Terrarium heat up time.....

[DCZ]

Hi everyone.

First post for me on here. I'm hoping to purchase my first Chamleon in the near future, a male panther to be exact. I have been doing thorough research for the past few months and my terrarium is nearly ready go in anticipation of my panthers arrival. I'm pretty certian i'm a good place with my set up, I have a 90cm x 90cm x 45cm Exo Terra terrarium complete with non-toxic live plants, plenty of climbing branches, an Arcadia 6% UVB lamp and a 100w basking bulb. I'm also execting a delivery of a dimming thermostat in the next couple of days.

My main quesion is around the amount of time it should take my enclosure to heat up once the basking bulb is turned on in the morning. I am achieving the correct graident and basking spot tempratures but only after a few hours of my 100w bulb being turned on...... FYI I am based in the UK.

Any advice would be greatly apprecieated as I want ensure everything in the enclosure is perfect before I look to actaully purchase my Chameleon.

Thank you!

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

My main quesion is around the amount of time it should take my enclosure to heat up once the basking bulb is turned on in the morning. I am achieving the correct graident and basking spot tempratures but only after a few hours of my 100w bulb being turned on...... FYI I am based in the UK.

This is going to depend on pretty much the same variables as determining the best wattage, distance and angle of the basking bulb.

Looking at daily (hourly) temperatures in Ambilobe (for example) it appears that it may take up to 2 hrs. between sunrise and basking temp. (this time of year—Southern Hemisphere), but then the temp continues to rise beyond that, when chameleons would likely seek out some shade.

My enclosure takes about an hour to warm up to basking, but some areas warm up faster/slower than others.

Several hours seems a bit long to me; others may have different opinions/experience.

 

[DCZ]

Thanks, I think I’m going to try a 150W bulb with the dimming thermostat and control the power output to see if that speeds up the basking temp

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Have you tried adjusting the distances & angles?

 

[DCZ]

My basking lamp is already sitting right on the mesh at the top of the enclosure so I don’t really have any options in terms of distance. I’m guessing that if I’m successful with the 150W bulb I can jump back down to 100W when we move into the warmer months here.

 

[Flick boy]

Hi with a 150 right on top of your enclosure unless your branches are way down your are most likely going to fry your chameleon ( depending on the type of your bulb ) the only way for sure is try different wattage of bulbs, distance and so on . I have a 75 watt arcadia halogen but I have it on exoterra light bracket so I don't really change my bulb just move it up and accordingly

 

[kinyonga]

I recommend you test the basking light to make sure it won't burn your chameleon. Hold your hand inside the cage at the closest spot to the light (tight against the screen lid) palm side down ...if you want to move your hand it's going to burn your chameleon.

 

[DaveF]

I've just got rid of my dimming thermostat and I now use a 50w arcadia halogen bulb about 8 9" away from basking branch gives me 29 degrees igs best to buy a few bulbs of different w and work out wich 1 is best 150w will be way to high u less u have it raised about 2 ft above your enclosure I'd say i would invest in a adjustable clamp of some sort dont cost much

 

[CasqueAbove]

So don't think about warming up the enclosure. That is not the goal here. You are providing a warming spot aka basking spot. He/she will warm up here and them move throughout the enclosure. They won't instantly loose heat. It is a slow process. They warm up to sat 80f then roam a cage at 72f. It takes them time to cool to a point to want to warm again. This is the reason for only having basking on for an hour or so in the morning and night. This allows for their natural process. They will sit for a bit and warm to desired temp, then go to roam around, we don't want a warm cage here. They will cool and look for basking again.
So we are not warming the cage, but the animal.
Now I know you said you are in UK. If your house ambient is below 22-23c , I would set up basking as mentioned. I would run a second "warming bulb" either low wattage, or what I am doing nor for one room is have a larger heat bulb hanging well above enclosure so as to create an even warmth.