chameleon lighting

Discussion in 'Chameleons' started by waker123, Apr 22, 2006.

  1. waker123

    waker123 New Member

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    so today i went out and bought a bunch of thing for my cham. ( mister, therm. hygr., fake vines, dripper), and i was gonna buy some reptiglo lights, but iwasnt sure how many i should buy? like theres was a fixture there, and it holds one bulb, and is that all i would need ( other than a basking light which i already have)? like holy god those bulbs are expensive too! plus the fixture, the bulbs would defintley add up. so yeah, do i need more than one, or just one? or what? lighting is the only thing that gets me with veiled chams. all the other stuff i got down pact. any helo would be sweet.

    Waker
     
  2. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  3. Phil1988

    Phil1988 New Member

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    You can just get one UV tube and put it about 5-6" away from the basking spot.
     
  4. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  5. Heika

    Heika Moderator

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    Hey Waker,

    I buy fixtures from Home Depot. You can wire them pretty easily if they need it... some do, and some don't. I bought a 24" one that wasn't wired and also didn't have a reflector built into it. I wired it and used flashing for the reflector. The ones I get have double ballasts and I put in two bulbs, one ZooMed Reptisun 5.0 and the other a "sunlight" bulb from Home Depot for extra light in the cage. If the light doesn't have a silver colored reflective coating inside of it as a reflector, I coat the inside of the fixture with aluminum tape, which you can also buy at Home Depot. You can cut your cost down to less than $15.00 for a fixture if you avoid the pet store ones. 4' shop lights are really inexpensive, but not sure if you can use a four foot shop light.. :D I have one on my big tank that houses R. brevicaudatus.

    The bulbs are expensive, but you can cut down on costs by buying a few at a time online when they go on sale. They have to be changed every 6 months, so having an extra is nice. Right now, LLLreptiles has them for 13.99 each. Good price! Before that, Big Apple had them for that price.

    Heika
     
  6. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  7. TheTurtleStore

    TheTurtleStore New Member

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    Heika, I'm putting a 4 ft. shop light over 2 of my 24x24x48 cages. I think I can get away with 2 shop lights, 2 bulbs, and I'm going to use the sunlight or plant blub for the other to help keep my fucus, pothos and schleferra growing. Each cage also has a 100W Zoo Med basking bulb. I'm removing all 4 MV bulbs this weekend. 2 Burned out and I'll spend the $50 to replace them on new fluorescent stuff :D

    For the babies, they are in a small cage 16x16x20, so they get a 18"? ESU UVB bulb & fixture (they came together from LLL) and a 60 W Household incandescent as a backing bulb.
     
  8. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  9. Heika

    Heika Moderator

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    That sounds great, Scott! If I had rows of cages, I would use the four foot shoplights too. You might want to look at the article at http://www.uvguide.co.uk/... In the compact section, it talks about using one of the Zoomed white coated reflectors for a UVB light, and that the readings were almost identical to not using a reflector at all. Under the regular flourescent section, it is harder to understand what they have done with their testing. You might want to check it out and see if you want to coat the white paint behind the bulbs and on the reflector with foil tape. With my four foot light on the brev tank, I am not too concerned. I am using a Reptisun 5.0 in it, but it really isn't considered necessary for that species because they don't need much UVB light. With your panthers, tho...
     
  10. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  11. TheTurtleStore

    TheTurtleStore New Member

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    I was thinking of using some polished stainless as a reflector :D but thanks!
     
  12. Just_Some_Guy

    Just_Some_Guy Well-Known Member

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    I have a question about Chameleon lighting could you use a MVB at the top?
     
  13. TheTurtleStore

    TheTurtleStore New Member

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    THE MV bulbs are a big discussion...some say it's too much UVB for the chams, and other say there's no way for the cham to regulate heat, uva & uvb separately with a single bulb. Mine seem to be much happier with separate bulbs.
     
  14. Heika

    Heika Moderator

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    Re: RE: chameleon lighting

    Oh, that will be nice!

    Have fun!
     
  15. Just_Some_Guy

    Just_Some_Guy Well-Known Member

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    RE: Re: RE: chameleon lighting

    ok thanks. I would think that if you had a large enough tank that you could have one at the top so they could move around and get into a area with cooler air. Or have a fan. Could that work?
     
  16. Phil1988

    Phil1988 New Member

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    RE: Re: RE: chameleon lighting

    What is the difference between a reptisun 5.0 and a 10.0? Which would be better for a chameleon? And which would be better for say a desert lizard like a bearded dragon or something?
     
  17. TheTurtleStore

    TheTurtleStore New Member

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    RE: Re: RE: chameleon lighting

    First off, Tanks are only ok for smaller species like Pygmies (Brevs). A fan would be bad in a chameleon enclosure...especially after misting. The problem with a MV is that if they get away from the UVB, they also move away from the heat and UVA. You really need the fluorescent and at least one incandescent for proper housing.

    Secondly, I've read that the 5.0 Reptisun is plenty of UVB for a chameleon....Maybe in something 6ft tall you could get away with a 10.0 or a MV bulb, but for anything 2'-4' tall, I'd stick with the 5.0.
     
  18. Just_Some_Guy

    Just_Some_Guy Well-Known Member

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    RE: Re: RE: chameleon lighting

    Ok tank is the wrong word to be using. Ok thanks for clearing that up
     
  19. waker123

    waker123 New Member

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    RE: Re: RE: chameleon lighting

    k, so my cage for my cham is 6 ft tall, 4 ft wide, and 2 ft deep. a) is that big enough? :) where should i put the basking light and the reptisun? c) if i get metal screen for the top can i just rest the lights on top? or should i hook them up inside the cage?
     
  20. TheTurtleStore

    TheTurtleStore New Member

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    Re: RE: Re: RE: chameleon lighting

    I don't know what type of chameleon you have, but that size cage is plenty big enough for just about anything...I believe even a Melleri could do ok in that!

    The basking light(s) should be on top, and I recommend in a corner with a perch 6" or so under it. You can use 2, but generally a single bulb 100W or so would be enough. The reptisun tube can be layed across the top. I'm assuming you have a reptarium...make sure the bulbs are 1.5" abouve the mesh...don't ask me how I know. I would leave them on the outside of the enclosure to prevent any damage to your animal.
     
  21. waker123

    waker123 New Member

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    RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: chameleon lighting

    okay thanks a lot. i dont actually have a cham yet, i am getting a veiled in a couple weeks! im so excited!
     
  22. TheTurtleStore

    TheTurtleStore New Member

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    RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: chameleon lighting

    That's a pretty huge cage for a veiled! He'll be happy in there!
     
  23. Heika

    Heika Moderator

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    RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: chameleon lighting

    That is a huge cage! Very cool! Just one word of caution.. baby chameleons have a hard time finding food, and if your cham is a youngster, you might want to section off a portion of that cage until he gets a bit larger. Are you building your own cage? I don't know of a manufacturer that has a cage that size. Heck, you could very easily section that one into two cages for two veileds.

    Heika
     
  24. waker123

    waker123 New Member

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    RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: chameleon lighting

    yeah i am building it myself! its gonna be super sweet! it'll be done this week so i will post some pics of it then! i jst gotta get a lot of trees and some more flukers vines. i might buy a couple dowels also, and put them across the cage, it might be good for him to climb on.. but i donno. i also bought this wicked cool digital temper/hyrgrometer (also flukers), but do i put it in the basking spot or in the cool part in the cage. and also, i have heard of some ppl that turn the lights in their cages off at night for their chameleons. is this right? or should i switch to a night bulb? and if i switch to a night bulb, do i i switch the basking light to a night one and leave the reptisun/glo on? sorry about all the questions...

    Waker
     
  25. TheTurtleStore

    TheTurtleStore New Member

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    RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: chameleon lighting

    Lights should be on for a 12 or so hr. cycle...they need the lights off @ night to sleep. If it gets too cold at night where you are, I would put a ceramic heater on a timer to come on at night and off in the AM...use timers...they make it a lot easier!
     

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