Heat from t5 ho fixtures

[Uri]

How do y’all stop your chameleons from basking on the t5ho bulbs? People underestimate how hot these get my only issue I’d with my carpet chameleon basking on the screen on top of this and doesn’t use his set basking spot but for example my Jackson’s dual fixture gets up to 90 degrees the fist picture is my carpet chameleon I don’t wanna give him higher temps as his basking spot is 85 to lower 80s as I’ve learned they are slightly more montane than people realize despite being from Madagascar

 

[Beman]

So are they on the screen or at the branch? T5 bulbs do put out some heat. I can achieve temps of 79-81 in my hybrid cage using the 3 T5's that I have 9 inches down at the branch. You can do away with the basking bulb if you need to. I am not familiar with your species and what basking temps they need. But if your getting basking temps below the T5 at the branch then kick off the basking fixture and see where your temps are sitting.

 

[Lindasjackson]

I have a Jackson’s and what I do in the summer is just turn off the basking light when temps get above 80 degrees. Jackson’s don’t need it that high. They prefer temps in the mid to high seventies.

 

[Uri]

So are they on the screen or at the branch? T5 bulbs do put out some heat. I can achieve temps of 79-81 in my hybrid cage using the 3 T5's that I have 9 inches down at the branch. You can do away with the basking bulb if you need to. I am not familiar with your species and what basking temps they need. But if your getting basking temps below the T5 at the branch then kick off the basking fixture and see where your temps are sitting.

My carpet is on the top of the screen not on his branch I tried lowering his t5 more and that seems to have solved the issue he is basking normally on his branches now even when the basking light is off below the branch it is in the mid 70s but when the basking light is on it reaches around 85 and he seems to prefer the higher temps from my tweaking. My Jackson’s has ambient in the low 70s his basking spot is the only hit spot in the low 80s directly only his t5 fixture it gets in the 90s but thankfully he never climbs that

 

[Uri]

I had the same issue with my Jackson’s and I just added more elevated basking branches and it solved his issue and I counteracted by using a weaker basking bulb for slightly longer if I leave it on for not enough time he would get into those ridiculous temps

 

[Beman]

My carpet is on the top of the screen not on his branch I tried lowering his t5 more and that seems to have solved the issue he is basking normally on his branches now even when the basking light is off below the branch it is in the mid 70s but when the basking light is on it reaches around 85 and he seems to prefer the higher temps from my tweaking. My Jackson’s has ambient in the low 70s his basking spot is the only hit spot in the low 80s directly only his t5 fixture it gets in the 90s but thankfully he never climbs that

Oh ok I thought you were talking about at the branch. Yeah on the screen they are very very hot. Double check your distance to basking for your fixtures and make sure it is correct. If it is not they will try to get closer to get the correct UVI level.

 

[Uri]

Oh ok I thought you were talking about at the branch. Yeah on the screen they are very very hot. Double check your distance to basking for your fixtures and make sure it is correct. If it is not they will try to get closer to get the correct UVI level.

For my carpet I’m more worried about too high of uv exposure Im hoping the amount of dense foliage is enough as I did go crazy with plants

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

How do y’all stop your chameleons from basking on the t5ho bulbs?

I don't put them inside the enclosure.

If you're talking about screen climbing on the ceiling beneath the UVB, mine is raised just enough (less than an inch) to keep the screen temperature tolerable. If you can't keep the back of your hand against the screen indefinitely, it's too hot and the light(s) need to be raised until you can keep your hand there indefinitely.

Young chameleons will screen climb on ceilings, but mine has never stayed there long enough to be of concern, so I left it up to him.

 

[Beman]

For my carpet I’m more worried about too high of uv exposure Im hoping the amount of dense foliage is enough as I did go crazy with plants

What are the UVI levels your aiming for with them? I know a Jackson is good at a 3 UVI. Which is about 8-9 inches from the branch in distance from a T5HO single bulb fixture with a 5.0 or 6% bulb sitting on the screen. Any closer and you will be above the 3 UVI level.

I do not know about Carpet chams UVI needs though. Maybe @javadi can provide that info.

 

[javadi]

What are the UVI levels your aiming for with them? I know a Jackson is good at a 3 UVI. Which is about 8-9 inches from the branch in distance from a T5HO single bulb fixture with a 5.0 or 6% bulb sitting on the screen. Any closer and you will be above the 3 UVI level.

I do not know about Carpet chams UVI needs though. Maybe @javadi can provide that info.

Here's a paper I recently published (will be out in the next edition of the herpetological review) demonstrating that neonate F. lateralis grow slower when exposed to higher UV levels. With that said, I'd try to limit so there's not much above UVI 3 for young carpets, it doesn't seem to help them. For older ones you can probably go higher, but it seems prolonged high UV exposure (UVI 7) slows down growth so might not offer much value. Carpets I've had are long lived at 4 years+ and one thing I've adopted doing more recently is limiting UV exposure, although that's not what I did in the past. Take this for what it's worth.

 

[Uri]

Here's a paper I recently published (will be out in the next edition of the herpetological review) demonstrating that neonate F. lateralis grow slower when exposed to higher UV levels. With that said, I'd try to limit so there's not much above UVI 3 for young carpets, it doesn't seem to help them. For older ones you can probably go higher, but it seems prolonged high UV exposure (UVI 7) slows down growth so might not offer much value. Carpets I've had are long lived at 4 years+ and one thing I've adopted doing more recently is limiting UV exposure, although that's not what I did in the past. Take this for what it's worth.

I’m not denying this I did order a solameter that should arrive tomorrow to truly fine tune my uvi but I also can’t really do much if the little guy chooses to get as close as possible to his uvb even if it is too much lowering the uvb light closer seems to have solved his urge to climb on the top screen I will observe for a few days to ensure nothing else goes wrong