Lighting on 48" Tall Panther Chameleon Cage

[ChameleonBoss]

What Kind of Lights should I use? what do you have for your cages, with live plants?

 

[ConFamChameleon]

Hi ChameleonBoss, I am somewhat of the same situation you are in now. I have a 36" tall exo terra terrarium. We have the full canopy hood with 4 compact fl bulbs (2 X Exo Terra Repti-Glo 5.0 and 2 X Exo Terra Repti-Glo 2.0 Compact Fluorescent Full Spectrum). We have a potted hibiscus plant and we are seeing that the plant is not doing very well so far. We also have some smaller vine and fern plants on the bottom and those seem to be doing ok. What kind of plants do you have in there? As far as our setup providing enough light to light the terrarium and also enough uvb light for our cham that part is good and the bulbs we have work well. We are considering moving to the slimline bulbs though.

 

[camimom]

You shouldn't be using 4 UVB Bulbs.

You only need one UVB bulb, Get a reptisun or Reptiglo tube bulb.

then get 1-2 regular house bulbs for basking.

If you have plants that aren't doing well... get some 6500 grow lights from a hardware store.

 

[Olimpia]

I'll tell you what I'm using, and why.

I have 4' tall cages as well, with very large pothos plants in each cage. The room they are in wasn't particularly bright so I needed chameleon-specific lights and then others to keep the plants healthy and add light to the whole set-up. I chose the 10.0 over a 5.0 because the UVB output was way better, but still mild.

So I had, on each cage:
1 x normal halogen bulb (40w-60w) (You can use a household incandescent too)
1 x Reptisun 10.0 for UVB
1 x 5000k daylight fluorescent bulb (from Home Depot/Lowe's)

So I had the a dome for the heat light and then a double lineal fluorescent fixture for the other two bulbs.

 

[ChameleonBoss]

I'll tell you what I'm using, and why.

I have 4' tall cages as well, with very large pothos plants in each cage. The room they are in wasn't particularly bright so I needed chameleon-specific lights and then others to keep the plants healthy and add light to the whole set-up. I chose the 10.0 over a 5.0 because the UVB output was way better, but still mild.

So I had, on each cage:
1 x normal halogen bulb (40w-60w) (You can use a household incandescent too)
1 x Reptisun 10.0 for UVB
1 x 5000k daylight fluorescent bulb (from Home Depot/Lowe's)

So I had the a dome for the heat light and then a double lineal fluorescent fixture for the other two bulbs.

Ok, so I'm pretty new to this still in the process of setting it up. The Reptisun 10.0 for UVB is the heat source for the Chameleon.

What is the Halogen bulb and 5000k daylight for? the plant?

Which are housed together? the halogen and the 5000k? and then the Reptisun 10.0 is on its own?



Thanks for the advice just trying to set this thing up right the first time.

Also, you have an excellent blog, already soaking up all the info, thanks.

 

[Snootchie0210]

The UVB and the 5000k daylight bulbs are probably housed together and the normal halogen bulb on a heat dome.

UVB is for the chameleon (should be replaced every 6 months).
5000k daylight bulb for the plant.
Normal halogen bulb is the heat source.

All should be on the same timer. No light source at night.

 

[Olimpia]

Ok, so I'm pretty new to this still in the process of setting it up. The Reptisun 10.0 for UVB is the heat source for the Chameleon.

What is the Halogen bulb and 5000k daylight for? the plant?

Which are housed together? the halogen and the 5000k? and then the Reptisun 10.0 is on its own?



Thanks for the advice just trying to set this thing up right the first time.

Also, you have an excellent blog, already soaking up all the info, thanks.

Thank you!

The halogen (or a normal household incandescent bulb) is for heat. You don't need a fancy heat bulb from a pet store, as all you need is a bulb that produces mild heat. Usually a 40-75w is enough, depending on what basking spot temperature you need.

The UVB bulb is the Reptisun 10.0, which only radiates UVB light, but no heat.

And the 5000k is just a bright white fluorescent tube, which I buy from Home Depot for a few dollars, and it adds a lot of brightness to the cage,helps the plants thrive, and adds (almost) no heat. This and the UVB bulb are together in their own double linear tube fixture. Which I also find at Home Depot for relatively little money.

 

[ChameleonBoss]

The UVB and the 5000k daylight bulbs are probably housed together and the normal halogen bulb on a heat dome.

UVB is for the chameleon (should be replaced every 6 months).
5000k daylight bulb for the plant.
Normal halogen bulb is the heat source.

All should be on the same timer. No light source at night.

Thanks for breaking it down for me. Just getting started and I know some of these questions sound dumb, but I'm learning little by little.

Thank you!

The halogen (or a normal household incandescent bulb) is for heat. You don't need a fancy heat bulb from a pet store, as all you need is a bulb that produces mild heat. Usually a 40-75w is enough, depending on what basking spot temperature you need.

The UVB bulb is the Reptisun 10.0, which only radiates UVB light, but no heat.

And the 5000k is just a bright white fluorescent tube, which I buy from Home Depot for a few dollars, and it adds a lot of brightness to the cage,helps the plants thrive, and adds (almost) no heat. This and the UVB bulb are together in their own double linear tube fixture. Which I also find at Home Depot for relatively little money.

What do you think if I used a Zoo Med 18" hood that has both a spot for a heat bulb 60 watt and a single compact UVB bulb?

I'm having the cage by a window so I think I got enough natural light.

 

[Olimpia]

What do you think if I used a Zoo Med 18" hood that has both a spot for a heat bulb 60 watt and a single compact UVB bulb?

I'm having the cage by a window so I think I got enough natural light.

Hey, no dumb questions! Everyone has to start somewhere, and we were all in your shoes once.

That's ok. I'm a fan of the linear fluorescent bulbs for UVB, though, because they give you the benefit of spreading it out over the entire top of the cage. This is good because if you have the basking light on one side, the chameleon can choose between heat and UV or to get out from under the heat and just bask in UV.

 

[dacrazycanadian]

I also have a hibiscus and its losing the lower leaves because I don't have enough light reaching the bottom. It's growing a lot under my 60w incandescent basking bulb though. Not as well under my 5.0 uvb and 18" full spectrum bulb. Also I have my plant/cage next to the west window. I believe they get the most light at the south windows.

A hibiscus needs about 24,000 lumens...which is a lot of light and my vines going across the cage affect much of this light therefore effecting the plant. So as a heads up, if using live plants look into what it takes for each one to survive. A lot of people on here use pothos or umbrella plants.

 

[Olimpia]

Yea, hibiscus plants are terrible for indoors. It's hard to keep them alive, much less to get them flowering.

Great, easy indoor plants are pothos, umbrella plants, and ficus. They don't need too much light and do well under chameleon cage conditions.

 

[courtney22]

I'll tell you what I'm using, and why.

I have 4' tall cages as well, with very large pothos plants in each cage. The room they are in wasn't particularly bright so I needed chameleon-specific lights and then others to keep the plants healthy and add light to the whole set-up. I chose the 10.0 over a 5.0 because the UVB output was way better, but still mild.

So I had, on each cage:
1 x normal halogen bulb (40w-60w) (You can use a household incandescent too)
1 x Reptisun 10.0 for UVB
1 x 5000k daylight fluorescent bulb (from Home Depot/Lowe's)

So I had the a dome for the heat light and then a double lineal fluorescent fixture for the other two bulbs.

Do you have a photo or a link of what 5000k light you use? My umbrella tree loves the light up top but under the canopy is thinning out cause the canopy of my umbrella tree takes up most of the light already. So would like to add some more light to it.

 

[Olimpia]

Do you have a photo or a link of what 5000k light you use? My umbrella tree loves the light up top but under the canopy is thinning out cause the canopy of my umbrella tree takes up most of the light already. So would like to add some more light to it.

I think it's this one: http://www.lowes.com/pd_133047-371-89069_0__?productId=3063317&Ntt=5000k+fluorescent

I use the 48" long bulbs so they go over 2 cages at once, but know that they come in 18-24" too. The "5,000 k" is just light temperature, you'll notice that the brighter these bulbs get the higher this number is. These are typically in the section that sells the "bright white" bulbs, and they go up all the way to 6,500-6,800k. Any one of them is great, I just like the color of the 5,000, it's white but it's not leaning towards nuclear, almost-blue white.

 

[courtney22]

I think it's this one: http://www.lowes.com/pd_133047-371-89069_0__?productId=3063317&Ntt=5000k+fluorescent

I use the 48" long bulbs so they go over 2 cages at once, but know that they come in 18-24" too. The "5,000 k" is just light temperature, you'll notice that the brighter these bulbs get the higher this number is. These are typically in the section that sells the "bright white" bulbs, and they go up all the way to 6,500-6,800k. Any one of them is great, I just like the color of the 5,000, it's white but it's not leaning towards nuclear, almost-blue white.

Will this bulb work for a grow light for my umbrella tree?


http://www.lowes.com/pd_346996-7577...RL=?Ntt=utilitech+natural+daylight&facetInfo=

 

[Mike Fisher]

I think it's this one: http://www.lowes.com/pd_133047-371-89069_0__?productId=3063317&Ntt=5000k+fluorescent

Any one of them is great, I just like the color of the 5,000, it's white but it's not leaning towards nuclear, almost-blue white.

I've always liked the 6500's on my cages. Blue white is nice. The photo in my avatar was taken under one. My montane chameleons always seem happier under them.