infrared heat lamp?

[natural philosophy]

hi guys im new to the forum i have a 7 month male veiled named Rhonso. im keeping him in a 3x3x1 screened enclosure. the question i have is about the light. the lady at the local reptile store said i could use a nocturnal infrared heat lamp 150w from zoo med. he usually perches about 6 inches from it during the day. i keep it on 24/7.

i was wondering if this light is sufficient or if i should invest in other types of lights? ive read around a bit on here and a few books but im still kind of confused about their lighting needs. ive also been told that reptisun is not very good as they lose effectiveness after 6 months? can anyone confirm or deny this? any help with a lighting set up is much appreciated

thanks, craig

 

[Julirs]

That 1 dimension is not good-I keep male Veileds in 24X24X48 cages-they need some room to get around. Chameleons associate white light with basking heat, so those infrared bulbs are not recommended. Also if he is that close that that high a wattage bulb I would be concerned about burns. A 75W regular household bulb will be about 90 degrees 7-8" away. You absolutely need a UVB bulb-and most people here will suggest the Zoomed Reptisun 5.0 linear bulbs-and yes they do need to be changed out every 6-9 months, as would every other UVB bulb out there.
Lights should only be on 10-12 hours a day. Chameleons sleep at night and need a temperature drop also. Unless your temps are dropping below 60 you do not need any night time heat.
Welcome to the forums.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Here is some up to date information :

http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

-Brad

 

[natural philosophy]

so, i should invest in a reptisun 5.0 and also a basking light for heat? and i should get a thermometer to put near the basking light, eh? the reptisun only produces UV or does it also produce heat?

again, thanks guys

-c

 

[natural philosophy]

That 1 dimension is not good-I keep male Veileds in 24X24X48 cages-they need some room to get around.

so depth is important also? i was led to believe that with veileds, depth is not much of a concern as height and width. im working on building a cage on my own.

Welcome to the forums.

thank you

 

[Cham-Glam2016]

hi guys im new to the forum i have a 7 month male veiled named Rhonso. im keeping him in a 3x3x1 screened enclosure. the question i have is about the light. the lady at the local reptile store said i could use a nocturnal infrared heat lamp 150w from zoo med. he usually perches about 6 inches from it during the day. i keep it on 24/7.

i was wondering if this light is sufficient or if i should invest in other types of lights? ive read around a bit on here and a few books but im still kind of confused about their lighting needs. ive also been told that reptisun is not very good as they lose effectiveness after 6 months? can anyone confirm or deny this? any help with a lighting set up is much appreciated

thanks, craig

Welcome!! I love this community and everyone is really friendly and passionate about their babies. I’d definitely recommend getting a larger setup, building one would save you a load of money. To put it in perspective, the cost of the setup kit at most pet stores are around 150-200$ around NC. You can build a nearly 7ft by 3x
The smaller black one was his temp home till I finished the larger one.

 

[AmandaS]

Welcome!! I love this community and everyone is really friendly and passionate about their babies. I’d definitely recommend getting a larger setup, building one would save you a load of money. To put it in perspective, the cost of the setup kit at most pet stores are around 150-200$ around NC. You can build a nearly 7ft by 3x
The smaller black one was his temp home till I finished the larger one.View attachment 297839View attachment 297840View attachment 297844View attachment 297845View attachment 297846

Glad you like the forum. It is such a wonderful place to be! Just wanted to let you know this thread is from 2008

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Glad you like the forum. It is such a wonderful place to be! Just wanted to let you know this thread is from 2008

Thanks—you just saved me a ton of typing & copy/pasting.
(Didn't notice—tired & migraine... )

 

[PoseidonTheChameleon]

Welcome!! I love this community and everyone is really friendly and passionate about their babies. I’d definitely recommend getting a larger setup, building one would save you a load of money. To put it in perspective, the cost of the setup kit at most pet stores are around 150-200$ around NC. You can build a nearly 7ft by 3x
The smaller black one was his temp home till I finished the larger one.View attachment 297839View attachment 297840View attachment 297844View attachment 297845View attachment 297846

Are you aware that you have the wrong uvb? You need a linear bulb not the double dome. Reptisun is a popular brand

 

[Cham-Glam2016]

Are you aware that you have the wrong uvb? You need a linear bulb not the double dome. Reptisun is a popular brand

I actually have two different light setups, I wasn’t getting enough heat dispersion. Now I manage it well. His basking spots are around 85-90 degrees F.

 

[PoseidonTheChameleon]

I actually have two different light setups, I wasn’t getting enough heat dispersion. Now I manage it well. His basking spots are around 85-90 degrees F.

No I'm talking about your uvb not heat. You have a double dome, which is fine for heat but you need a linear uvb as well

 

[Cham-Glam2016]

Okay,‘I have the compact version, which provides the same UVB rays. Thank you for the recommendation, currently looking into it.

 

[PoseidonTheChameleon]

Okay,‘I have the compact version, which provides the same UVB rays. Thank you for the recommendation, currently looking into it.

Yes the compact has been proven to not give off the same amount of uvb as the linear bulb. I hope you get one for the sake of your chameleon

 

[Cham-Glam2016]

Yes the compact has been proven to not give off the same amount of uvb as the linear bulb. I hope you get one for the sake of your chameleon

Ordering Friday for my little man. I just put some Govee Home Thermometer/ Hydrometer inside. These things are Bluetooth, and monitor, notify if temp or humidity falls out of range and it graphs all the data. For less than $15 on Amazon!!

 

[Cham-Glam2016]

Could I side mount the linear bulb and hanger, long ways, to encourage him to search for it, like nature, or just mount overhead?

 

[PoseidonTheChameleon]

Could I side mount the linear bulb and hanger, long ways, to encourage him to search for it, like nature, or just mount overhead?

I'm not sure what you mean. But mine is just on the top of the screen

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

His basking spots are around 85-90 degrees F.

That's too high—should be more like 80-85F.

Okay,‘I have the compact version, which provides the same UVB rays.

No, it doesn't. See: An In-Depth Look At UV Light And Its Proper Use With Reptiles
and http://www.uvguide.co.uk/

Could I side mount the linear bulb and hanger, long ways, to encourage him to search for it, like nature, or just mount overhead?

Mount overhead—full width of the enclosure—above the screen.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/simple-uvb-fixture-supports.177896/

He's hard-wired to seek heat & UVB from the brightest light in the "sky".

A chameleon has a small light-sensitive spot on the top of its head. This "third eye" doesn’t form an image, so it is only a rudimentary eye. It is called "the parietal eye"
....
The third eye is only sensitive to violet and blue light: it ignores light of longer wavelengths.
https://osa.magnet.fsu.edu/tutorials/chameleonschange.html