Lighting Advice: Switching to T8 bulbs

[amfire125]

I have to put a plug in and HIGHLY recommend a Dragon Strand enclosure when you upgrade! Seriously, the quality is unlike anything else on the market! I promise you can't go wrong with a Dragon Strand because of the quality frame and the design incorporating the Dragon Ledges. It is a complete game changer. I just wrote a two part blog post on my recent cage/enclosure upgrading experience yesterday night if you want more info, haha.

And almost most importantly, like @ERKleRose and others have mentioned, a linear T5 HO UVB bulb is a must. Lots of people have found that the CFLs don't have enough output and can lead to MBD. There are many options, and I still recommend the Arcadia brand, but please don't skimp on the T5HO aspect! 6% or 5.0 is ample UVB, you don't need the 12% or the 10.0 amount of UVB, those are more designed for other reptile animals and other setups.

To avoid repeating everything @ERKleRose has said, all of the other aspects mentioned about the husbandry and care of your chameleon are crucial to the health as well, so keep working on everything and keep making the improvements. The sooner, the better.

 

[dshuld]

I have to put a plug in and HIGHLY recommend a Dragon Strand enclosure when you upgrade! Seriously, the quality is unlike anything else on the market! I promise you can't go wrong with a Dragon Strand because of the quality frame and the design incorporating the Dragon Ledges. It is a complete game changer. I just wrote a two part blog post on my recent cage/enclosure upgrading experience yesterday night if you want more info, haha.

And almost most importantly, like @ERKleRose and others have mentioned, a linear T5 HO UVB bulb is a must. Lots of people have found that the CFLs don't have enough output and can lead to MBD. There are many options, and I still recommend the Arcadia brand, but please don't skimp on the T5HO aspect! 6% or 5.0 is ample UVB, you don't need the 12% or the 10.0 amount of UVB, those are more designed for other reptile animals and other setups.

To avoid repeating everything @ERKleRose has said, all of the other aspects mentioned about the husbandry and care of your chameleon are crucial to the health as well, so keep working on everything and keep making the improvements. The sooner, the better.

I will agree on the arcadia bulbs, I prefer them to reptisun. It's the dual and quad fixture themselves that are not worth the premium paid for them. Though, a 12%/ 10.0 is definitely usable in our application depending on height of the cage and how dense your plants are it may be needed to use the higher percentage.