Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello, everyone my jackson lives in a 3x2x2 screen cage. basking spot temp in 83-88 ambient is 74-77. i mist 3 times a day. i use a humidifier that goes on for 20 minutes every 3 hours until 10pm( this helps cool things down after lights out) i have a dripper that is running for 6 hours. he eats crickets as a staple with an occasional super, wax worm, mealies and beetles.if he is basking or anywhere else and his color is always black. i have a temp gun that i use and that is how i got these temps. i also use a digital thermometer. he was black so i took the temp of his skin and it read 83. what am i doing wrong? should i be concerned? the temp gun is from a snap-on dealer. i am an aircraft mech and i use on the job. the coolest part of the cage is 72 and that is at the cage floor. thanks in advance matt

Does his color eventually lighten up right before he moves out of the basking spot? It is natural for them to darken while basking to speed up heat absorption, but at some point he should get light again. Then, he will probably move out of the heat. If he stays dark but still moves out of the basking spot I'm not sure. A cham that is too cold most of the time will sit basking much of the day and not do much of anything else.

try to peek at him from around a corner he could be a friad of you or the temp gun...see if he is green when you are out of the room