First time housing cham indoors Help!

[Dankmeleon]

Help

Okay this question is so noob but its because all my experience with chams has been outdoors, and when I bring them inside to escape poor weather they are usually unhappy. So I need to aproach the topic like everything I know is wrong. Because most of it probably is. I have always approached housing a cham indoors like it was a task that had to be done for example, an emergency not something I wanted to do or something that I needed to do to help ensure the health of my cham, because of course the weather is so great here.

here is what my current indoor setup consists of:
I currently have dual shoplite 5.0/ 8.0 flouro desert tube 42 inch and a compact low wattage infrared basting bulb on my indoor setup, my cages have a lot of vegetation in them and around them. I have a good south facing window that i can open for them +

I have a panther, he is rarely under these lights, but is the 8.0 too much to have on him? I used wat i had on hand but have been very scared to use the 8 on him for long periods of time.

I have been unsure and take the 8.0 out most of the time and run the other one by itself in a diamond plate shop light

should i change to dual 5.0/ 5.0 or is 5.0/ 8.0 fine? HELP PLEASE!!!

if I change it, should that be sufficient lighting to keep a chameleon indoors? Do i need another light for them to get heat? right now i have a infrared night that i use to creat some warmth on cold nights but i havn't had to use it a lot yet, so if thats bad no exposure....what kind of light should i use can someone post pics? i don't even know what its called basking light?

 

[Nicodemayo]

I just use 1 24" 5.0 on my chams but what i have seen is some people crank up the uvb and get a 10.0 when they're older. I couldn't give you an exact answer for the 5.0 and 8.0 combo im sure members with more experience with lighting will chime in but im sure natural sunlight lets off more ubv than any artificial bulb does. Even with two combined. As for basking lights i would use these http://www.petco.com/product/12129/Zoo-Med-Repti-Basking-Spot-Lamp-2-Bulb-Value-Packs.aspx. You can buy them in single packs too. I recommend a 100w bulb because it gives off tons of lighting for the live plants and when placed a foot away from the basking spot creates a perfect 90-95 degree max basking spot. I don't use anything at night cause my apt never drops below 70 but if you expect colder temps the infrared light will heat things up a bit.

edit-also remember if you have you chams inside for awhile you might want to make sure you have some calcium with d3 on hand.

 

[Julirs]

I bet we live within 5 miles of each other and I keep all of my chams indoors. What have you been doing when the temps drop here, just bringing them in overnight? Are you planning on keeping them in long term now?
I am not sure what the "5.0/ 8.0 flouro desert tube" is. As you see on here most recommend Zoomed Reptisun 5.0's for all screen cages. I wouldn't use the infrared lights in any situation. Chams like the "white" light and associate it with basking heat. I use regular household bulbs from 65-100W for bsaking.

 

[Dankmeleon]

yea when it is crappy outside i bring them in short term, but when its nice, back out they go, and pretty soon its going to be nicer, but i just want to get setup and automated indoors so I don't have to leave them out in some of these violent t storms in spring time fla


the combo is 2 flouro tubes 42 inches long, kind of like kitchen lights one is 5.0 the other is 8.0 just used what i had on hand...like i said they havn't been inside much

i plan to pick up a white bulb for them to bask in, i had one but i dropped it....I'm guessing i don't need much wattage, but only a thermometer will tell I suppose

any other tips, julirs do you use humidifiers or drippers, foggers misters? i hand mister and I also had hose misters on a timer, but mostly hand mist and long hydrations sessions

 

[Dean Pulcini]

I use 10.0 bulbs myself for many reasons. But the most popular is the 5.0 and a plain tube ( no uv ) just to help with lighting. You can use a regular bulb for heat just check the temp at basking spot. They don't need a heat source at night as long as it doesn't go down to the 50's. Also I don't like that you keep him in the window unless its open the glass will magnify the suns rays with no benefits. No part of the suns rays should hit your chameleon through glass even if the window is open.

 

[Julirs]

yea when it is crappy outside i bring them in short term, but when its nice, back out they go, and pretty soon its going to be nicer, but i just want to get setup and automated indoors so I don't have to leave them out in some of these violent t storms in spring time fla


the combo is 2 flouro tubes 42 inches long, kind of like kitchen lights one is 5.0 the other is 8.0 just used what i had on hand...like i said they havn't been inside much

i plan to pick up a white bulb for them to bask in, i had one but i dropped it....I'm guessing i don't need much wattage, but only a thermometer will tell I suppose

any other tips, julirs do you use humidifiers or drippers, foggers misters? i hand mister and I also had hose misters on a timer, but mostly hand mist and long hydrations sessions

I hear you about the thunderstorms. Just to be safe I would get a Zoomed Reptisun 5.0-all bulbs need to be replaced at 6-9 months. Guage the temps from the household lightbulbs with a thermometer-I have all kind of crazy configurations to get the temps right on my 6 cages. I sincerely plan on getting a mister, but am still handmisting, 3 times a day. Luckily for chams, the humidity around the cages stays at 50%. The last few days with the heat on dropped it to 37% overnight. Some of my chams drink right from the spray bottle, others I have to mist until they drink, and some drink from the leaves.

 

[Nicodemayo]

If your questioning the humidity, hit up a thrift store! I picked up a cool mist humidifier for $3!

 

[PardalisGirl]

It all depends........

Answers to your questions depend on some things. Like how big your cage is and how old your cham is. Like Dean, I use Reptisun 10.0 lights on all my adult chams because they are in big cages. I need the 10.0 to penetrate further into the cage. I use the 5.0 for babies and juvies that are in smaller cages. I have two tube lights on all my adult cham cages. Whether you need a night heat source depends on your night temperature. I keep my house on the cool side (low to mid sixties) at night in the winter. I want my chams to be no lower than about 72 at night. I had some respiratory issues a few years ago when I did not do this. During the summer I have no night heat lights. I use the red heat bulbs. I use big ceramic heat emitters for my iguanas and tree monitors.