10.0 or 5.0 uvb for veiled chameleon?

TSW

New Member
Hi everyone,

Ive seen alot of people say different things regarding uvb lighting. I have a 10.0 reptisun T5 tube currently but ive seen a couple of people say that my be too strong?



Your Chameleon - 4 month old, Male Veiled/Yemen. Had him since 23/04/2020

Handling - haven't handled him at all as he is very nervous

Feeding - around 10 small silent crickets a day with a dusting of calcium. Crickets are gut loaded with orange, lettuce, carrot peel and kale.

Supplements - ProRep Calci dust (no D3) Exo terra calci dust (with D3) Exo terra Multi vitamin. calci dust every day, multivits and D3 twice a month.

Watering - Exo terra dripping plant, Spray bottle for manual misting 3 - 4 times a day to keep humidity up.

Fecal Description - normal

History - other than he came from blackpool reptiles, not alot of history

Cage Type - Screen terrarium 60 x 45 x 90

Lighting - Exo terra daylight basking spot on all day, Zoo med reptisun 10.0 T5 UVB tube.

Temperature - temps are measured with exo terra digital thermometers. Bottom temp: 21⁰c, Basking temp: 29⁰c, at night it get down to 18⁰c - 19⁰c ish

Humidity - humidity is around 50% and i use an exo terra digital hygrometer

Plants - Devils Ivy/Golden Pothos, hibiscus, and Yucca

Placement - in a bedroom not near any foot traffic. Cage bottom sits 40cm off the floor. No fan nearby.

Location - Cambridgeshire, United kingdom
 

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T5HO 5.0 if you have a 3-4ft tank, as it puts usable UVB to mid tank.

T5HO 10.0 if you have a 5-6ft tank or taller, as it puts usable UVB to mid tank.

The only reason to put a 10.0 in a 3-4ft tank, is if; you have a meter, you have a quad with a mono reflector so your UVB output is reduced by half, you have so much foliage that it looks like you have a "pet tree".

But without a meter, you have no way to tell if you have .5 UVI (the min needed with d3 every 2 weeks, the industry has been using that successfully for 30 years) or if you are running 4-5 uvi at the cham hangout zone, which is way to high for daily life and will cause edema if you are also doing d3 supplement.
 
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Would you be opposed to removing it? Reptile carpet is REALLY hard to be keep sanitary once a chameleon poops on it. There are little poop particles that will be left behind and will grow bacteria. It's usually recommended to keep the bottom bare with just plant pots or go full bioactive.
 
T5HO 5.0 if you have a 3-4ft tank, as it puts usable UVB to mid tank.

T5HO 10.0 if you have a 5-6ft tank or taller, as it puts usable UVB to mid tank.

The only reason to put a 10.0 in a 3-4ft tank, is if; you have a meter, you have a quad with a mono reflector so your UVB output is reduced by half, you have so much foliage that it looks like you have a "pet tree".

But without a meter, you have no way to tell if you have .5 UVI (the min needed with d3 every 2 weeks, the industry has been using that successfully for 30 years) or if you are running 4-5 uvi at the cham hangout zone, which is way to high for daily life and will cause edema if you are also doing d3 supplement.
Any recommendations on a solar meter? Tricks to get them for less than $200?
 
You’ll want the Solarmeter 6.5. No difference between the 6.5 and 6.5r except the r one is green with a picture of a reptile on it.

Look for the sales on Amazon. I think they’re going for around $190 right now. Maybe see if you can buy one used? I don’t see that happening very often.
 
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