish and they are still up at the top of the cages, not looking stressed. Melleri don't like a ton of heat.... but if it is a peak time, and you can get them cool for the rest of the time, they seem to do OK. We let it get to that 88*f and then click on the AC... or we just turn it on before then. But there are lots of times when I get home from work (3pm) and it doesn't seem 'that hot' but it is, I click on the AC and cool things down.

I set the basking spot for my large melleri, Henry, at 95*. He will bask there and move away when he feels fine.... but he does sometimes just sit there for hours.

I think I remember reading that some melleri come from warmer parts... and so some WCs might just be more tolerable than others. It will also depend on their health I think.

I second that. My Melleri handled temperatures in the mid 80's quite well.

 

[laurie]

Most of my experience is with quads but I do have deremensis also. I would not even consider any of my quads going above 85 f NEVER. Basking is about 76 and they don't bask except morning for a while to warm up. I also provide a nightly drop of 10 - 15 degrees. Just what I do.

 

[chameleongirl2]

i think miller would do you good

 

[adamkwas]

I don't agree at all. With my adult quads, I foun that temps over 80 made things uncomfotable for them. Even with frequent misting, having the temps that warm made them hide in their plant, so it wasn't benefitial. I don't think any montane would like those temps. Of course, if you had a misting system, a kinyongia multiturberculta would probably be your best bet.

LPR08

Temps over 80 will be uncomfortable for any montane, as you said. Ir respect the fact you currently keep quads, but, in my mind, the two aforementioned species (quads and mellers) would do best in those temperatures for a short period of time. As I said, melleri would be his best bet.

Only problem with melleri is that they're difficult to locate in Canada, particularly in decent health.

Brock, maybe you could get in contact with JimTurner on this forum. I know he sees a lot of different species in Calgary. He also has quite a few melleri!!!

 

[Willardi]

Temps over 80 will be uncomfortable for any montane, as you said. Ir respect the fact you currently keep quads, but, in my mind, the two aforementioned species (quads and mellers) would do best in those temperatures for a short period of time. As I said, melleri would be his best bet.

Only problem with melleri is that they're difficult to locate in Canada, particularly in decent health.

Brock, maybe you could get in contact with JimTurner on this forum. I know he sees a lot of different species in Calgary. He also has quite a few melleri!!!

melleri are often available in Canada from November until April, at least 2 importers in Ontario get Tanzanian shipments every couple of months in that time frame.