Light & heat source for Veiled(s) ?'s

[JimNPHX]

Hi everyone,

I am not overly concerned, at the same time I have a couple "hmmm" questions.

I have a male & female Veiled est. age at almost 7 months. Both in separate screen cages. For each I use a 75 w bulb as a heat source and a Reptisun 10.0 for UV lighting (long). (75w bulb(s) are about 6" above the top of the screen.)

My male seems to always stay at one certain spot underneath the heat bulb, which at that spot has a temp in the low 90's. The branch I have there comes up to the very top of the cage at an angle. The spot he likes to be at almost forces him to "squeeze" into it. I tried lowering the height of the bulb so that the same temp is a little lower in his cage, but he still went to that spot. While there he always had his mouth open, so I raised the light back up.

I am assuming he goes to this spot out of comfort or security and not for a certain temp? Is this normal?

Also, my female although has the option to go higher, likes to stay at a spot that only gets to around 85 degrees. Is this normal?

Finally, many posts seem to state that Reptisun 5.0 is the light to use. I have a 10.0 because it penetrates deeper into the cage. Does it matter?

Thanks

Jim

 

[dodolah]

Hi everyone,

I am not overly concerned, at the same time I have a couple "hmmm" questions.

I have a male & female Veiled est. age at almost 7 months. Both in separate screen cages. For each I use a 75 w bulb as a heat source and a Reptisun 10.0 for UV lighting (long). (75w bulb(s) are about 6" above the top of the screen.)

My male seems to always stay at one certain spot underneath the heat bulb, which at that spot has a temp in the low 90's. The branch I have there comes up to the very top of the cage at an angle. The spot he likes to be at almost forces him to "squeeze" into it. I tried lowering the height of the bulb so that the same temp is a little lower in his cage, but he still went to that spot. While there he always had his mouth open, so I raised the light back up.

I am assuming he goes to this spot out of comfort or security and not for a certain temp? Is this normal?

Also, my female although has the option to go higher, likes to stay at a spot that only gets to around 85 degrees. Is this normal?

Finally, many posts seem to state that Reptisun 5.0 is the light to use. I have a 10.0 because it penetrates deeper into the cage. Does it matter?

Thanks

Jim

10.0 seems too intense for baby chameleons. that's why i used 5.0
I think it's laziness thing.. he probably doesn't want to move.. so he just gape to reduce the heat.

 

[BigTex]

i think that as long as the temp for him is in the low 90's everything should be fine, and he will move when he wants to do so, my cham loves to bask under his light and sometimes gaps too, so i dont really think you should worry to much about that. if your chams are 7 months old then i think that a 10.0 might be ok, most of the posts that i have read is that these lights are to strong for babies but im not really sure of the answer to that question.

 

[PardalisGirl]

Sounds good to me..........

I see why you do wonder........people seem to be doing a variety of things with success. As far as the basking situation. It looks like your Veileds each have favorite spots. Chameleons do seem to pick out a favorite branch or spot in the cage. Mine usually sleep in the same spot at night. I would adjust your heat bulbs to be appropriate for that spot they have each selected. It sounds like they are each intent on staying in those spots.

As far as the Reptisun bulbs go.....I use 5.0 for hatchling and baby cages. I use 10.0 for adult cages. I actually use two 10.0 tubes over the length of my biggest cages.

 

[JimNPHX]

Thanks for the feedback everyone . . .

I see why you do wonder........people seem to be doing a variety of things with success. As far as the basking situation. It looks like your Veileds each have favorite spots. Chameleons do seem to pick out a favorite branch or spot in the cage. Mine usually sleep in the same spot at night. I would adjust your heat bulbs to be appropriate for that spot they have each selected. It sounds like they are each intent on staying in those spots.

As far as the Reptisun bulbs go.....I use 5.0 for hatchling and baby cages. I use 10.0 for adult cages. I actually use two 10.0 tubes over the length of my biggest cages.

So should I adjust the female's bulb so that the temp is warmer than 85 degrees, or leave as is. (Is she there due to liking the existing temp, or because she likes the spot?)

Also, does it matter too much where the Reptisun is positioned on the cage? (Cage is 24x24x36) I have it width wise on top of cage, centered from front to back. Their basking spots are not directly under it.

Thanks

Jim

 

[PardalisGirl]

Positioning......

You have your Reptisun centered the way I would do it. As far as the female goes.........Does she look good? Is her coloring nice? Is she eating well, etc.? If she looks happy I would leave her as she is. With people, we all seem to have different temperature preferences. My husband has to have the house temperature up and he is always cold. I'm the total opposite. There is always a "discussion" of the car interior temperature. In my own collection the chams seem to have different preferences too. They don't produce body heat like humans do, so the functions are not the same between us and them. But individual chams within the same species must have varying abilities to absorb or regulate absorption of heat. Otherwise each cham within a species would want the same exact spot in identically furnished cages. I've got plenty of identical cage set ups. They even have the same potted plants and branches because I buy everything in quantity. And yet all the chams seek a slightly different distance from the heat and light as their favorite. A big Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..........

 

[kinyonga]

Your female may actually be better off being in a slightly cooler area because it may slow her metabolism down and keep her appetite in check so she won't produce huge clutches.

I keep my females slightly cooler than my males most of the time for that reason.

 

[TRI0N]

Well I would position your ReptiSun 10.0 to be just on the edge of the basking lamp beam so that the 10.0 is delivering UVB/UVA.

Cruel Example:

This will simulate the sun much better and allow your Chameleon to absorbe the much needed UV rays while he is basking under his heat spot.