Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have three adult veileds, and I live in Canada. It's not as cold here as some people think. It was 85 in my room (where the chams are kept) yesterday, and 80 the day before. Similar temps today. I have a ceiling fan in the hall and keep my window wide open to increase circulation. I leave the door open when the humidity permits.

Do you guys think I should keep the humidity up at 50% with the door closed but the temp around 80-85 (i know 85 is wayy to hot) or should the humidity be secondary, and the door be kept open to lower the temps a few degrees.

No one here has a/c becuase it's only hot for about 3 months here a year. We have to spend enough money on heat during the long winters as it is. I am going to try to get my hands on a window fan (the ones you jam between the open window and the frame) to get all the hot air going outside. It'll put a big hole in my wallet, but I guess it's necessary.

Anyone have any other ideas? They should be long-term ones, becuase it gets hot and stays hot here for a month or so with the couple rainy days every couple weeks.

Some ideas. Turn off your heat spots during the hot part of the day...let them bask in the am then turn them off. Just use the UVB. Mist heavily so the lower portions of the cage stay a couple of degrees cooler. Ambient temps of 85 should not hurt a veiled if it is only for part of the day...does your room cool off at night? You can cool the cage for evening, night, with blue ice (ice chest refreezable packs) and a fan on the cage. Get several packs or look for those ice chest freezable "blankets" to put over food. Freeze them during the days and use them from late afternoon and night. The chams will tend to dehydrate less if you keep the humidity up, and this will mean less stress on kidneys etc.

I have been misting an extra time each day, sometimes with room temp water instead of hot (just a bit of direct misting to the chams) too cool them off. I just got 2 of them to drink...the other one is a problem as far as hydration goes.
All of the vieleds still bask the whole day, as they always do in the cool climate I live in. They do their normal thermoregulation but their normal hang-out spot is always under the lamp. No basking behavior after the first 30-60 mins after the lights are turned on, they jsut sit there under the heat lamp (they sometimes gape, but don't bother moving, even when the rest of the cage is cool...smart animals arent they? lol.)

The room does cool off to 75-ish at night. I am going to search the house for a small fan and I'll raid the freezer for an ice pack.
Thanks for the help.

Btw, one of my females has been showing quite exquiste colouration as far as a female goes. She looks like a young male almost every time i go in to see her. She turns her normal bright green after seeing me and expecting food. When i first see her, she will be hanging around under her light, with darkish veiled-stripes and spots. Nothing black, just a greyish colour. Her green is slightly darker as well. I just weighed her, and as I expected, she is starting to gain weight to lay (inftertile) eggs within a month's to 6 weeks time. She was a steady 88 grams for the past 3 weeks, and I weighed her again today and she was up to 90. She is much more hungry than usual, and I figure the strange colouration is due to preparing a clutch of eggs. She also shows turquoise stripes on the casque (normally does, but not as much as she does now).

My other female sometimes goes very dark green with yellowish spots. She is in a low-stress area and has perfect conditions other than the recent heat. She has done this before the heat started. She goes back to her normal green with medium-green spots when fed or walking the cage to cool off.

you could try a swamp cooler in your window frame instead of just a regular fan, that would probably cool the area better

What's a swamp cooler...?