cage heating

[babyjoe]

hey there im a new owner.just got a veiled cham,fred,yesterday.i reckon i have the enclosure well set up however im am iffy on the strength of the heat lamp.i am using a 75w red bulb(exo terra) sitting on the top mesh lid.im not sure if its hot enough as fred spends most of his time sitting just below it on the top vine.and stays in dark colouring.should i step up my bulb or move my current one down into the cage.oh yeah i dont think hes unhappy as whenever he moves away he turns bright green again

 

[Decadancin]

Welcome to the forum! You need a temp gauge! You need to know what the basking area is, and be careful! You could burn your cham. You should be able to tell the temps at the basking site, the top of the enclosure, and the lower portion. What age is Fred? Young chams do not need as warm a basking spot, and 75 could be too much depending on how close it is. Also, make sure there is ample foliage available so Fred can escape the heat if he needs to. What other lighting do you have?

What part of Ireland are you from?

 

[babyjoe]

fred is 5 months according to the shop worker.he is eating well and seems happy enough just dark when hes basking and stays there most of the day.i have plenty of foliage and cool spots lower down and i have a mounted temp gauge and hygrometer a small bit from the basking area it reads at 22 degrees c (70f you guys read in i think) and 70% humidity.i also hav a uvb 5.0 lighting bulb.im in wexford its the south east coast so a bit on the cold side

 

[Decadancin]

That may be a bit low. I have my boys basking area at about 87 to 92 degrees. (I think this is about 32 Celsius on average, but I'm not totally sure.) Everything seems pretty good. The humidity could be a bit lower, but its not excessively high. Also, you don't need the red bulb. You could use a regular household bulb and get the same results.

 

[torquasprings]

hey there im a new owner.just got a veiled cham,fred,yesterday.i reckon i have the enclosure well set up however im am iffy on the strength of the heat lamp.i am using a 75w red bulb(exo terra) sitting on the top mesh lid.im not sure if its hot enough as fred spends most of his time sitting just below it on the top vine.and stays in dark colouring.should i step up my bulb or move my current one down into the cage.oh yeah i dont think hes unhappy as whenever he moves away he turns bright green again

He's fine. If he's all brown while under the heat lamp, this is good! This means that he's absorbing the heat. If he was constantly brown, I might say that you might have a problem. Since you're in Ireland, I'm guessing that you were told to keep that red lamp on all night because of the chilly temps. If this is the case, I suggest that you get a ceramic heating element instead... light bothers chameleons when they are trying to sleep.

 

[babyjoe]

Thanks for the help guys I've stepped up his bulb and he seems to be doing a lot better. He's more active now altogether. He seemed to be feeding.g well before but his appetite is bigger since the bulb change. Also with regard to leaving his heat light on over night I had read it disturbs their sleep so I kept an eye on his sleeping spot the first night and placed a heat mat close by