Why is my chameleon waking up so early?

[Treerhino]

I recently got a variant of Fischers chameleon. Everything is going smoothly except my new friend keeps waking up earlier and earlier. I leave ambient light from outside in the room and leave his lamps on during the day to create the best day night cycle I can. The only problem is he will get up earlier and earlier every day. The first night I had him he got up at 4am and now he is getting up at 2am. This wouldn’t be an issue but he scratches at his screen until I turn the lights on for him to spare his claws. So I guess my question is why is he doing this and whats the best course of action to getting him an appropriate sleep cycle?

 

[GalaxyGhostly]

What is his diet and dusting regimen? Are you overusing D3 calcium? if he is not getting the right nutrition he might go to sleep way early and wake up way early. PLEASE REMEMBER I AM NO PROFFESSIONAL IF I DONT SOUND CORRECT WAIT FOR ANOTHER USER OR FACT CHECK MINE. By the way your cham is gorgeous.

 

[Treerhino]

Thanks for the reply and yah, Charlie is cute as a button! He gets 6 appropriately sized crickets 8 if they don’t have any big enough dusted with calcium + d3 every day but the powder usually gets knocked off 1/2 - 1/3 of the crickets when they go under my dripper. I also will every 3-4 days swap out the calcium dust with vita dust. This is what was recommended to me by a couple of people but if they told me wrong I’d love to know

 

[andrearamirezo91]

Are you sure you should be dusting with D3 every day? I thought all chams needed the same type of supplementation until a member pointed out that this was not the case yesterday lol. I'm not sure about your chameleon's specific needs but I'd look into the whole D3 thing or maybe start a thread specifically related to that subject so that you can get more/better replies. One of our members is dealing with vitamin D toxicity at the moment and it doesn't sound like a fun thing at all.

 

[Wowbango]

This sounds like over supplementation. D3 should NOT be given daily! You could actually give him calcium poisoning. It should be limited to twice a month, I for example do it every other Saturday. Daily calcium without D3 is what should be provided regularly. Switch to that ASAP and see if it regulates him.

 

[Treerhino]

Thanks for the replies guys I’ll be sure to get some calcium powder w/o the D3 today and see if that helps. They were telling me its fine since I keep indoors but after hearing what you all had to say I’m thinking otherwise.

 

[JacksJill]

Depending on species D3 can be stored in the liver up to a month. Excess supplemented D3 can actually pull calcium out of the bones and deposit it in the organs. This is not the case with D3 from sunlight.
My female Jackson's wake up earlier than my male and I have to race them or they are blocking the feeder but nothing like what you are dealing with. Hopefully it will get better as the D3 levels come back to normal.
A couple other thoughts are your night time temperatures low enough for him to really sleep? Night time temperature drops reduce metabolism and are part of their circadian rhythm.
I'm sure you know this but just to be sure, don't use any kind of light in the cage at night even red lights can disrupt their sleep patterns.

 

[Treerhino]

I turn the lights off when my little guy starts curling his tail for sleep and keep my room dark as I also keep invertebrates that are nocturnal. As for the temps his cage will drop no lower than 78f at night and I heard 75f could kill him. During the day it will sometimes reach 83-84f (those are the ambient temps during the day under the lamp is probably a bit warmer too but I can’t quite get an accurate read with my thermometer) seeing as he will bask its probably not to hot.

 

[JacksJill]

I don't know the ideal temp range for Fischers. What is their native range?

 

[Treerhino]

Eastern Usambara mountains of Tanzania. At least i think, it looks like the kinyongia vosselers but it’s difficult to identify as there is some confusion in the Fischers variants.

 

[JacksJill]

I see that. I found on it Wikipedia so take it with a grain of salt, Morogoro Tanzania.
Here is the today's forecast . Keep in mind they are not found in the center of town and probably select their own microclimate. I just found this interesting. I'm sure someone who actually knows them will chime in soon and be of real help.

 

[Treerhino]

Thanks for your help

 

[Treerhino]

Found this also