NEW SETUP, WOULD LOVE ANY ADVICE

[JIFFYPOP]

Long story short had a veiled chameleon years ago, lil guy grew to the age of 7. I'm now getting back into chameleons, have a 3 1/2 month old Nosy Mitsio. Lil guy is an eating machine. Just want any advice on my setup. Its bioactive, metal halide lighting, with a separate basking lamp on the side, temps are about 86 at basking spots, 77 lower in foliage. Temps drop to about 70 at night. 12 hour light cycle, mist the whole viv. by hand (for now) twice a day. Hes fed from a container, and has really taking to it, first thing in the morning hes maikng sure I fed him lol. If anyone has any advice on bioactive, and metal halides please let me know. Thanks alot everyone
Pics of viv. are below.

 

[jamest0o0]

What are you using as substrate? That looks like hydroton balls....? As for the metal halide, @iMi this is your specialty isn't it?

 

[JIFFYPOP]

ya hyrdo balls the plants are actually suck in to the bottom board, so they hang below. bottom is wrapped in plastic to control moister. have more pics if your interested

 

[JIFFYPOP]

and yes, have some what of a green thumb, lol

 

[iMi]

What specifically would you like to know about metal halide?

 

[iMi]

ya hyrdo balls the plants are actually suck in to the bottom board, so they hang below. bottom is wrapped in plastic to control moister. have more pics if your interested

Hydroballs would be a good drainage layer for a bioactive setup. Using them on their own like this may be a problem, if they are small enough for the chameleon to swallow. Major risk for impaction.

 

[JIFFYPOP]

hydro balls i hear ya, was more worried used to use reptibark because heard bad things bout them, so if you help me out. metal halides just heard about UVC from my petstore, shuld i be worried, cause i did this befor, and he seemed to love the natural light. Im using a 250 metal halide, bout 3 inches above of viv. basking temps are perfect do you feel they safe and thanks for the help

 

[JIFFYPOP]

I also have coco husk here. What are your thoughts on that?

 

[Goose502]

If you could please take more pics of the substrate and the tray. What you are doing is not bioactive, hydroponic maybe. Oh, and what brand of light are you referring to?

 

[Kaizen]

The brand and type of mh light would be helpful. 250 watts sounds like a lot of punch, but if your temps are right, then awesome. If your using a standard mh, please keep in mind that, other than halide quartz enclosed (hqi) most halides employ a glass enclosed bulb. Though a small amount of uvb will make it through, it won’t be much, less than direct sun through a window. Personally, all the reptile specific mh I’ve seen are in the 80-100 watt range. If you’re using mh, then I’m sure you know all this...just my 2 cents worth. Beautiful day closure !

 

[Kaizen]

Further to my last,

While the basking areas temps might be perfect, try touching the screen just below the bulb. I don’t know if any halide that won’t get metal scalding hot at a distance of 2-3”.

 

[iMi]

Share as much detail on the light as possible. 250W does not sound like a modern reptilian option. Bioactive setup involves a lot more. We can point in the right direction, but let's address one thing at a time. Although the substrate could be a more pressing issue right now.

 

[JIFFYPOP]

K , so what are you thinin for subtrate, im all ears, really appreciate it eh

 

[jamest0o0]

Soil and leaf litter might be a good start

 

[Kaizen]

I’m sorry, but I can’t offer any advise on the substrate other than the common sense idea that anything that a tongue might accidentally tag and cause issues seems risky. Sorry I couldn’t be more help here.

 

[Goose502]

K , so what are you thinin for subtrate, im all ears, really appreciate it eh

Let’s see pics of your substrate tray(bottom of the enclosure). You may be restricted by depth, this would keep you from using the bioactive technique.

 

[JIFFYPOP]

the way the planting system works, No hydroponics, just soil in the planters under the hydroballs

 

[JIFFYPOP]

He only cup feeds. The balls are pretty big, heavy and hard too, for him was my assumption.
His cup is hug 3' up off a branch too so he never goes to bottom of cage. Just wondering what other people use for substrate.

 

[JIFFYPOP]

My light is on a digital ballast. it can convert up to 400 watts, or 400 superlumens. Do you think thats what I need?

 

[Kaizen]

What brand of light is it? Is it for plant growth, or reptiles? Even the high kelvin reef bulbs that produce light in the 20,000 kelvin range produce little if any usable uvb. It’s not the wattage of the bulb, or whether the ballast is a solistek, lumatek, badass or anything else. If the sleeve surrounding the probe and light assembly ( the glass around the part that actually lights up) is made of anything but quartz, or a high uv transmitting plastic such as some acrylics, then the bulb won’t be producing sufficient uvb. I know you must have some $ invested in your bulb and ballast, but do you have a uv meter? I too have used mh for my indoor bonsai collection; mine were 1000 watt, 7200kelvin, on light movers. Even then, the amount of uvb produced was next to nothing.