Advice for yemen chameleon lighting

[alextraz]

Hi,

I have yemen chameleon for 2 days ad ist about 1-2 months old. I bought repti Glo 5.0 exo terra and Daylight Basking Spot Lamp. Now i`m confused how to manage them both. In the shop told me to use Daylight Basking Spot Lamp for 12h every day and to add repti Glo 5.0 only for 30-45 min per day. But since i have the chameleon i read alot and i think that maybe i should use repti Glo 5.0 12h per day too. Can you give me some advise how to make the life of this chameleon better

 

[Psychobunny]

Hi, welcome and congrats on your new little friend

Not surprisingly, you were misinformed at the store, but you are at the right
place now for good advise.

What size is your cage? Also, do you have a accurate way to measure the
temperature at the basking spot?
For a basking bulb, you only need a household incandescent 40 to 60W.

I advise against ExoTerra lights, as they are inconsistent in quality, and many
of their UVB's do not even register on my Solormeter.

I recommend a 18 inch or longer tube style bulb like Reptisun, but I personally
like Arcadia lighting much better.

You are correct, the basking and UVB should both be on a 12 hour on/off
cycle (no lights at all at night)

If you don't already have one, its very important to get a good quality
digital thermometer with a wired probe.

 

[alextraz]

Hi again and thank you for the fast answer. So my cage is 45/45/60 and i got exo terra and Daylight Basking Spot Lamp 50W. I got termometer positioned inside the cage near the top far away from the basking spot and its metering is between 26-28C daily and around 20C at night. Sadly i already bought repti Glo 5.0 13W and i hope that i can use is for 6 months now because i can invest any more. I am thinking to position it far away from the basking spot is this good ? I am open to any advise that you can give me. After six months i will buy reptisun for sure.

 

[jannb]

Welcome to tne forums and congrats on you baby veiled. I have a blog for new keeper attached below that you should find helpful to keep your little guy healthy and happy.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html

More great info:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/chameleons/

 

[Lovereps]

Hello. I'm very glad you've found the forum, since you were given some harmful advice by the petstore.

Jannb has given you links to some great information.

Definitely check the temperature at the basking spot itself and keep the UVB bulb within 12 inches of the basking spot.
Chameleons are not able to tolerate conditions that aren't ideal.
That's why the caresheets list certain temperatures and humidities for different cham species.

Your cham definitely needs 12 hours of the UVB bulb.
When the weather is warm enough, people can and do take their chams outdoors for a bit of natural sunlight.
Natural sunlight is the best UVB source.
Sunlight that goes through plastic or glass windows does not count, as it does not have UVB.
Without UVB, chams will develop serious health problems.
Glass and plastic filter out the UVB rays, unfortunately.
Of course, your cham needs to be able to get out of the sun if he wants to