General Heating Terrarium

pennington

New Member
I have an infared basking lamp that is thermostat controlled. Will this keep the whole terrarium warm or do I need an extra heat source?

If I place the sensor under the heat lamp and set the temperature I would imagine it would create a nice gradient in the tank. Then maybe I need a basking light too.
 
You need a source of UVB, that would be a fluorescent tube bulb. Most keepers agree the recomended bulb is 5.0 reptisun or reptiglo. For HEAT AND BASKING you use the same bulb. A regular household incandescent works perfectly and wont cook your chameleon. Recomended wattage to use is between 60 watt and 100 watt depending on household ambient temp and distance from bulb to basking branch. Want basking temp to be between 82-85 deg for a panther. a few degrees higher for a veiled.

Infrared bulb is not needed for a chameleon and a night time temp drop of between 10-20 degs is actually preferred.
 
Dont put the sensor directly under the lamp, you want to measure air temperature.
By all means have a thermometer at the basking spot (beneath the lamp), its important to be sure its not too hot.
You will be aiming for a vertical gradient, with your max (air temp) being at the top, coolest at bottom.
One heat source will be more than sufficient. Buying a few good quality thermometers, prefrably digital to monitor the gradient is a great idea.

Its also a good idea not to use a higher wattage (hotter) bulb than nessesary, since it will thermostatically controlled, it will be switched on/off more often, shortening the life of the bulb (unless the thermostat is a dimmer or pulse proportional type), not only this the hotter the bulb the more risk of accidental burns.
A slightly cooler bulb will be satisfactory, more economical and your lizard will simply bask a little longer as required.
Cheers :)

Good stuff from Texas! Tag team? :D
 
Many thanks,

You need a source of UVB, that would be a fluorescent tube bulb. Most keepers agree the recomended bulb is 5.0 reptisun or reptiglo. For HEAT AND BASKING you use the same bulb. A regular household incandescent works perfectly and wont cook your chameleon. Recomended wattage to use is between 60 watt and 100 watt depending on household ambient temp and distance from bulb to basking branch. Want basking temp to be between 82-85 deg for a panther. a few degrees higher for a veiled.

Infrared bulb is not needed for a chameleon and a night time temp drop of between 10-20 degs is actually preferred.

Thank you for your reply, sorry fro not getting back sooner. I didn't mention I had the UV tubes in place, (2.0 & 5.0). I appreciate you putting this information in your post. Your info' on wattage was beneficial, thank you.
 
Thank you,

Dont put the sensor directly under the lamp, you want to measure air temperature.
By all means have a thermometer at the basking spot (beneath the lamp), its important to be sure its not too hot.
You will be aiming for a vertical gradient, with your max (air temp) being at the top, coolest at bottom.
One heat source will be more than sufficient. Buying a few good quality thermometers, prefrably digital to monitor the gradient is a great idea.

Its also a good idea not to use a higher wattage (hotter) bulb than nessesary, since it will thermostatically controlled, it will be switched on/off more often, shortening the life of the bulb (unless the thermostat is a dimmer or pulse proportional type), not only this the hotter the bulb the more risk of accidental burns.
A slightly cooler bulb will be satisfactory, more economical and your lizard will simply bask a little longer as required.
Cheers :)

Good stuff from Texas! Tag team? :D

Thank you Jojackson, I'd posted on another thread since this one. Not sure why I missed checking back on this thread. Keith is doing well.

Thanks again.
 
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