Lighting a Reptibreeze XL

[Adman]

I'm planning on moving my young male veiled from his current enclosure to an XL Reptibreeze screen viv in about a month or so when he's big enough, so obviously I've been collecting the necessary materials for the change over. However the lighting situation is what is causing me the most concern, I plan on purchasing 2 Large (25cm) Exo Terra Glow Lights to place on top of the viv, so with those domes would the Solar Glow bulbs be a correct choice of bulb (as they provide both heat and UV)? But would I require one in each dome, or would one suffice and a supplementary UV or heating bulb be required in the second dome?

Also, any recommendations and advice on alternative products in terms of light/heat domes and bulbs would be greatly appreciated. I've decided to roll with the Exo Terra Glow Light choice because they're of a comfortable price and I've read MOSTLY (but not entirely of course) positive reviews.

 

[CarlC]

I would contact Jo Dunnage at MegaRay UK. She sells a complete line of UV lighting.

Carl

 

[Adman]

I'll bare that in mind, but I'm living in France right now. I can obtain items from UK, having them delivered to a family member's address, but I don't know when I'll next be going over and if I'd get them by the time I want to put my chameleon into the new viv.

 

[Adman]

So essentially if anyone could give me anymore advice on the subject I'd really appreciate it, as screen vivariums are rather new to me.

 

[jajeanpierre]

So essentially if anyone could give me anymore advice on the subject I'd really appreciate it, as screen vivariums are rather new to me.

I'm not particularly fond of all screen cages for a lot of reasons. They are difficult to keep very humid (probably not an issue with a veiled), they are difficult to raise the temperature of in a cold room, the chameleons invariably climb the walls and permanently damage their toes, and they don't keep the over spray from misting inside the cage.

I would strongly recommend Arcadia lighting. Arcadia is based in England and they have many distributors in France.

I switched my lighting to Arcadia and I noticed an immediate difference with my young male veiled. He had been under ZooMed tube lighting (for UVB) plus LED lights for plant growth and an incandescent bulb for heat. He wasn't particularly active, didn't have a great appetite and was only slowly gaining weight. The day I switched the lights to an Arcadia quad system (one UVB bulb, one plant grow-light bulb, and two bright bulbs for light) he immediately started eating aggressively.

He'd been hovering around 72 grams, growing slowly and on the thin side. As soon as I turned on the Arcadia lights, he started really aggressively eating. He's gained 20 grams in six weeks and it isn't fat--he's just a much bigger animal. He still is on thin side of a good weight. His colors were very dull and they brightened up.

I can't say enough good things about those lights.

 

[Adman]

Thanks a lot, I had heard good things about Acadia's products, can you give me the names of the specific items you chose? Because it's so easy to get confused with such a large variety of items to choose from and which're all so similarly named.

In regards to keeping the humidity and temperature up, the temp in my room is pretty constant and comfortable, and for the humidity I plan on placing bubblewrap on the back and sides, an idea I got from someone on here, but whose name/username I can't remember right now.

 

[Adman]

I'm not particularly fond of all screen cages for a lot of reasons. They are difficult to keep very humid (probably not an issue with a veiled), they are difficult to raise the temperature of in a cold room, the chameleons invariably climb the walls and permanently damage their toes, and they don't keep the over spray from misting inside the cage.

I would strongly recommend Arcadia lighting. Arcadia is based in England and they have many distributors in France.

I switched my lighting to Arcadia and I noticed an immediate difference with my young male veiled. He had been under ZooMed tube lighting (for UVB) plus LED lights for plant growth and an incandescent bulb for heat. He wasn't particularly active, didn't have a great appetite and was only slowly gaining weight. The day I switched the lights to an Arcadia quad system (one UVB bulb, one plant grow-light bulb, and two bright bulbs for light) he immediately started eating aggressively.

He'd been hovering around 72 grams, growing slowly and on the thin side. As soon as I turned on the Arcadia lights, he started really aggressively eating. He's gained 20 grams in six weeks and it isn't fat--he's just a much bigger animal. He still is on thin side of a good weight. His colors were very dull and they brightened up.

I can't say enough good things about those lights.

Also, would I still need 2 domes to fit on top of the viv? And I assume it'd be the D3 UV Basking Bulb that I'd need, yes?

 

[jajeanpierre]

Thanks a lot, I had heard good things about Acadia's products, can you give me the names of the specific items you chose? Because it's so easy to get confused with such a large variety of items to choose from and which're all so similarly named.

In regards to keeping the humidity and temperature up, the temp in my room is pretty constant and comfortable, and for the humidity I plan on placing bubblewrap on the back and sides, an idea I got from someone on here, but whose name/username I can't remember right now.

I bought the quad unit below:

http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/trblhot548qu1.html

Because I bought so many lights, I bought this light meter and was shocked to find some of my brand new bulbs were not producing any or very little UVB:

http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/solarmeter62.html

I also bought this book to get a better understanding of the problems chameleons have with improper lighting:

http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/argutombdand.html

Your chameleon will want a drop in temperature at night. It was very hard for me to turn off all heat sources at night in my cold house, but they are better for it.

 

[Adman]

I bought the quad unit below:

http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/trblhot548qu1.html

Because I bought so many lights, I bought this light meter and was shocked to find some of my brand new bulbs were not producing any or very little UVB:

http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/solarmeter62.html

I also bought this book to get a better understanding of the problems chameleons have with improper lighting:

http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/argutombdand.html

Your chameleon will want a drop in temperature at night. It was very hard for me to turn off all heat sources at night in my cold house, but they are better for it.

The average temperature in my room at night is around 18-20°C I think, so the temperature dropping after "lights out" probably won't be an issue.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Also, would I still need 2 domes to fit on top of the viv? And I assume it'd be the D3 UV Basking Bulb that I'd need, yes?

It is my understanding that a "basking" light is a light that produces heat. I use an plain incandescent light bulb for some of my chameleons. It is my understanding that a UVB is not considered a "basking" light as it doesn't produce heat.

You need some heat to complete the cycle of manufacturing D3. I use just one incandescent bulb on some cages but not others. The Arcadoa quad lights throw off a fair amount of heat. My veiled female has no basking light, just the fluorescent bulbs, because I don't want her to think she is living in the land of plenty and starts laying eggs. My ambient room temps are similar to yours, although they might get colder at night.

I'm not the expert on lights--I'm just trying to learn, too.

 

[Adman]

I read on another thread that Arcadia's D3 6% tube lights are a good choice, and then a dome for the basking spot. Anyone agree for an XL Reptibreeze?

 

[bradley]

I use the arcadia products to provide UV to my chameleons. I use their 12% T5 uv tubes to light my chameleons (panthers, jackons, fischers and in the past veileds).

This will provide good UV levels and only need replacing every 12 months. Give John at arcadia an email an he will tell you stockists of the products in your area.

 

[Adman]

I use the arcadia products to provide UV to my chameleons. I use their 12% T5 uv tubes to light my chameleons (panthers, jackons, fischers and in the past veileds).

This will provide good UV levels and only need replacing every 12 months. Give John at arcadia an email an he will tell you stockists of the products in your area.

Thanks a lot, I really appreciate that, I had read that Arcadia provide some of the best quality UV apparatus. As for stuff in my area, my recent research has turned up very little in terms of Arcadia products outside of the bulbs; canopies and light fittings have been practically nonexistent unfortunately, so I'm having to chase down options in the UK and I'll have to collect them another time rather than having them sent straight to me.

Is John from Arcadia contactable via this forum?

 

[CarlC]

This upcoming weekend in Hamm, Germany is Europes biggest reptile show. There should be many lighting vendors there. You would be able to buy everything you need.

Carl

 

[Adman]

This upcoming weekend in Hamm, Germany is Europes biggest reptile show. There should be many lighting vendors there. You would be able to buy everything you need.

Carl

A good idea, but unfortunately I can't get there this weekend, thanks for the idea though.

I've decided to roll with the Arcadia D3 12% Canopy, now I just have to sort out the heating arrangement.