heat lamp useless?

[Newbomb402]

I am trying to decide if a heat lamp is even necessary in my enclosure seeing as how it holds a general temp of 70°-85° witch from my understanding is the perfect range for a panther cham is there another reason a heat lamps would be needed that I'm not aware of?
I also am torn on what strength of uvb bulb I will need my enclosure is 48" tall and heavy vegetation at the bottom to hide if need be but I have a dual 22" t5 light set up with a simple dome light for heat if needed

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

You want to aim for a consistent ambient temp of 70 degrees. That's how cool it should be at the bottom of your enclosure. Then your basking area needs to be 85-90 depending on the age of the chameleon. My basking spots for my panthers are 87-88. You do not want your temp to fluctuate between 70-85 and you definitely need a basking light for a panther.

 

[streetmike84]

You do need a heat lamp
you want the temp to get hotter as it gets higher you dont want a consent temp all througthout the encloser as they need to be able to regulate they're temp by going to hotter or colder spots

 

[Thegreatfonz]

You're light setup is fine as well, for a T5 fixture you can buy a 6% arcadia that are perfect for 48" caegs..if you're worried about the vegetation just add a grow light to the dual fixture. And you will need a heat lamp like others have said.

 

[Newbomb402]

Alright sounds good one more thing anyone have a favorite supplement they use?

 

[Carlton]

Alright sounds good one more thing anyone have a favorite supplement they use?

What kind of supplement? Do you mean dusts? There are three basic types you should be using:

plain calcium with NO added vitamin D3.
Calcium WITH added D3
Herp multivitamin

These are used in addition to a good quality insect gutload, not alone. The better your insect feeders are fed the less you should be relying on dusts. They should be considered gap fillers, not the primary source of nutrition.

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

These are used in addition to a good quality insect gutload, not alone. The better your insect feeders are fed the less you should be relying on dusts. They should be considered gap fillers, not the primary source of nutrition.

Well said. A high quality gutload is critical to keeping chams. The better the gutload the healthier the cham.