Help with T5 fixture
- Thread starter Weebo
- Start date
trickedoutbiker
Avid Member
If you want my opinion....
If your cage is 18 x 18 then save your money for a good fixture in the future and get something kinda cheap now, because you will be needing to upgrade to a 24 x 24 x 48 cage soon when your chameleon is an adult. Spend good money on a fixture for the future 24 x 24 x 48 cage since it will be the one you use the longest, and find something relatively cheap for the smaller cage you have now.
That's my opinion, I'm not saying it's what you should or shouldn't do. It's personally what I would do myself, and IS what I did myself. And the reason being is that, chameleons grow pretty fast. They grow out of the smaller cages within months, so why waste a buttload of money on lights for a cage they are only going to be in for not even a year? The bigger and final cages that they will spend most of their lives in are the ones you really want to drop a few dollars on and make it really nice.
If your cage is 18 x 18 then save your money for a good fixture in the future and get something kinda cheap now, because you will be needing to upgrade to a 24 x 24 x 48 cage soon when your chameleon is an adult. Spend good money on a fixture for the future 24 x 24 x 48 cage since it will be the one you use the longest, and find something relatively cheap for the smaller cage you have now.
That's my opinion, I'm not saying it's what you should or shouldn't do. It's personally what I would do myself, and IS what I did myself. And the reason being is that, chameleons grow pretty fast. They grow out of the smaller cages within months, so why waste a buttload of money on lights for a cage they are only going to be in for not even a year? The bigger and final cages that they will spend most of their lives in are the ones you really want to drop a few dollars on and make it really nice.
Hollywhyte
Avid Member
T5 ReptiSun LED UVB Terrarium Hood comes in size 14" all the way to 48"
trickedoutbiker
Avid Member
18 x 18 x 36 ....That's the adult female minimum cage requirements for lots of species so you should be fine then yes. I don't see a picture of your chameleon on your profile avatar so I didn't know that is what you had. My apologies. If you posted your chameleon type and gender somewhere before I must have missed it. I do apologize again. I kind of assumed you had a male cham since that's what most newcomers seem to get so they can avoid having to mess with eggs in the future.
So yes the cage you have will be fine then, and in that case, go all out on your lighting!
NHenn
Avid Member
If you are planning to upgrade your cage then I say get the 24" fixture as you will be saving money but we do have 18" fixtures as well that are design for the 18" cages. They use a different type of bulb that is just like the T5 but they run two tubes in parallel since the fixtures are smaller. You can check them out on our website if you would want to see some pictures and pricing.
https://www.canvaschameleons.com/product-category/lighting/fixtures/
trickedoutbiker
Avid Member
I personally don't think 18 x 18 x 36 is big enough either because of the exact points you mentioned, but it IS listed as the MINIMUM space required. In my eyes, bigger is always better though, with all reptiles. The more room you can give them, the better. So if my two cents means anything, I too, would upgrade the cage to a 24 x 24 x 48 in the future and put good money into a light fixture for that instead, and save money by getting something relatively cheap for the smaller cage right now.
In all honestly, if I had the room for a custom sized cage right now, my panther would be in a 4 foot tall x 4 foot wide x 4 foot deep cage. Can't exactly do that right now living in an apartment and saving for house... but you can bet that once I have a house and I get a room all for my reptiles, then all my little ones are going to be treated like royalty and given super large cages to roam around in. I will use 24 x 24 x 48 cages for outside time, and the huge cages will be inside in the reptile room. It won't be nearly as neat as the huge setups used by @jpowell86 but it will definitely be larger than the standard cage sizes available on the current market.
My future goals.
nightanole
Chameleon Enthusiast
You are shoving a 13"+ lizard in a 18" cage. What is it going to do, rotate in the middle till its heart is content? This is a far cry from the old "1.5x animal length" recommendation for "large" reptiles. That works for tegus and iguanas that are 5-6ft long, but are you really going to put a 6" lizard in a box?
Nursemaia
Chameleon Enthusiast
Because I like to have extremely large cages for my chams I scour yard sales and auctions for used parrot cages and use those for my enclosures. I just wrap them in screen so the bugs can't escape. I scored a 2x3x5 ft cage this past weekend for $105. My panther is going in it. I have some as large as 3x4x5 ft. They're wrought iron so I can safely make set ups outside and my chams can spend the summer months outdoors. I just buy indoor and outdoor cages because I'm not going to cart them in and out when it's time to go out for the summer. They're not pretty like a Dragonstrand but the money I save on the cage lets me get top of the line lights and misters. Plus lots of live plants.
This is from lightyourreptiles.com. It is small enough for an 18x18 top. It will work on a larger cage as it sits on the wire cage top for lowland chameleons. You don't need the legs for chams. It includes the long life bulbs hence the price. I just got mine there.
That's what I would have done. It gives you the future growth you need as well as an awesome fixture. Even if you don't upgrade, just run it diagonally.
This will work just fine on a 24 x 24 cage to if you pop the legs of and set on the screen.
Thank you!
Todd
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