Chameleons and Grow lights?

[kaniff]

Im pretty sure this is ok but i wouldnt mind a second opinion. Im thinkin of turning a spare room into a chameleon haven and i want to use a 400w metal halide veg cycle grow light as both the heat source and uv. Does anyone see anything wrong with that?

 

[Fate X]

i got a 175 watt halide in my cham room,it does help keep the plants healthier.its to much heat in the summer unless you use a vented shade.i just started using mine i got it 2 months ago.
it heats the cham room perfect.i got mine with glass over the reflector.
i left it on today for 9 hrs.

 

[Dave Weldon]

Im pretty sure this is ok but i wouldnt mind a second opinion. Im thinkin of turning a spare room into a chameleon haven and i want to use a 400w metal halide veg cycle grow light as both the heat source and uv. Does anyone see anything wrong with that?

Howdy,

Do you have any info on what portion of the UV spectrum and at what uW levels it outputs? If it was made to be used in the presence of humans then it's likely to not have any UVB. If it does happen to be designed to output the correct UVB then it will be critical to understand what levels are present. The levels could range from too weak to be useful up to levels that could fry an egg faster than Denny's . I'm actually rooting for there to be no UVB coming out of it and that you use it for overall room lighting . I'd be using one right now if it didn't add $400 to my yearly electric bill (My wife is already on the warpath over reptile room electricity consumption ).

 

[opihiman]

I would have to agree with Dave. Most Grow lights don't have enough or any UVB wave lengths. I have walked around the hardware store with the solarmeter trying to find an alternative bulb (before my cages went outside). My research has led me to Tanning bed tubes which I have no idea what the energy cost would be like. But those bulbs are very expensive and the life of the bulb is unknow to me.

Hope that helps

OPI

 

[ocdirtyjerz]

I used to grow alot of 'plants' in my closet when I was younger. I used the a Sodium grow bulb that had 95% efficiency. If anything that would be a very best for the chams as it is like I said 95% like the suns spectrum. They get very hot though. Ventilation is a must. I remember my room would be glowing wih the windows cracked during a snow storm. LOL And the plants are stoked to. Go for it. The bulbs they sell in petshops are nothing compared to what you have. You should have a drip sheild for your bulb so it doesn't start any fires.

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

Chameleons are not plants and requirements are very different.

MH has more UVB than HPS but is not sufficient for the Chameleons. You would be better off with a lite meter and a MV bulb.

You can measure for yourself to be sure. I would agree with Dave that this is not a good idea. At the very least you will still need to provide supplemental UVB lights in the room. You can achieve you goal with a single properly sized and placed MV bulb.

Edit : Unless the bulb was specially designed to provide a higher level of UVB.

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

i got a 175 watt halide in my cham room,it does help keep the plants healthier.its to much heat in the summer unless you use a vented shade.i just started using mine i got it 2 months ago.
it heats the cham room perfect.i got mine with glass over the reflector.
i left it on today for 9 hrs.

I am curious, do you rely on this light for UVB? Or is it just for heat and plants? Especially with the Glass over it I would think UVB would be very degraded.

 

[macro junkie]

I used to grow alot of 'plants' in my closet when I was younger. .

i wonder what plants they where

 

[Fate X]

I am curious, do you rely on this light for UVB? Or is it just for heat and plants? Especially with the Glass over it I would think UVB would be very degraded.

i dont rely on it for uvb its more for the ambient light and for the plants.
i can only use it when its cold outside because of the heat output.