General Encolsure Questions.. please help!!

[dasilvetz]

Hello all,

I was a previous bearded dragon owner, and was planning on getting another.. however I went to the store yesterday and fell in love with a little chameleon as soon as he started clinging to my finger

I have a few quick questions.. i already have certain lamps and I just wanted to verify if these could also be used for a chameleon..

I have:

*75W Basking Bulb.. temp at highest point on rock is 100-105 Degrees.. cool side 75-85 F

*"Desert" 50 Fluorescent UVB by R-Zilla...

I would obviously replace sand with the correct substrate..


and also i will buy "vegetation".. for him to climb on..

Does this sound about right or should I be doing something drastically different?

Thanks!!



Also: I would expose the dragon to 12-14h of basking+UVB, then both off for the night...

Is that the same for the chameleon?

 

[xoiceox]

You need a screened tall cage, as opposed to wide glass cages that u would use for a bearded.

 

[Dave Weldon]

..."Desert" 50 Fluorescent UVB by R-Zilla...

Howdy,

I'll let others chime-in with the rest of the chameleon keeping details but I'll touch on one near and dear to my heart . I was part of the team of keepers who brought this situation to light. The R-Zilla Desert 50 is a dangerous UVB source for any reptile. The manufacturer has acknowledged this and has offered refunds to those who return them to the store where they were purchased. You may not have had any problems (yet) but none the less many keepers of desert species like bearded dragons have reported eye problems and I personally dealt with several chameleon keepers whose young Panthers died from severe UVB burns after only a few days of exposure. The R-Zilla product is discussed here in the Special Report section: http://www.uvguide.co.uk/.

What part of the world are you located?

 

[dasilvetz]

thanks for the responses!

I live in Connecticut for the record...

I will get the corerct cage thanks for mentioning that..

Also, I will return the R-Zilla... and get a different one...

As far as the basking lght is that all I would need for lights (besides the UVB)

THanks!

 

[Dave Weldon]

...As far as the basking lght is that all I would need for lights (besides the UVB)...

Howdy,

A simple flood light between 60-100 watts, when positioned at the correct distance, will allow your chameleon to get up to operating temp .

You can't go too wrong with a ZooMed Reptisun 5.0 linear tube for UVB.

A few more sources of info just in case you haven't seen them:

http://www.chameleonsdish.com/

http://www.chameleonnews.com/ especially http://chameleonnews.com/?page=reference

http://www.adcham.com/

 

[Brad Ramsey]

What type of chameleon?

-Brad

 

[dasilvetz]

I was thinking about picking up a velied chameleon when i get out of work.. i am very attracted to the more colorful panther species ive seen online but i think i should start off with a veiled cham from a local pet store

 

[Brad Ramsey]

http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

-Brad