which heat bulbs are beter??

jhernandez5701

jhernandez5701

Member
Im having truble finding the perfect heat bulb for my panther chameleon?! Hes always basking and looks kinda dark could it be hes not getting enough heat? Hes 9 1/2 months , and right now im using. A day/heat light 70wat. Should i switch? Help anybody thanks
 
Do you have a thermometer or temp gun so you know what the temps are where he's basking? That's the best way to know for sure.
 
Yes its at 80-85. But for some reason hes not as active like he usto be hes always basking he eats good drinks water its just hes always under the day/heat light
 
I have a 100w bulb in a glass enclosure. Highest temp I attain 8 inches from bulb is 85F

I've read on these forums the older like higher temps 90+
 
I am new to chameleon husbandry but just found out my screen cage setup was too cool. The room was cool and now there is a shower curtain wrapping the cage and a box on top to capture the heads a recirculating fan, which keeps him in the 70's, basking area in the mid 80's. When cooler he was not eating much, lethargic, I thought he was sick. I have a 150 watt basking bulb a ceramic heater, to keep his environment warm. He eats loads now, at least 8 large crickets a day.

One last thing, when my daughter takes him out to play, he turns bright colors and gets real happy. Could he be bored?

Forgot to mention the ceramic heater is on a thermostat set to 80 degrees, it is not on all the time.
 
Wat kinda of basking bulb due you use? Hes basking spot is always at 85. The botom of the cage humitity is arpund 75 80 and i also have a small heater that i leave on since its veen real cold thse past 2 months hes not as active or hungry as he usto be im not shure what the problem could be
 
As mentioned by Kiyonga, all you really need is a regular incandescent house bulb. I currently use a 60 watt bulb and have temperatures around 90-95 degrees. My guy does his basking for a few minutes before moving around the cage for a cooler spot, and then repeats. I almost never see him gaping, so I don't believe 90-95 is too hot for a panther chameleon as long as he can go else where in his cage to cool down. As for him not being as active, he is approximately around that age where they start to slow down a bit, at least it was the case for mine. Waldo is about 1 1/2 years old now.
 
I use a 25w halogen on a dimmer. They are a bit more expensive but they are more reliable, use less energy, and last FAR longer than regular house bulbs. I change mine out when I change my UVB every six months.
 
Is anyone here using the Exo Terra Sunray fixtures and bulbs? I have been for a little more than a year with no ill effects. It kills many birds with one stone. Anyone?
 
kinyonga said:
All I've used for basking lights for years a regular household incandescent light bulb of a wattage that creates the temperature you're looking for.
Click to expand...


I thought regular white incandescent bulbs can be bad on their eyes sometimes? I've been buying the Daylight Blue 60 watt bulbs for a while now as my heat bulbs.... WAS going to use regular house bulbs because they are cheaper, but I've read a few places that white standalone bulbs can be bad for their eyes and that's why they make the Daylight Blue bulbs or red/orange basking bulbs...

Lots and lots of people also recommend a tube UVB bulb instead of a single standalone UVB bulb because again, the standalone white light can (supposedly) be bad for their eyes.

So apparently there are mixed feelings on this topic, depending on who you talk to.... kinyonga, Decadancin, ChamDE86 ---- how long have you been using regular incandescent bulbs and have you ever experienced any sort of eye problems on a chameleon from using them? I'd feel so silly to think that instead of $6 a bulb, I could have been paying like $8 for 4 bulbs of the same strength this whole time :-(




speaking of standalone bulbs.... I was about to buy a new UVB tube lighting setup for my new 24 inch adult cage I'm about to get because I wanted to get away from the standalone Reptisun 5.0 bulb and lamp I've been using on my smaller cage...... can I just start using a standalone Reptisun 10.0 instead of the Reptisun 5.0 (since it's gonna be a bigger cage and requires more UVB to filter all the way through it), and keep it in the same light lamp fixture it is in? or is a tube light really that much better? I mean I understand a tube would be bigger and spread the UVB out a little more, but unless his cage is 4 feet wide (and it isn't), I'm pretty sure a Reptisun 10.0 bulb would cover 90% of the area of his adult cage I'm about to get. A 10.0 bulb pushes light twice as far as a 5.0 bulb.... so wouldn't a 10.0 BULB light work (pretty much just) as well as a 10.0 TUBE light?

I'm only asking because I'm trying to clarify if standalone bulbs are really that bad for them, or if that's just a gimmick by reptile companies to try to get you to buy the bigger more expensive tube lights..... the bulbs every 6 months would deff be a little more pricey on the TUBE-style UVB lighting.....

that and a regular lamp housing with a 10.0 bulb would take up less space that a 24-inch tube housing. because on top of the cage also needs to be room for a heat lamp as well as my dripper.

opinions? advice?
 
I've never heard of a regular incandescent bulb causing eye irritation. I think you are referring to the older UVB coiled bulbs that were causing eye problems a few years ago, but that issue has been fixed. the regular house bulb is used for basking and the linear tube style UVB light is used by the majority on this forum because it spreads the light around to a much wider area than the coiled ones. I also don't believe the 10.0 UVB tube will necessarily be brighter. The UVB output would be more, but the brightness is pretty much the same. With that being said, you can use a 10.0 UVB bulb with no issues as long as your cham has foilage to hide in. My current setup is a regular 60 watt house bulb and a 24 inch T5 HO with 6500k daylight and 6% Arcadia D3 linear bulb.
 
ChamDE86 said:
I've never heard of a regular incandescent bulb causing eye irritation. I think you are referring to the older UVB coiled bulbs that were causing eye problems a few years ago, but that issue has been fixed.
Click to expand...

I might be confusing the older-coiled style UVB with regular incandescent bulbs.... I thought BOTH were bad but I guess I'm mistaken?

ChamDE86 said:
The UVB output would be more, but the brightness is pretty much the same. With that being said, you can use a 10.0 UVB bulb with no issues as long as your cham has foilage to hide in.
Click to expand...

wouldn't I want the 10.0 bulbs for a bigger cage though, regardless if it was a regular bulb or a linear? because 10.0 would push more UVB down into the cage..... A Reptisun 5.0 bulb in a 48+ inch tall cage, even if linear, wouldn't push UVB probably even halfway down would it?
 
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As far as I know, the regular incandescent bulbs are just that. No eye issues as they are used for basking and aren't very bright (purpose is to produce heat). They are ridiculously cheap nowadays since everything is LED made, so you'll pay close to nothing for them. As for deciding between 10.0 and 5.0., you don't necessarily need the UVB to penetrate half way down the cage. Set up his basking area and he'll receive the UVB at the same time. He still needs to be able to get away from the UVB light, so you'll be fine.
 
Here's my setup. I know it can be expensive, but I would really recommend getting a T5 HO setup vs the T8 if you're going linear style. My T5 with the 6500k daylight bulb and Arcadia D3 6% UVB brightens up the cage so much more than my old T8 with Repti-sun 5.0.
 

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ChamDE86 said:
Here's my setup. I know it can be expensive, but I would really recommend getting a T5 HO setup vs the T8 if you're going linear style. My T5 with the 6500k daylight bulb and Arcadia D3 6% UVB brightens up the cage so much more than my old T8 with Repti-sun 5.0.
Click to expand...


digging the wooden ladder type things in the one pic. where did you find those neat little additions?
 
jhernandez5701 said:
Yes its at 80-85. But for some reason hes not as active like he usto be hes always basking he eats good drinks water its just hes always under the day/heat light
Click to expand...
Now that it's cooler outside, is it cooler in your house? Is your ambient temperature lower than it used to be?
 
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