No basking bulb

JackRipper

JackRipper

Avid Member
I've seen a few of the linear florescent lighting set ups which inspired (encouraged) me to think outside of the box I learned in so I'm trying only led grow lights for the rest of the winter unless I see signs of cold chams. So far it's brighter and about 10° cooler in the highest basking area from 90 to 80-82° and they seem to love it. I'm using 2 different lights one full spectrum led and the other 1200 lumens cool white energy bs led. I'm excited to see how the ficus trees react, so far the lizards are loving it and are super bright green. Prior to the switch I noticed alot of venting while basking in 85-90° im thinking the cooler nights have acclimated them to cooler winter temps. Veileds are fairly hardy when it comes to the more extreme highs and lows so I'm not to worried about them getting cold (I keep the heat set to 65° at night and first thing in the morning It bumps up to 73° so far the signals I'm picking up on say they are happy with the change. I started this thread for advice on or experience with no basking bulb. The full spec led does put off some heat the chams preferred basking under it prior to the swap out and still go to it now that's it's the warmer of the two. Ofcourse I'm still running my uvb florescent. The LEDs I'm using are 15 and 24 dollar lights the highest lumen output I could find locally. Online I've seen a few fair priced led bulbs that are very high lumen but ide be worried about blinding my chams. Does anyone know the safe max lumen for a veiled?
 

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No idea what the max lumens would be (@dshuld? How bright is too bright?), but I have my veiled under ~20k lumens. I don't run a basking fixture for her enclosure, as the quantum boards keep her at a perfect 82F at her highest perches, and she's happy as a clam.

Keep in mind that lumens just refer to the "brightness", and higher lumens aren't necessarily better for plant growth or anything. What you want to look for in terms of plants is PAR, from my understanding. I'm no expert, though. Dshuld did the thinking for me re: my lighting in my ExoTerra. I just did what he said, essentially :LOL:
 
I'm interested in hearing how this goes! I have a young jacksons, and leaving the basking light on for 12 hours a day makes it overheat (even though the temps never go above 81), so I have been switching it off during the day when the mister goes off to let the cage and bulb cool down. My cham seems happy with this arrangement.

The only thing I have wondered about in regards to ditching the heat lamp altogether is the loss of the gradient. Without the basking light, my cage is all within 5 degrees (it's a 16 x 16 x 30 for now, I'm looking for a deal on a larger one). This limits my chams ability to self regulate and is essentially at my ambient room temp's mercy, which I dont really like. So for now I keep switching the basking light on and off throughout the day with a timer to try to compromise both needs.
 
@StephDay I've always done the same exact thing and had the same concerns . If they show the slightest sign of to cold I'll switch back I'm hoping it works out so I can get these ficuses to canopy
 
I don't use a basking bulb, but that is for parson's which aren't really into basking as it is. I also did this for female panther because my grow light kept the temp right around 80-82 at the top. If temps are right, I see no reason to have a basking area.
 
I don’t have basking lamps on my three veiled enclosures, but of course, they are in the greenhouse. That being said, here’s the only thing to think about: if they get chilly, they might be inclined to get as close as they can to the uvb bulbs in the morning to warm up. They might even hang upside down under them, and even with a 5.0 or 6%, you’re looking at uvi 10+ at less than an inch away. That’s a sunburn forsure. So, By all means, give it a go, but make sure your chams don’t put themselves in an spf 70 situation.
 
JackRipper said:
@GoodKarma19 Wow That's awesome, is it a glass or screen enclosure ? It may have been yours that i seen in another thread. Any chance you could post a pic :)
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It's a 36x18x36 ExoTerra glass, though I dropped a door so I ended up replacing the front with the screen panel haha! You've probably seen it; I feel like I've been jumping at any chance to thrust it people. I have very little shame. :p

The HLG 65 quantum boards are suspended 8" off the top screen.

252678
 
Lol I'm glad I asked it's beautiful, wonderful craft, its show quality. I zoomed and scaned but diddnt find a cham do you keep a Veiled or panther in There.
 
JackRipper said:
Lol I'm glad I asked it's beautiful, wonderful craft, its show quality. I zoomed and scaned but diddnt find a cham do you keep a Veiled or panther in There.
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Thank you! :D It's my baby, and I obsessively fuss with the plants at least once or twice a week. More often now that I introduced a couple jewel orchids, and I'm determined to keep them happy haha! Still debating the merits of swapping the Meyer's lemon with a hibiscus, since the hibiscus would love the high light and high moisture more.

I keep a 3 month old female high translucent veiled chameleon in this viv.

252685
 

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Ahh yes I recognize her. Although I'm still on the fence with the breeding of transluscents I really do like the pibald black and white on your girl and she looks very healthy.
 
JackRipper said:
Ahh yes I recognize her. Although I'm still on the fence with the breeding of transluscents I really do like the pibald black and white on your girl and she looks very healthy.
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The trick is responsible breeding and introducing diverse genetics. Since the translucent gene came from such a small pool, a lot of these guys are at least distantly related and sticking to strict translucent/translucent pairings could definitely become a trainwreck. Kismet's sire is a high white translucent, but her dam doesn't carry the gene. My plan, should I pursue it, will be to breed Kismet to a "normal" male, hold back a couple promising high white/black translucent babies, and then breed that generation to an unrelated translucent.

But I digress! I'm very keen on the subject right now haha! Thank you- Kismet is a little love, and healthy as a tiny horse. :)
 
GoodKarma19 said:
The trick is responsible breeding and introducing diverse genetics. Since the translucent gene came from such a small pool, a lot of these guys are at least distantly related and sticking to strict translucent/translucent pairings could definitely become a trainwreck. Kismet's sire is a high white translucent, but her dam doesn't carry the gene. My plan, should I pursue it, will be to breed Kismet to a "normal" male, hold back a couple promising high white/black translucent babies, and then breed that generation to an unrelated translucent.

But I digress! I'm very keen on the subject right now haha! Thank you- Kismet is a little love, and healthy as a tiny horse. :)
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If anyone is to carry on the breed I hope it's you or someone as knowledgeable and passionate. :)
 
Oops, double post! Internet here is funny.

On topic, if you're hitting the right temperatures and you have at least some gradient, I don't see why you'd strictly need a separate basking fixture.
 
GoodKarma19 said:
No idea what the max lumens would be (@dshuld? How bright is too bright?), but I have my veiled under ~20k lumens. I don't run a basking fixture for her enclosure, as the quantum boards keep her at a perfect 82F at her highest perches, and she's happy as a clam.

Keep in mind that lumens just refer to the "brightness", and higher lumens aren't necessarily better for plant growth or anything. What you want to look for in terms of plants is PAR, from my understanding. I'm no expert, though. Dshuld did the thinking for me re: my lighting in my ExoTerra. I just did what he said, essentially :LOL:
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Though not a direct answer, the sun puts out approximately 11,793 lumens per square foot (900-1500 micromoles par) on a perpendicular surface. Sorry for the delay, I've been under the weather the last few days.
 
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