Chameleons, and ubv meter

[Sailouchai]

Hey, I’ve been working on my enclosure for the past 3 weeks now and im almost done so I started searching for chameleon stores and I just wanted to know if you guys have any suggestions (Im in florida) It can be an online shop or physical shop either its fine and when it comes to ubv meter I got a 12% arcadia 36” because its like 8” above the cage and I checked with UBV Sensor card that turns purple and It seems to be okay but I dont really want to rely on it so can you guys suggest me a good ubv meter?

 

[Sailouchai]

Im searching for panther chameleons specifically

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

I think there is some confusion. What you have is a 12% UVB light. All the cards will tell you is whether it's giving off UVB or not, but they won't tell you the strength or how far away to situate the basking site. For that, you would need a UVB meter, such as a Solarmeter 6.5 or DIY equivalent.

There are several panther chameleon breeders who are sponsors of this site, plus there are some members who breed panther chameleons; you can find them in the classified forum.

 

[Sailouchai]

I think there is some confusion. What you have is a 12% UVB light. All the cards will tell you is whether it's giving off UVB or not, but they won't tell you the strength or how far away to situate the basking site. For that, you would need a UVB meter, such as a Solarmeter 6.5 or DIY equivalent.

There are several panther chameleon breeders who are sponsors of this site, plus there are some members who breed panther chameleons; you can find them in the classified forum.

Wouldnt this one say the intensity of the light?

 

[Sailouchai]

And ive been searching for other meters (cheaper ones than the solameter) and they usually say that they are not for reptile enclosures so the only option that ive found are the cards and the solarmeter

 

[Thompson]

Yea you’re gonna have to spend that couple hundred for a good and dependable reptile uvb meter. The solarmeter 6.5 is gonna tell u whether or not your branches are being placed at the right distances from the bulb so that you can get them the d3 they need, via the lamp, w/o exposing them to high and unhealthy amounts of uvb radiation.

 

[Sailouchai]

Yea you’re gonna have to spend that couple hundred for a good and dependable reptile uvb meter. The solarmeter 6.5 is gonna tell u whether or not your branches are being placed at the right distances from the bulb so that you can get them the d3 they need, via the lamp, w/o exposing them to high and unhealthy amounts of uvb

Oh okay then ill order it

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Solarmeter or building one are the only options I'm aware of at the moment.
The cards don't tell you anything useful. What do "Extremely Strong" and "Medium" mean?
A Solarmeter will tell you exactly what radiation is measured in any particular spot.

You can try to estimate distance from lamp to basking site, but that's a guesstimate at best, and can involve some variables, e.g. reflector or not, type of reflector, type of screen between lamp and basking site, age, type (T8 or T5), & strength (%) of bulb.

 

[Sailouchai]

Solarmeter or building one are the only options I'm aware of at the moment.
The cards don't tell you anything useful. What do "Extremely Strong" and "Medium" mean?
A Solarmeter will tell you exactly what radiation is measured in any particular spot.

You can try to estimate distance from lamp to basking site, but that's a guesstimate at best, and can involve some variables, e.g. reflector or not, type of reflector, type of screen between lamp and basking site, age, type (T8 or T5), & strength (%) of bulb.

Its fine ill get the solarmeter I really want my chameleon to be okay I just wanted to make sure that there were no cheaper options, and I just checked all the sponsor breeders sadly there are no Nosy Be panther chameleons availables time to join the waiting list but thank you very much

 

[Beman]

Your looking for a 3 UVI level for exposure. Buy the solarmeter 6.5.

 

[Sailouchai]

Your looking for a 3 UVI level for exposure. Buy the solarmeter 6.5.

So on the solarmeter 6.5 Im looking for 3.0 or 0.3?

 

[Beman]

So on the solarmeter 6.5 Im looking for 3.0 or 0.3?

When using the solarmeter 6.5 it will give you a range. You want the display to say 3.0 at the basking branch. 3-4 range is where they should be not any higher.

When using a single bulb T5HO fixture with reflector and a 12% bulb your distance to the basking branch would need to be 11-12 inches to be within those levels. Reflector type matters. Crappy reflector and it does not push it as far down.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

T5 fluorescent UVB bulbs have a burn-in period when brand-new, when they may put out higher UVI numbers. This burn-in period usually lasts for between 50-100 hours, after which the UVI will level out for about a year, and then slowly begin to decrease as the bulb ages.

The result is that you may have to adjust the distance between the bulb and the basking site during & following burn-in. (It's not a big deal if you know to expect it.) Some folks choose to "burn-in" their bulbs before putting them into service.

I use a little trick to extend the life of my UVB bulbs up to an additional 2 months or so. As the Sun rises & sets, the atmosphere that UVB light must penetrate is much thicker (about 3X) at Sunup & Sundown than when overhead, and very little/no UVB gets through anyway.

So, while it is recommended to run enclosure lights 12 hrs on/12 hrs off, I turn my UVB on an hour later, and turn it off an hour earlier (10 hrs). My plant lights stay on the full 12 hours, as less can affect some plants natural cycles. My basking light stays on for 12 hrs unless the ambient temperature at the basking site rises to or above the target basking temperature, in which case it turns off.

 

[dinomom]

Its fine ill get the solarmeter I really want my chameleon to be okay I just wanted to make sure that there were no cheaper options, and I just checked all the sponsor breeders sadly there are no Nosy Be panther chameleons availables time to join the waiting list but thank you very much

It will be worth it. You will be surprised how often you go back to it if you move a plant or rearrange lights etc so it is a lifetime investment.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Meters also make economic sense, not replacing bulbs prematurely. T5s are rated for 1 yr., but I have one that's 18+ months and still going strong. The more reptiles/bulbs one has, the faster the payback.