Reptile & Amphibian Forums

And does it depend on kind/sex/size/age/etc. ??

I was just curious and bored! I'm asking because for my 1month old veiled...I have the lights on from 8am to 8pm. I've left crickets in the feedbowl overnight before and by the time I wake up at 9 or so a few crickets were gone! haha. I was just curious if he is up before the lights turn on at 8am becuase he definitely stays up later than 8pm usually. But maybe thats just because of me and the TV
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1.0 Baby Sunburst Veiled Chameleon -- Unnamed

As crix are more active at night chances are they simply got out of the cup. Chams are much like birds in that they don't really sleep if there is any visible light. As general daylight lights the room your chams may wake up, but be moving slowly if the cage is cool. Depending on the room temp before the cage lights come on, your cham might possibly get some of the crix too. It's not a good idea to leave uneaten crix in the cup all night. They lose their gutload and dust in that amount of time.

I'm pretty sure they didn't get out of the cup, but I don't leave them in their overnight now. I did that the first night I had him to make sure he got some food in his stomach.

Now I just put 5-7 crickets in the cup (again, I'm fairly sure they cannot get out..it has really slick sides) and the ones he doesn't eat I take back out again.

I'm going to get some flightless fruit flies today for a treat for him. (Plus, I want to see him eat some more haha it is so cool!)

I've heard a few ways of doing this.

THe first way I heard was to just poke a pin hole in the top of the cup so that the flies come out one at a time and he can pick them off. And also to have a small piece of apple closeby so they will go there.

Is that the best way of doing the flightless fruit flies in a screen cage?

Oh, and my question wasn't really answered....So how long do they really sleep? Is it like 8 hours like us or does it just depend on how the light is?
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1.0 Baby Sunburst Veiled Chameleon -- Unnamed

When it's off they sleep. When it's on they wake up.

Ugh, you guys are frustrating!

How long are they SUPPOSED to sleep? Like humans are supposed to sleep about 8 hours a night...How long are chameleons supposed to sleep?? I'm just wondering.

I have my lights turn on at 8am and turn off at 8pm. What do you all do?
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1.0 Baby Sunburst Veiled Chameleon -- Unnamed

I personally tend to go by what Luna tells me (in her behavior. I won't try to convince you that she actually talks to me - even tho' she does

She tends to go with the 12 on 12 off cycle give or take. I do find in the fall and winter she will usually crash a bit early. My office faces southwest so she tends to wnader to her spot when the sun goes down. I cover her cage if I will be working after lights out, but always remove them so she can get up when ever the light outside triggers her. My little beardie slept really late today - think he'll be like his mom - I am not an early riser...

I may be wrong, but for some reason I am thinking that some folks recommend 14 on 10 of for babies, but not sure.

For now, go with the 12/12. Figure if he were in the wild, what would his natural cycle be?

lele
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0.1 Veiled - Luna
1.0 Beardie - For now his name is Kinky Boy
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.3 Mad. Hissers (2 died ;(
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula (no name yet)
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha
Chameleon Help & Resource Info

I'm with lele, my cham and other animals jsut tell me when they want to wake up. And when i wake up, they're just now waking up. My sav goes under his cave, my igs get on the bottom of their cave and curl up, my basilisk lays on his stick. I'm sure once you get used to him you'll notice when he wants to goto sleep. GL
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1.0 Savannah Monitor - Artimus
1.0 Emerald Swift - Jesus
1.0 Green Iguana - King Arthur. Mr.Sexy(Didn't name him, going to rename.)
1.0 Basilisk - Adam
0.1 Water Dragon - Lady R.I.P.
2.2 Cats - Psycho(radiation), Moses, Satan, Bandy.
3.3 Dogs - Romeo, Juliet, Falon, Baby Girl, Scooter, Really Old Man!
1.3 feeder mice - Yumm Yumm!

Just think logically, how many hours a night is it dark? Thats how long he will sleep. My chams are pretty much triggered by the natural sunlight, which rises at about 7 something now. I turn the lights on a little after sunrise as they are awake by then. So how long does a cham sleep? Again, it all depends on the lighting. If you put your lights on for 20 hours, he would sleep for 4 (don't do that obviously). I go with the 13/11 similar to what Lele said. And when they going out side in the summer, they will get even longer daylight (but there is alot of time, like late in the evening, dusk or dawn, where the chams are not very active, and they get ready for sleep or to wake up and move around), and less sleep, but they are very able to cope, as being outside for a cham is lke heaven for them, my chams absolutely love it.

Anthony

From the following chart/site you can see that in the capital of Yemen, the sun is
up for about 12 hours in April....and if you check it the sun is up for
about 12 hours in October too....therefore if it lived there, the chameleon could
sleep for about 12 hours. However, since there is nothing to say that the
chameleon doesn't wake up as the sun is coming up or start to bed down before
the sun goes completely down. My veileds eyes are open within minutes/seconds
of the lights going on, and I have seen them bed down when the lights are nearing
the time to go off.
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.html?n=672

Now...concerning how long my chameleons sleep...the lights are on for 14 hours
in the summer and 12 hours in the winter. This is partly because I live in a
northern area and the natural light varies from summer to winter...so its debatable
whether the natural light cycle in my area should be followed or the natural light
cycle in the chameleon's homeland should be followed. If I follow the natural
cycle in its homeland, then the lights may be off when its still light here and I don't
know if that will have a negative impact on the chameleon or not. I have several
different species from different areas, so to keep with the natural cycle in their
homeland I would have to keep them in separate rooms. As a result, a
compromise has been made. Its seems to work. My veiled chameleons and many
of the other species I keep live longer than the average life-span.

Hope this hasn't made it more frustrating for you!

What does it mean if they sleep through the day a lot? My jackson sleeps all night (10 hours) and through the day on and off for a combined 6-7 hours through the day. Oh he is about 4 months if age matters.