Hello, brand new chameleon owner here. I have a question regarding lighting & basking. I currently am using the Reptisun 5.0HO combo lamp and a 100W basking bulb for my 1 month (I think?) old chameleon. I am struggling to understand the requirements of these and how it all works together for my little guy Dexter. I keep reading about "basking" being under the UV bulb, but that is not the "basking bulb" I have purchased and set up. I know the basking bulb is to deliver heat, right? Is it not for basking as well? Does he need to bask under the UV bulb? In my set up, I have the basking bulb in the back, and the light is outside the cage, suspended up off the cage. It has a dimmer switch, so it is not all the way turned up. I have the a thermometer/hygrometer set up next to it and his basking temp. is set at 84 F. The Reptisun long lamp combo is in front of that basking bulb, so towards the front of the cage. It is resting on top of the cage. My concern is that he likes to climb up on the top of the enclosure ceiling and lay directly under the UV bulb. I don't want him to burn as that light is just above him on the screen (it doesn't give off heat, but UV burns). Is he trying to bask under the UVB instead of the basking bulb? I know he needs UV AND heat...so he needs all those lights. Should I try to suspend the UVB light bulb so he doesn't burn his toes & belly hanging upside down directly under it? Also worth noting: he stays pretty dark (especially when basking). When I tried to encourage him down from the ceiling, he didn't seem to budge, so I turned off the whole Reptisun unit for a few minutes and walked away. When I came back, he was off the ceiling and was a much more light green color--does that mean something? Thanks for any help as I am a newbie (5 days) with my guy!
Baby Veiled Chameleon basking/lighting help
- Thread starter Dexter.
- Start date
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
Hi. I’m not able to give as much explanation as I’d like right now. But it sounds like you have a screw in uvb, which is incorrect. You need a linear T5ho with either Arcadia 6% or ReptiSun 5.0 bulb. Little ones don’t really need heat as long as temps are around high 70’s. Any hotter than 80 is too much for a baby.
Veiled chameleon. I’ll have to take pictures tomorrow and share.
No, I have a Reptisun 5.0 I read they need lower heat temps-basking at 84. Is this incorrect?
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
Ok. When you said,
it sounded as though you have the dual dome light and using a screw in uvb bulb. The screw in bulbs are probably responsible for a large percentage of mbd in reptiles as they have almost no range beyond a couple of inches. With the linear T5HO with a 5.0 uvb bulb, the distance between the light and basking branch needs to be about 8-9” . Babies younger than about 3-4 months need a cooler basking temp of no higher than 80. Babies younger than 1 month need no basking light usually, unless your temps are less than about 75. The ideal for them is around 76-78. Once adult, we keep our girls cooler at 80 but our boys can have basking temps of around 85.
Little ones like to walk upside down along the screen top which places them at a high risk for burns. So to prevent burns, we raise the lights a couple of inches off the screen. There’s different ways to do this. I use little wire baskets from the dollar store to raise my lights…not terribly pretty, but it’s only temporary.
I’d like to see some pics of your chameleon and enclosure. All too often we find and fall victim to some of the tremendous amount of misinformation about how to keep our chameleon. The best time to ensure all is correct is when just starting out.
