Does this look concerning?

[Beman]

I have a pothos, plantain lily, and umbrella in his cage atm so I would probably want a 6500k light as well I think. However, based on that diagram the 6% Arcadia light in a dual bulb fixture seems to be not much better than what I have currently. Should I go for the 12% or 10.0 then?

Go with the arcadia bulbs they are better then the zoomed and will last 12 months before needing to be switched out for a new bulb.

So he does the raised fixtures in order to limit the highest UVI exposure. This is more important when you have a cham that is screen climbing the roof. If yours no longer does that then you can place the fixture on the cage and account for the difference in the drop within the cage by lowering basking level.

Keep in mind while it may be 2 inches down to get a 3uvi that is where you want the top of the chams back to rise into the light not where you want the basking branch. This of course changes as they get bigger. My adult male rises a good 3 inches off his branch. So where his back rises into the light is a 3 UVI.

So the first question is does your boy climb the top screen?

 

[ajs]

Go with the arcadia bulbs they are better then the zoomed and will last 12 months before needing to be switched out for a new bulb.

So he does the raised fixtures in order to limit the highest UVI exposure. This is more important when you have a cham that is screen climbing the roof. If yours no longer does that then you can place the fixture on the cage and account for the difference in the drop within the cage by lowering basking level.

Keep in mind while it may be 2 inches down to get a 3uvi that is where you want the top of the chams back to rise into the light not where you want the basking branch. This of course changes as they get bigger. My adult male rises a good 3 inches off his branch. So where his back rises into the light is a 3 UVI.

So the first question is does your boy climb the top screen?

He had stopped doing that until I just updated his cage with dragon ledges 2-3 days ago. Now I have seen him climb on the screen, but I am hoping he will stop doing that once he's used to the new space like he did before I updated it

 

[Beman]

He had stopped doing that until I just updated his cage with dragon ledges 2-3 days ago. Now I have seen him climb on the screen, but I am hoping he will stop doing that once he's used to the new space like he did before I updated it

As long as he stops screen climbing then your good with placing directly on the cage top. He is getting to the point where he is too heavy for it so I do not see him doing it much longer as he settles into the cage.

If you were to do a dual with a 6% and have it directly on the screen then basking would need to be approximately 7 inches down for his back to rise into a 2.5-3uvi level.

If you were to do a dual with a 12% and have it directly on the screen then basking would need to be approximately 10 inches down for his back to rise into a 2.5-3uvi level.

Personally I would not use the 12% in a dual directly on the screen. You lose too much of the top third of the enclosure space. I would do the 6%. Then you adjust the basking fixture with a stand etc to raise it up off the screen a few inches. This reduces thermal burn risk as well. Getting an 85 degree basking spot is easier because your dual will up your ambient heat level on the top basking area to about 78-80 degrees.

Does this make sense? It took me a long time to really understand this and sometimes I don't explain it enough.

 

[ajs]

As long as he stops screen climbing then your good with placing directly on the cage top. He is getting to the point where he is too heavy for it so I do not see him doing it much longer as he settles into the cage.

If you were to do a dual with a 6% and have it directly on the screen then basking would need to be approximately 7 inches down for his back to rise into a 2.5-3uvi level.

If you were to do a dual with a 12% and have it directly on the screen then basking would need to be approximately 10 inches down for his back to rise into a 2.5-3uvi level.

Personally I would not use the 12% in a dual directly on the screen. You lose too much of the top third of the enclosure space. I would do the 6%. Then you adjust the basking fixture with a stand etc to raise it up off the screen a few inches. This reduces thermal burn risk as well. Getting an 85 degree basking spot is easier because your dual will up your ambient heat level on the top basking area to about 78-80 degrees.

Does this make sense? It took me a long time to really understand this and sometimes I don't explain it enough.

Yeah that totally makes sense! I didnt initially think about the dual fixture raising ambient temps in the top, so that would be really helpful I think.

I really want to see him utilizing the entirety of his cage instead of staying in the top two UVB and heat basking perches I have for him. I am hoping ambient temperatures rising would help with that also.

Thank you for your help!

 

[Beman]

Yeah that totally makes sense! I didnt initially think about the dual fixture raising ambient temps in the top, so that would be really helpful I think.

I really want to see him utilizing the entirety of his cage instead of staying in the top two UVB and heat basking perches I have for him. I am hoping ambient temperatures rising would help with that also.

Thank you for your help!

IME they utilize the entire cage more as they get older. They eat so much when they are young that being warm and digesting is a larger part of their day. Trust me once he hits about 9 months you are going to miss the days when he just hung out in the top of his enclosure.

 

[ajs]

IME they utilize the entire cage more as they get older. They eat so much when they are young that being warm and digesting is a larger part of their day. Trust me once he hits about 9 months you are going to miss the days when he just hung out in the top of his enclosure.

The new 6% Arcadia D3 UVB bulb and 6500K dual fixture came in today and I set it up after getting home from work. Of course he started climbing all over the screen today. Not sure if he was doing this because I usually get him outside at this time of day, because he's reaching sexual maturity and instinctually looking for a mate, or if he is upset with his enclosure.

Do you have a suggestion for a good way to raise the lights a couple inches? I think I've seen a rack or something at my local pet store but havent looked into it very much

 

[Beman]

The new 6% Arcadia D3 UVB bulb and 6500K dual fixture came in today and I set it up after getting home from work. Of course he started climbing all over the screen today. Not sure if he was doing this because I usually get him outside at this time of day, because he's reaching sexual maturity and instinctually looking for a mate, or if he is upset with his enclosure.

Do you have a suggestion for a good way to raise the lights a couple inches? I think I've seen a rack or something at my local pet store but havent looked into it very much

The lighting is different then what he is used to now. The screen climbing may be due to that.

Does the Dual fixture have 1 reflector for both bulbs or are the bulbs set into their own reflectors so that their are two?
Why do you need to raise it? Is he climbing on the roof? I think the most creative thing I have seen that someone did was build a stand that sat on the top of their cage out of pvc pipes.

 

[jamest0o0]

IME nothing really stops jueveniles from screen climbing, they just do it because they can. Panthers seem to go through cycles of being extremely active and all over the place while eating less and other periods where they are pretty sedentary and happy to eat. People have speculated that it has to do with breeding season which makes sense.

 

[ajs]

The lighting is different then what he is used to now. The screen climbing may be due to that.

Does the Dual fixture have 1 reflector for both bulbs or are the bulbs set into their own reflectors so that their are two?
Why do you need to raise it? Is he climbing on the roof? I think the most creative thing I have seen that someone did was build a stand that sat on the top of their cage out of pvc pipes.

It has one reflector for both bulbs. I havent seen him climb on the roof yet, but was worried about him doing it while I'm not there

 

[Beman]

It has one reflector for both bulbs. I havent seen him climb on the roof yet, but was worried about him doing it while I'm not there

I think he will be a bit too heavy for climbing the top panel now... If he is just climbing the sides your good. @jamest0o0 is right Screen climbing is just something they do when patrolling their territory. Beman is almost 2 years old and will still climb the screen side of his cage but he does not try the roof.