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cham wont sleep

veiledchamlver Oct 26, 2004 10:42 PM

my cham wont sleep. she reaches into the air and flails around until she feels a branch. if she doesn't get a branch she falls. I made it pitch black in her cage and she still wont sleep.
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1.2 veiled chameleons(Rocket, Jenevive, and Sally)
1.0 pacific tree frog(Kermit)
want to get a diego suarez( which I would name Tommy)

Replies (5)

lele Oct 27, 2004 03:26 PM

Hi - didn't you have some dehydration concerns, too? Is this the same cham?

What do you mean she flails around looking for a branch? I don't think chams can see all that well in the dark so if the lights go out before she is in her sleep spot you may be making her day too short and she is frantcally looking for a safe place to rest. What are you lights set to? For Luna, she will usually go to one of her three favorite sleep spots about an hour before lights out. She seems to follow the light from outside, meaning that as the days have gotten shorter she retires earlier. If I know she is not settled in yet (b/c she was out of her cage late or something) I will keep the lights on longer until she is safe for the night.

So you may want to try keeping the lights on longer and observing here behavior late in the day to see shere she goes and what she does. Although the spots can vary I find that Luna's sleep spots are places she does not frequent during the day and is usually in amongst the foliage. You certainly don't want her falling a lot.

Did this help?

lele

my cham wont sleep. she reaches into the air and flails around until she feels a branch. if she doesn't get a branch she falls. I made it pitch black in her cage and she still wont sleep.
-----
0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (both MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog (for summer)
0.5 Mad. Hissers (for summer - all girls, no little ones, whew!)

veiledchamlver Oct 27, 2004 06:05 PM

no it isn't the same cham. I have her on a 13 hour light schedule and I lower it as the days get shorter. she only does this everyonce in a awhile. what she does is stick her front hands up in the air and rock her body back and forward until she either finds a branch and climbs up or until she loses her balance and falls. I think the problem was right before the lights went out she was basking. then it took her about an hour to coll down and go to sleep.
-----
1.2 veiled chameleons(Rocket, Jenevive, and Sally)
1.0 pacific tree frog(Kermit)
want to get a diego suarez( which I would name Tommy)

lele Oct 27, 2004 07:37 PM

You could put more branches in so that she can always reach out and find something but it is still best if her lights can stay on until she is set for the night. 13 hours is sort of long (imo) for this time of year. others may disagree, but when you think about it logically - no matter where in the world the cham is, there will be some daylight hours change. So taking clues from nature the day is only about 10.5 hours long. Maybe adjust her lights down by 1/2 hour each week until you get to the actual day length. Also get her up later and she can stay up later Luna's timer is 8:00 a.m.- 6:00 p.m. and she goes to her spot around 5:00.
day length

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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (both MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog (for summer)
0.5 Mad. Hissers (for summer - all girls, no little ones, whew!)

veiledchamlver Oct 27, 2004 11:42 PM

thanx. i think i will make them wake up a little later. I'm in cali and the sun is coming out at like 8 and going down at 6-6:30. right now she is waking at 7 and going to bed at 9
-----
1.2 veiled chameleons(Rocket, Jenevive, and Sally)
1.0 pacific tree frog(Kermit)
want to get a diego suarez( which I would name Tommy)

lele Oct 28, 2004 10:16 AM

sounds good. just do it little by little so they can adjust. Also keep a keen eye on her behavior. The more you observe the more their own quirky personalities will become known

Tip: Luna has a basking & mv bulb. If I am here (usually am, as they are in my office) I will manually turn off the MVB about an hour before the timer goes off. This is a cue to her that it is "getting dark out" and time for her to mosey down to her sleep spot. If you cannot always be ther just set up two timer so one light goes out earlier.

lele
-----
0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (both MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog (for summer)
0.5 Mad. Hissers (for summer - all girls, no little ones, whew!)

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