About Partitioning cages and lighting.

[Screameleons]

Dear members,

I know a lot of you have good intentions about making recommendations regarding housing chameleons. One thing that I strongly disagree with is partitioning an adult cage for a juvenile. These dividers almost never work, and ultimately the chameleon suffers. Dividers may do an excellent job of keeping a juvenile from crossing over to the other side. However they do a horrible job of keeping crickets from crossing over. The result is that the chameleon does not receive enough food.

A side-effect of this is that many new owners trying this method also purchase adult lighting. Specifically, I am talking about the Zoomed Powersun. Both the 100 and 160 Watt versions are too hot for juveniles. Often, the advice is to raise the bulb a few feet higher above the cage. Mercury vapor bulbs like these can be dangerous to a juvenile, and unless its done perfectly it can be fatal.

I know many of you will disagree with these statements, but a juvenile is best kept in a juvenile cage. A Reptisun 5.0 with an appropriately sized heat bulb is the safest option for lighting. Many new owners trying the adult cage with adult lighting are hoping to save money. In my humble opinion, this is the same as taking a short-cut with your husbandry. We all know that there is no room for short-cuts when it comes to caring for a chameleon.

I am posting this in hopes that we can help new owners avoid costly mistakes. A 48"x24"x24" cage...no matter how they are divided should not be used with juveniles. Mercury Vapor bulbs should only be used with adult chameleons.

Thanks all.

Vincent at Screameleons.

 

[bridgofaith]

Couldn't agree more!! Well said.

 

[Carlton]

One thing that I strongly disagree with is partitioning an adult cage for a juvenile. The result is that the chameleon does not receive enough food.

A side-effect of this is that many new owners trying this method also purchase adult lighting.
I know many of you will disagree with these statements, but a juvenile is best kept in a juvenile cage.

I don't think many of us would disagree with your thoughts Vincent. Rather, the "divided cage" idea seems to crop up in response to a newbie's questions about a juvenile finding food in a large cage already purchased. Dividing a larger cage and then not confining the feeders seems pointless to me and I doubt many of us here would suggest that. I know some keepers are rigid about letting their feeders free roam (I am not in that camp), but it just causes problems as you said. I want to know what my chams are eating and how much...I don't want my feeders roaming around in fecal matter or picking up bacteria, moldy leaf debris, bits of old skin, shed parasite segments, etc that might be lurking in cage corners.

No arguments about the lighting either. How many times do we respond to newbies with juveniles who are showing signs of stress or eye problems from lighting? Much too often. ReptiSuns are safer, lower impact, well researched, and reliable. While I haven't used any of the "powersun" type bulbs, I also have not had deficiency problems in any chams I've kept under ReptiSuns.

 

[trdlabs]

Dear members,

I know a lot of you have good intentions about making recommendations regarding housing chameleons. One thing that I strongly disagree with is partitioning an adult cage for a juvenile. These dividers almost never work, and ultimately the chameleon suffers. Dividers may do an excellent job of keeping a juvenile from crossing over to the other side. However they do a horrible job of keeping crickets from crossing over. The result is that the chameleon does not receive enough food.

A side-effect of this is that many new owners trying this method also purchase adult lighting. Specifically, I am talking about the Zoomed Powersun. Both the 100 and 160 Watt versions are too hot for juveniles. Often, the advice is to raise the bulb a few feet higher above the cage. Mercury vapor bulbs like these can be dangerous to a juvenile, and unless its done perfectly it can be fatal.

I know many of you will disagree with these statements, but a juvenile is best kept in a juvenile cage. A Reptisun 5.0 with an appropriately sized heat bulb is the safest option for lighting. Many new owners trying the adult cage with adult lighting are hoping to save money. In my humble opinion, this is the same as taking a short-cut with your husbandry. We all know that there is no room for short-cuts when it comes to caring for a chameleon.

I am posting this in hopes that we can help new owners avoid costly mistakes. A 48"x24"x24" cage...no matter how they are divided should not be used with juveniles. Mercury Vapor bulbs should only be used with adult chameleons.

Thanks all.

Vincent at Screameleons.

You make me feel better already. I knew getting in to this that it would cost me more money down the road. I started small to upgrade as he grows. $$$ Thanks