Brody did answer you. The size of the cage is not affecting his ability to eat. They hunt their food down in the wild just fine. It's more possible that you're just not seeing him eat because he has more space to hunt now.
Well he’s been in his new cage for less than a day. The lighting worked fine in his much smaller cage and did not affect his eating so I doubt lighting was the issue. He’s in my office and I work from home. So his cage is right next to my desk and I watched him all day long since 6:30 this morning and did not see him eat a single thing. But we shall see how he does in the next few days with the two UVB lamps. If there is no improvement then what? Put him back in his smaller cage?
In the larger cage he is getting even less UVB than before, plus his lack of UVB that he was getting before can take awhile to manifest in to behavioral issues. So yes, it could be an issue with the lighting. I dont think you understand that appropriate lighting is one of the most important factors in chameleon husbandry.
My apologies ma'am. I just didn't know if you saw it or not. Please do not get frustrated with me.
No one is faulting you? We are telling you what you need to succeed with your cham. However, a quick search online would have shown you that the lighting you were using was insufficient. Unless you specifically went to an exotic reptile store, I can promise you the pet store you went to has no business giving information on reptiles. Hell, if you did go to an exotic reptile store they have no business even being I'm business. But at the end of the day their responsibility is not to you as a keeper, it is to their bottom line and the corporate sales goals set before them. It is your responsibility to educate yourself in the best ways possible for how to care for the living things that you took responsibility for. That doesnt mean taking the word of someone with a blue vest and a name tag.
Sorry.. it seemed like you were being sarcastic.
Sometimes I can be and I can understand how it appeared to be so. In this case however I was not. Apology accepted. We only want what's best for your chameleon I promise you this.
Well I’ve done a lot of research and looking at other chameleon blogs. There is one in particular that says you don’t have to use a reptile heating bulb and that an incandescent bulb will work. I’m actually skeptical about that one.
This is also true. I use Phillips plant light bulbs from Lowes for my Panthers
Ok. Since I actually need a plant light bulb, I can also use this for a heating source?
Yes. This is true. "Reptile heating bulb" is just a fancy way of saying "over priced light bulb". Its exactly what I was saying before. The pet store trying to meet their bottom line.
I would suggest getting a dual hood for your uvb that you can then put a bulb for your plants in.
Perfectly fine. Some plants may require more light however. A lot of Chameleon Keepers here use dual or quad T5HO light fixtures and put 2 uvb bulbs in and 2 plant 6500k bulbs in or 1 and 1.
I think she has the cage next to a window with natural light. Would that be ok too? Just wondering...
Well I have that dual ZooMed lamp that I am currently using for the UVB and heat lamp. Since I am getting the T5HO to run the length of the top of my cage, couldn’t I just put a plant bulb in the ZooMed lamp in place of the UVB? I also want to make sure my plants don’t die.
