Heat Lamp on 24/7 ?

[SierraImpala]

Hey! I'm getting a panther chameleon soon...or hopefully I am. My parents don't want me to get one because of the heat lamp. They're scared that if I leave the lamp on 24/7 the house may burn down or something...I don't have to leave the lamp on when I go to school,stores,friends house, right ?

 

[nightanole]

You could get a few feet of heat tape and a lamp dimmer, its only 20 watts per square foot. Hell you might just be able to put in an inline fuse and just run 2 foot of it for 40 watts of heat. Its cooler than an electric blanket.
http://www.bigappleherp.com/Flex-Watt-Heat-Tape

 

[SierraImpala]

You could get a few feet of heat tape and a lamp dimmer, its only 20 watts per square foot. Hell you might just be able to put in an inline fuse and just run 2 foot of it for 40 watts of heat. Its cooler than an electric blanket.
http://www.bigappleherp.com/Flex-Watt-Heat-Tape

Thank you so much!!~ I'll tell my parents about that. Hopefully I'll get my cham soon !! <3

 

[broderp]

A heat lamp is no more dangerous than leaving a light bulb on all day. Really. They are out of the way and can not be knocked over by the Cham, and worse case scenario they will burn out liker any other light bulb and the light goes out. Have you read ALL the requirements to keep such a pet like the Chameleon?

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/

I would even recommend starting here and reading up:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/chameleons/

These links helped me years ago, and still do today. If your parents aren't behind you on this, then maybe this may not be the best pet for you right now. Chams involve time, commitment and MONEY. And I don't mean the money you pay for the reptile either. That is just a small part of the cost. If you spend money on Cham, but feed it poorly, and keep it in the cold then it will suffer. This is not right.

 

[Theveiled]

Hey! I'm getting a panther chameleon soon...or hopefully I am. My parents don't want me to get one because of the heat lamp. They're scared that if I leave the lamp on 24/7 the house may burn down or something...I don't have to leave the lamp on when I go to school,stores,friends house, right ?

Im not sure if anyone has mentioned this but mostlikely you will not need a heat source at night. How cold does your house get at night?

 

[carol5208]

Just put it on a timer and have it come on when the sun comes up and have it go off when then sun goes down. And as mentioned unless your house is going to get down into the 40's at night I would not even worry about it! Most people say to add heat if the temps drop below 50. I am assuming your house does not get that cold!

 

[Solid Snake]

You need a heat soyrce that mimics the sun. This means youll need an incandescent bulb. Youll need a temp drop at night, so as stated, put it on a timer. If you follow proper husbandry this poses no more issue than any other lamp you may have/that people have been using for 100 years or so. Make sure you are familiarizing yourself with every detail if husbandry as much as possible before getting started. Your homework is to find out why an incandescent bulb is not only superior, but necessary, and a source of heat from other means(while at times may be an additional necessity) is not a valid substitute. Get back to us with the answer!☺

 

[broderp]

....... Your homework is to find out why an incandescent bulb is not only superior, but necessary, and a source of heat from other means(while at times may be an additional necessity) is not a valid substitute.....

I disagree with some of your statement. How is an incandescent lamp superior to other heating methods? I have used both incandescent and head emitters and both work well.

I've used standard lamp bulbs, special "reptile basking" bulbs and light less emitters with the same level of success. Each some Pro's and cons, but heat equally well.

My last setup used T5 lamp for lighting (on a light sensor) along with a UVB bulb as well as a heat emitter. Since I use a controller, The lights stay on for the set time, but I vary the heat with the controller to maintain a proper basking and cool spots. If I use an incandescent bulb for heating and lighting, any cycling of the heat to main temp will cause the light to go on and off throughout the day. this would require additional lighting to keep the terrarium lit.

I've also used lamp dimmers on lamb to control the temp and minimize the "On-Off" cycling of a controller, but the down side to this reducing the output to maintain heat also reducing the visible light.

It's all about weighing your options and seeing what works for you.

 

[Solid Snake]

I should preface by saying Ive never used anything other than incandescent bulbs.

That is because Ive never seen a need to. The goal is to mimic the natural sun for basking purposes. It simply makes more sense to me for the heat to be eminating from a vividly bright light source. Said light source also...lights, the enclosure area. Most uvb and 6500k sources simply dont put out much light. Within a properly balanced enclosure, there should be no need to have the heat source come on and off in order to manage temps. The enlcosure should be the constant, and the animal should manage itself within that stable environment. This is how I always thought keeping. Hope that clarifies my views. Of course the animal could be kept alive by many means. The goal should be to provide a fairly naturalistic environment for the animal to thrive in though. In my opinion, an incandescent provides the best false sun in such scenario.