Mountain Dragon
Chameleon Enthusiast
So I’ve seen people both sides so I’m a lil confuzled. How long do you leave ur heat lamp on? I thought the whole day?
Heat lamp
- Thread starter Mountain Dragon
- Start date
Chameleoking
Chameleon Enthusiast
You know opinions vary on this. I myself sometimes leave mine on just a coue hrs then turn it off and sometimes I leave it on loner and then sometimes I leave it on for twelve hrs. Because in nature it sometimes gets cloudy so there will be lots of opinions.
As the heat lamp is designed to mimic the sun it should stay on for as long as the sun is usually up.
Obviously this varies throughout the year and if you really want to be exact you can turn the lamp on and off at sunrise and sunset either for your own location or, to further nerd out, you can look up the different times of day the sun rises and different times of the year in your chameleon’s natural habitat!
I personally think that’s a bit unnecessary so 12 hours on and 12 hours off is absolutely fine.
To make this a lot easier for you because it’s unlikely you’ll always be around to turn the lights on and off, you’ll need to get a digital timer. I recommend the two-pack as you’ll need to plug other light's into it also.
As the heat lamp is designed to mimic the sun it should stay on for as long as the sun is usually up.
Obviously this varies throughout the year and if you really want to be exact you can turn the lamp on and off at sunrise and sunset either for your own location or, to further nerd out, you can look up the different times of day the sun rises and different times of the year in your chameleon’s natural habitat!
I personally think that’s a bit unnecessary so 12 hours on and 12 hours off is absolutely fine.
To make this a lot easier for you because it’s unlikely you’ll always be around to turn the lights on and off, you’ll need to get a digital timer. I recommend the two-pack as you’ll need to plug other light's into it also.
Mountain Dragon
Chameleon Enthusiast
Thx so much!
Klyde O'Scope
Chameleon Enthusiast
I agree with timers—not that they necessarily be digital.
I run inexpensive analog timers and they work just fine.
Plant lights plug into one; basking & UVB into another.
I have my plant lights set for 12 hrs. on/12 hrs. off. At sunup & sundown, the sun has to penetrate a much thicker atmosphere, which filters out both heat and UVB, so I have basking & UVBs set to turn on an hour later, and turn off an hour earlier. This has an added effect of extending the life of a UVB bulb by approx. 2 months.
I run inexpensive analog timers and they work just fine.
Plant lights plug into one; basking & UVB into another.
I have my plant lights set for 12 hrs. on/12 hrs. off. At sunup & sundown, the sun has to penetrate a much thicker atmosphere, which filters out both heat and UVB, so I have basking & UVBs set to turn on an hour later, and turn off an hour earlier. This has an added effect of extending the life of a UVB bulb by approx. 2 months.
