Gemeleon dude
Member
How long can I leave on his IR (infrared) lamp on ? And will it burn him, it’s a 75w bulb. I kinda figured he’d know how much heat he needs but just curious.
BASKING LAMP
- Thread starter Gemeleon dude
- Start date
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
Hi. Colored lights shouldn’t be used at all for chameleons. Their eyes are very sensitive. Your basking light can be an incandescent or halogen and not LED, as those put off little to no heat. You want a general basking temp of around 80f for (panther and veiled) females and young chams and can get a tad higher to 82-84f for (also panther and veiled) adult males. A 12 hour on/off schedule is great for lights and no lights at night. Unless night temps drop below 60f, you don’t need added heat at night.
Gemeleon dude
Member
What wattage of incandescent
Carloscruz
Avid Member
If you think he’s going to get burned by the light you could always lift the light up off the cage.
Your looking at a 60-75 watt regular incandescent (make sure it does not say LED or reduced wattage) and a distance of roughly 10 inches from the bottom of the bulb to the branch. Typically means your needing to lift the fixture up off the cage. Put your hand in under the screen if it is hot to you it can burn the cham.
CasqueAbove
Chameleon Enthusiast
As mentioned you want to use incandescent or halogen . Wattage just depends, the minimum it takes to hit 80 to 82 I would say.
The trick is they will go to the brightest area to bask, not necessarily the warmest.
The trick is they will go to the brightest area to bask, not necessarily the warmest.
Gemeleon dude
Member
Does the incandescent bulb give off the UVB my lil dude needs?
Gemeleon dude
Member
Do I need to get a rod UVB light or a bulb?
Carloscruz
Avid Member
The rod one you could get the reptisun 5.0 or the Arcadia 6%.
No hun just heat. For UVB you want the linear long fixture and tube. So a 5.0 or 6% bulb strength and a T5ho fixture. Basking branch would be 8-9 inches below for the right UVI level.
This one comes with a fixture and a 5.0 bulb. https://www.amazon.com/DBDPet-Repti...9Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=
For complete husbandry info read through this: https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/
Gemeleon dude
Member
Would 7% be too high?
Gemeleon dude
Member
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
The 7% provides a different degree of uvb for different reptiles. You want either a 6% Arcadia or a 5.0 ReptiSun for chameleons.
Klyde O'Scope
Chameleon Enthusiast
You want a UVB to run the entire width of your enclosure, HOWEVER your enclosure is too small for most adult chameleons, and they grow FAST.
I would get a 24" in anticipation of getting a larger enclosure. Adult veiled, panther, and Jackson's chameleons all need a minimum of 24" x 24" x 48"H.
https://chameleonacademy.com/caresheets/
Gemeleon dude
Member
It’s not an adult, he’s about 5 months maybe 3” long lol
Klyde O'Scope
Chameleon Enthusiast
Maybe so, but like I said, they grow fast. (Take baby pics NOW) You may be looking at 3 months or less until a larger enclosure will be necessary, and TBH, there's no reason they can't go into a full-size adult enclosure from the get-go.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/too-small-a-cage.151422/
A 12" UVB is too short for the enclosure you have, and IMO, it makes more sense to get one that is too long (it can go diagonally for now) than to have to upgrade both in a couple months.
Gemeleon dude
Member
I ended up getting him a 14” one for now but yes I’m definitely gonna upgrade the cage, hopefully upgrade to a bio active cage
CasqueAbove
Chameleon Enthusiast
The standard measurements and distance for basking is based on a 24 in bulb. But the distance from uvb will be same, but you will not have the spread and will want to be aware of this with a shorter bulb. Picture the light coming from the ends of the bulb in an oval. The ends do not produce nearly as much UVB. You will want to set it up such that it encourages her to spend time within the UVB bubble. In a 24x24 cage with 14in light you have 5in of over hang that wont get light.
Don't panic. If you set up correctly and make sure and stick to a good D3 regiment twice a month you will be ok. Just know you are operating on the edge of having enough UVB so pay close attention on where her time is spent, under UVB or Not so you can adjust if needed.
If I remember money was an issue so saying just buy another one doesn't help. You can make due for now just stay in touch on the forum so we can help until you can upgrade. As mentioned they grow fast so only spend money on you full size set up. There is no need for any juvenile enclosure more than what you have now.
CasqueAbove
Chameleon Enthusiast
Are you by any chance in high school? Are you lucky enough too have a shop teacher or class available. If so and wanted to build a large custom enclosure for cheap, Teachers love to hep kids learn. If you had such a person and shop I bet if you asked the teacher would be willing to help, even if you had to take the class.
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