How to hang T5 light fixture

[Little Man Simba]

Hi everyone!

Simba is getting a whole new housing set up for the new year, so I am looking for some recommendations from all of the experout there!

First, regarding hydration (misters/drippers/foggers/humidifiers):
I am planning on getting a new Mister. I know that everyone raves about the misting, but I cannot seem to find one under $150. Does anyone have any recommendations on a more wallet friendly alternative? Preferably one with a built in reservoir so I do not have to use the"bucket next to the habitat" system?? I was considering the Wacool, which is supposedly designed to be compatible with his new screen reptizoo enclosure.

I had planned on setting up his scheduling with mists every 3 hours between lights off & on. With this in mind, I have not planned on purchasing a fogger because of my now paranoid fear of mold and respiratory infections. Does everyone think the Mister alone should be sufficient? (maybe with the help of a humidifier during the dry winter months??)

Thank you for any and all of your input!

Everything should be arriving this week and i will be adding live plants. I will send photos for your reviews when it is complete!

 

[Multivitamins]

Some folks have posted threads about diy options but I think it would end up looking just about the same and maybe shave a few bucks off the bill.
Mist king is the way to go. Amazing timer and long enough power cords you can easily hide or stash the reservoir. The tubing is cheap as are the fittings and you can easily use different elbow or t fittings to keep it nice and tidy. Securing the water line also helps with vibration and sounds. If loose they do smack the wall or side of cage.
I use a smaller food safe bucket and it fits very nicely under and end table I use for a stand.

 

[Little Man Simba]

If you don't mind me asking, where did you purchase your mist king? I have only found the $400-$500 advanced set up online.

 

[crosscutts]

I have an industrial fogger and two homemade its the only way I can achieve 100% humidity required at night . I have zero issues with mold or respiratory infections. The trick is to allow the cage to dry out during the day. So my misting schedule is first thing in the morning for one minute, allowing extra water to remain in the cage then I have small computer fans that dry out the cage throughout the day . one long misting in the afternoon before lights out. Then again, just before foggers come on around 11 o’clock at night. I use a mist king on all three habitats house of Hydro homemade fogger for two of my habitats, and one industrial fogger I purchase through Tamara designs
. My panther never drinks and my Parsons drink on rare occasions they’re fully hydrated.

 

[Multivitamins]

I found the mistking available from a few spots but was shocked what some people are asking for them

This is the retailer I purchased from

https://www.mistking.com/home.php

LLL is a southern California reptile store

https://www.lllreptile.com/products...g48aUtyVvc43YOby1mgfbqrXbLDVTty4aAvbHEALw_wcB

Shipping might play a factor but these two seem to be the Lowest price for a new mister.

Depending on your set up and budget maybe saving the money on a mister is worth it but I have no experience making a diy one. But am certain that there are members of the forum who have created threads about it. 179 is a big investment but in the time I've had a chameleon it's made things so much better especially since the timer is very easy to program you can really customize your schedule. I am shocked what a few 2-3 second misting will do to keep my humidity up at night. I think the amount of plants and the build of my enclosure (did the custom wall with foam and silicone) help to maintain my humidity very well.
I haven't used the fogger due to space constraints

I get a night humidity of 85-90 based on my remote sensor and then in the day let that drop 40-50. I use a dripper on days I'm at work. and schedule the mist just before lights on and once or twice in the day to encourage the chameleon to drink and wash their eyes.

And and the title of your post mentioned t5 lights
how to hang a t5 ,
I use what I think is labeled hobby or craft wood from home Depot it's not standard lumber but much smaller sizes that you can use to lift lights off the screen. I lay them across the frame of the cage and use them as risers with my light fixtures sitting on top of them (think Lincoln logs almost) I didn't hang mine from the ceiling as I am a renter.

You want to try to give yourself an approximate height from the lights to the canopy and basking areas respectively for your lights. The screen cuts down a portion of the uvb available to the chameleon and the strength of uvb gets weaker the farther down you go. In a perfect world you can use a meter to measure the uvb but they can be costly. I believe some of the manufacturers have the uvb strength vs distance charted on their web page I'll look for a link.

The two common manufacturers Arcadia and zoomed may have different outputs just something to keep in mind there are 5.0 and 10.0 strength as well as 6 and 12 percent

I have had different enclosures and at one point had so many plants using the 12% now it's trimmed back and I have lost some plants after a move and I have a 6% the goal is to get uvb to help the metabolism and absorbing of minerals and calcium specifically D-3 the t5 or linear bulb will run the entire width of the cage so it's always available where basking we use a dome so it's more in a focused spot.
It's important to raise your basking bulb as well as chameleon will likely climb on the screen and if it's sitting on it directly you could end up burning your chameleon.

 

[Little Man Simba]

Hi everyone!

I found the mistking available from a few spots but was shocked what some people are asking for them

This is the retailer I purchased from

https://www.mistking.com/home.php

LLL is a southern California reptile store

https://www.lllreptile.com/products...g48aUtyVvc43YOby1mgfbqrXbLDVTty4aAvbHEALw_wcB

Shipping might play a factor but these two seem to be the Lowest price for a new mister.

Depending on your set up and budget maybe saving the money on a mister is worth it but I have no experience making a diy one. But am certain that there are members of the forum who have created threads about it. 179 is a big investment but in the time I've had a chameleon it's made things so much better especially since the timer is very easy to program you can really customize your schedule. I am shocked what a few 2-3 second misting will do to keep my humidity up at night. I think the amount of plants and the build of my enclosure (did the custom wall with foam and silicone) help to maintain my humidity very well.
I haven't used the fogger due to space constraints

I get a night humidity of 85-90 based on my remote sensor and then in the day let that drop 40-50. I use a dripper on days I'm at work. and schedule the mist just before lights on and once or twice in the day to encourage the chameleon to drink and wash their eyes.

And and the title of your post mentioned t5 lights
how to hang a t5 ,
I use what I think is labeled hobby or craft wood from home Depot it's not standard lumber but much smaller sizes that you can use to lift lights off the screen. I lay them across the frame of the cage and use them as risers with my light fixtures sitting on top of them (think Lincoln logs almost) I didn't hang mine from the ceiling as I am a renter.

You want to try to give yourself an approximate height from the lights to the canopy and basking areas respectively for your lights. The screen cuts down a portion of the uvb available to the chameleon and the strength of uvb gets weaker the farther down you go. In a perfect world you can use a meter to measure the uvb but they can be costly. I believe some of the manufacturers have the uvb strength vs distance charted on their web page I'll look for a link.

View attachment 334058

The two common manufacturers Arcadia and zoomed may have different outputs just something to keep in mind there are 5.0 and 10.0 strength as well as 6 and 12 percent

I have had different enclosures and at one point had so many plants using the 12% now it's trimmed back and I have lost some plants after a move and I have a 6% the goal is to get uvb to help the metabolism and absorbing of minerals and calcium specifically D-3 the t5 or linear bulb will run the entire width of the cage so it's always available where basking we use a dome so it's more in a focused spot.
It's important to raise your basking bulb as well as chameleon will likely climb on the screen and if it's sitting on it directly you could end up burning your chameleon.

Thanks for your input!

I currently have the reptisun T5 5.0 linear bulb.

The problem im having is that when i set it directly on the screen, the temp in his basking spot is about 90 (which can creep up to 95-100 during the day). His basking area is about 6" from the top, so I am concerned he is baking. Because of health issues we've been battling, I don't trust his ability to thermoregulate properly, especially since he is ALWAYS at the top (within 12" of the light).

I put the light on risers this morning, so now the light is about 6" above the screen (1 ft from his basking spot). The temp is 87 ambient about 8" from the top.

Surprisingly this bulb puts out a lot more heat than i was expecting. It does have the reflector in, maybe i should remove it? Or maybe switch lights?

Simba is getting a whole new housing set up for the new year, so I am looking for some recommendations from all of the experout there!

First, regarding hydration (misters/drippers/foggers/humidifiers):
I am planning on getting a new Mister. I know that everyone raves about the misting, but I cannot seem to find one under $150. Does anyone have any recommendations on a more wallet friendly alternative? Preferably one with a built in reservoir so I do not have to use the"bucket next to the habitat" system?? I was considering the Wacool, which is supposedly designed to be compatible with his new screen reptizoo enclosure.

I had planned on setting up his scheduling with mists every 3 hours between lights off & on. With this in mind, I have not planned on purchasing a fogger because of my now paranoid fear of mold and respiratory infections. Does everyone think the Mister alone should be sufficient? (maybe with the help of a humidifier during the dry winter months??)

Thank you for any and all of your input!

Everything should be arriving this week and i will be adding live plants. I will send photos for your reviews when it is complete!

Lol! I just realized