Dragonstrand setup

[Ponyboy]

#1 Bill Strand knows his stuff. Great cage, nothing else like it on the market as far as customization options and cage infrastructure is concerned.

#2 Bill recommended the quad Acadia setup from Todd Goode at LYR. Great company, small business, appreciates his customers. I got the wrong size at first and he helped me select the most appropriate light setup for my enclosure.

#3 Do you guys see the blue light LED?? LYR Todd Goode recommended it to simulate moonlight and pre-dawn/dusk lighting...not only is it good for my Cham but it looks AWESOME.

Needless to say it took a while to set up like any good enclosure...but I couldn't be happier for not just the aesthetics, but for how much my veiled is enjoying the horizontal space of the large atrium!!!!

Once again the chameleon hobbyist community has led me in the righteous path towards not just enjoying my animal to the utmost degree, but providing the best husbandry available to make our relationship as stress free and enjoyable for our pet reptile as possible.

-Steven "Ponyboy"

 

[cyberlocc]

#1 Bill Strand knows his stuff. Great cage, nothing else like it on the market as far as customization options and cage infrastructure is concerned.

#2 Bill recommended the quad Acadia setup from Todd Goode at LYR. Great company, small business, appreciates his customers. I got the wrong size at first and he helped me select the most appropriate light setup for my enclosure.

#3 Do you guys see the blue light LED?? LYR Todd Goode recommended it to simulate moonlight and pre-dawn/dusk lighting...not only is it good for my Cham but it looks AWESOME.

Needless to say it took a while to set up like any good enclosure...but I couldn't be happier for not just the aesthetics, but for how much my veiled is enjoying the horizontal space of the large atrium!!!!

Once again the chameleon hobbyist community has led me in the righteous path towards not just enjoying my animal to the utmost degree, but providing the best husbandry available to make our relationship as stress free and enjoyable for our pet reptile as possible.

-Steven "Ponyboy"

Wait so the blue lights are good? You run them at night? Every thing I have ever seen say do not do that not red not blue not nothing. I am not saying that LYR is wrong, just that goes against everything I have ever read. And am curious how that helps the cham.

They can see blue lights, and have light receptors on there head. That light makes it hard to sleep, you are hurting them using it.

 

[Calval24]

Wait so the blue lights are good? You run them at night? Every thing I have ever seen say do not do that not red not blue not nothing. I am not saying that LYR is wrong, just that goes against everything I have ever read. And am curious how that helps the cham.

I'm curious about this too. I have the moon light feature on my lights but never use it because I've been told by A LOT of people fear it was bad. Any info would be awesome!!

 

[cyberlocc]

I'm curious about this too. I have the moon light feature on my lights but never use it because I've been told by A LOT of people fear it was bad. Any info would be awesome!!

Ya pretty crazy, I have always read do not do it period. Lets ask todd .

Venutus1 why do you say use the night light?

Oh and setup looks good, and Arcadia all the way .

 

[Ponyboy]

Hmm, haven't read anything about that before.

I can't imagine simulating moon light wouldn't be a good thing, but I could be wrong. Maybe perhaps high moon phases equal more visibility which increases the chance for predation..? :/

Not sure. More info would be helpful. It's really just a matter of hitting the switch to turn it off.

The only concern I have in the enclosure is the camellia pot is heavy - so much so that I'm concerned it will eventually wear down the screen on the bottom of the enclosure. It's just wide enough that it sits on two of the bottom beams of the drainage tray. I was thinking about just taking it out but it gives Moe so much concealment and gives him a sense of security. Thoughts?

 

[DeremensisBlue]

The awesome thing about the blue LEDs is that if you get a timer which turns them on before the lights go out and then turns them off half an hour after the lights go out you are able to provide a little bit of light for your chameleon to adjust to the sudden darkness of the main lights going off. But I would suggest leaving them off during the night.

The floor screen was not meant for supporting weight and will eventually wear out. I do not know how long that will take, though.

Nice foliage cover! If you decide to remove the camellia you could probably get the same security benefit from a couple more pothos.
Although, I would be curious how a camellia would do under the quad T5s. I have used camellia outdoors, but haven't tried indoors yet. The T5s give off more light so I am guessing we will have a wider range of plant selection now. It would certainly be dramatic to have one bloom inside your cage!
Bill

 

[trickedoutbiker]

LYR Todd Goode recommended it to simulate moonlight and pre-dawn/dusk lighting

Wait so the blue lights are good? You run them at night? Every thing I have ever seen say do not do that not red not blue not nothing. I am not saying that LYR is wrong, just that goes against everything I have ever read. And am curious how that helps the cham.

They can see blue lights, and have light receptors on there head. That light makes it hard to sleep, you are hurting them using it.

What Todd from LYR means to do is, after all the main lights go out, have the blue LED's come on for ONLY a half an hour so your chameleon doesn't have that sudden darkness from all the lights going out at once. Chameleons can't see in the dark that well at all, so as soon as all the heat bulbs and UVB lights and such go out, they typically sleep exactly where they are standing because they can't see in the dark to go find a better sleeping spot.

That's where the blue LEDs come into play. Todd DEFINITELY did NOT mean that you should keep them on all night, and if you interpreted it that way then you must have read what he wrote wrong. So go back and read it again. I'm absolutely POSITIVE he did not tell you to leave it on all night. I know this to be fact because the dude is a professional when it comes to lights and he knows better, and also, I had the exact same conversation with him about my own lights before I bought them. A light on all night would be very bad for the chameleon because just as Cyberlocc mentioned, chameleons have photoreceptor cells on their heads that detect light. Any light left on all night will disturb the chameleon.

The way Todd suggests, is that you have the blue LED's come on right before all your other lights go out, or right as all your other lights go out. That way when all the main lights go off, the LED lights come on for a half hour. Doing this, there is not the sudden shift to darkness and the cham has time to find a spot to sleep because he can still see a bit with the blue lights. After a half hour, the blue lights should be turned off ALL NIGHT to allow the chameleon to sleep peacefully. That is how Todd meant for you to do it. I'm sure his messages say that clearly, you must have just mis-read what he wrote.

Hope this was some help.

 

[Ponyboy]

Yeah so in my original post I said "pre-dawn/dusk lighting"...

Circadian rhythm and all

 

[Virgil1972]

It does look pretty awesome with the blue LED.

 

[trickedoutbiker]

Yeah so in my original post I said "pre-dawn/dusk lighting"...

It wouldn't really be pre-dawn and pre-dusk... It would be more like pre-dawn because they would come on before all your other lights, but it would be POST-dusk because they would come on AFTER your other lights went out, making them POST-dusk and not PRE-dusk. lol.

 

[Ponyboy]

My biggest concern right now is the weight of the pots at the bottom of the cage in addition to the laying bin, it's weighing down the cage and shifting the structure so the bottom door sticks when closing and opening. I may have to ditch the camellia and the schefflera due to weight, and just stick with the pothos and laying bin.

Thoughts?

 

[Virgil1972]

Maybe a piece of wood between the screen and the table the cage is on. Then the plant would be resting on the wood and not the screen.

 

[cyberlocc]

Yeah so in my original post I said "pre-dawn/dusk lighting"...

Circadian rhythm and all

Ya I caught that later, and thought I wonder if that is what he means lol. Your good . Sorry for my misreading.

That is a good idea, I will have to check that out in the future. Currently my baby falls asleep slightly before lights out anyway though.

As to the plant idea. Do you have the drainage tray? What I would do is, setup false bottom in the drainage tray, or even better. Cut holes in the pvc floor for the pots, re pot the plants with a draining bottom and holes in the sides. Do the same with the laying bin and recess it all into the drainage tray.

 

[Goose502]

The moon light setup seems to be possibly an over analyzed topic. In the wild, chams are subject to strong moonlight the majority of the night for a few days a month. I would guess this changes their sleep pattern slightly, but obviously not dangerous. Chams also thrive in some populated, well lit city environments, subject to artificial light all night. I personally have a 24 hour style, high end LED fixture. I know it provides nothing but light for my plants, and myself to see, but it cycles throughout the day and mimics sunrise/sunset, high noon, lunar lighting (though very dim), and even simulates rainstorms, lightening, and even overcast simulations. My enclosure is heavily planted, this gives my Cham lots of cover. He tends to sleep under cover. My guess is this provides security, cover from the rain (yes it rains at night and my misting system will simulate that), and possibly cover from the moonlight. Though my fixture is much more dim than the blue lights shown above. I haven't noticed any ill effect due to this. I work nights, and have seen that at 2-3 am, my boy is fast asleep. I understand the idea to simplify care, and zero nocturnal lighting is definately the most common choice, but I don't see any issue with supplying realistic moonlight. I would recommend dimming those blue lights if possible. They look great, maybe a little bright, but not a bad addition to any realistic enclosure. BTW, setup looks great, just be careful with those heavy planters.

 

[cyberlocc]

The moon light setup seems to be possibly an over analyzed topic. In the wild, chams are subject to strong moonlight the majority of the night for a few days a month. I would guess this changes their sleep pattern slightly, but obviously not dangerous. Chams also thrive in some populated, well lit city environments, subject to artificial light all night. I personally have a 24 hour style, high end LED fixture. I know it provides nothing but light for my plants, and myself to see, but it cycles throughout the day and mimics sunrise/sunset, high noon, lunar lighting (though very dim), and even simulates rainstorms, lightening, and even overcast simulations. My enclosure is heavily planted, this gives my Cham lots of cover. He tends to sleep under cover. My guess is this provides security, cover from the rain (yes it rains at night and my misting system will simulate that), and possibly cover from the moonlight. Though my fixture is much more dim than the blue lights shown above. I haven't noticed any ill effect due to this. I work nights, and have seen that at 2-3 am, my boy is fast asleep. I understand the idea to simplify care, and zero nocturnal lighting is definately the most common choice, but I don't see any issue with supplying realistic moonlight. I would recommend dimming those blue lights if possible. They look great, maybe a little bright, but not a bad addition to any realistic enclosure. BTW, setup looks great, just be careful with those heavy planters.

I remember seeing that LED setup and cant find it again can you give me a linky linky to it please .

 

[Goose502]

It's the Finnex planted +24/7. It's designed for aquarium use, though creates an amazing terrarium effect. I picked it up on Amazon.

 

[cyberlocc]

It's the Finnex planted +24/7. It's designed for aquarium use, though creates an amazing terrarium effect. I picked it up on Amazon.

Hmm that isnt expensive at all for waht it does. It is actually cheaper than the Zoomed hood that just has off and on. Do your plants grow well with it?. My concern would be they are RGB not 660 reds, and the low wattage of the LEDs. I would love to see how that lights your Viv, and if it grows plants I like the spread much better than the Zoomeds I was planning to get.

 

[Goose502]

My plants have been growing like crazy. In roughly 5 months, my ficus have exploded to the top of my enclosure, also filling out well. The price did seem low, compared to some competitors, but the reviews from the aquarium world were excellent. There are many of these reviews on YouTube, and many include all the more scientific measurements. If only they provided UVB. I'll post some pics tomorrow so not to wake up my Cham with bright lights.

 

[cyberlocc]

Ya the company has very good aquorum reviews. My only concern is that some people say they are not good for deep aquariums. However water is diff rent then our vivs that's why I am curious.

The one upside the zoomed does have is replaceable leds.

Oh and they have one with 660 reds, it's the planted normal, and it's cheaper than yours, doesn't have the timer effects though.

 

[Goose502]

Ya, I really was going for the natural effect the 24/7 offers. I've actually automated my entire habitat. From rain/humidity to basking temps and NOC drops. Here's a few pics. They show morning (after basking light turns on), early afternoon, and early evening (just when basking turns off).