Virgil1972
Avid Member
There are people on here that successfully keep chameleons in glass.
Heating, lighting & UVB options - advise needed
- Thread starter broderp
- Start date
I've been keeping chameleons for almost 30 years and when I first kept chameleons people kept them in glass aquariums with screen lids. If done correctly they can work. My chameleons lived long healthy lives in them. Because so many people praised screen cages, I switched so e of my chameleons to screen and the chameleons didn't do nearly as well. They were too dry and difficult to keep warm enough. I then switched to glass cages with screen lids...almost back to aquariums...and they worked well as long as care was taken not to let water lay stagnant on the floors and to arrange the lights to create a chimney affect. When the exo Terra's came out I tried them...and theybwere better. My veiled females almost all lived to be 7+ years and the males even older with similar results with other species.
Broderp...your cage looks good. I put the basking light to one side/corner of the cage to create a chimney affect.
Broderp...your cage looks good. I put the basking light to one side/corner of the cage to create a chimney affect.
broderp
Avid Member
Just WOW on how this thread took a turn in the wrong direction. I'm sorry guys. I wasn't looking for that. But regarding the quoted post, that was a joke. Sorry you missed it. Terrariums work fine for chameleons. I reference the following thread for non-believers:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/for-everyone-who-knows-you-cant-keep-chams-in-glass.31937/
It's an argument as old as the chicken and the egg, Hillary or Trump..... I wont say more on that other than I can't change what I have nor do I want to. I haven't read all the post after the one above, but I don't think a fan is the way to go, not blowing in anyways. I have considered one to suck air out, not because of the reasons quoted above, but as an "emergency" cool down should the temps get too hot (I have that option on my controller) as a way to control humidity and moisture since I now have live plants and will be misting.
Species? Panther.
RcManChild
Member
Back the OP,
LEDS are great, do not provide UVB.
Ceramic heaters - I would only use at night if you area drops below 60 fahrenheit at night and then I would only use it as a heat source at night.
I hate fluorescents. This is more because I was an electrician and dealing with ballasts and bulbs was a pain. If I were to use fluorescents I would only be using arcadia or zoo med based on the research I have done thus far.
Out of your options what you have looks fantastic why change it?
as long as one and only one of the bulbs is a 5.0 UVB.
If you want another option the Sun ray fixture from Exo terra is amazing, although expensive.
It produces a nice white light like and LED, It takes 2-3 minutes for it to turn on and the ballast to get warm enough.
If you ever get worried about air flow you can buy a 12 V DC fan for a computer and an arduino for less than $25 and program it to turn on and off in between mistings....
LEDS are great, do not provide UVB.
Ceramic heaters - I would only use at night if you area drops below 60 fahrenheit at night and then I would only use it as a heat source at night.
I hate fluorescents. This is more because I was an electrician and dealing with ballasts and bulbs was a pain. If I were to use fluorescents I would only be using arcadia or zoo med based on the research I have done thus far.
Out of your options what you have looks fantastic why change it?
as long as one and only one of the bulbs is a 5.0 UVB.
If you want another option the Sun ray fixture from Exo terra is amazing, although expensive.
It produces a nice white light like and LED, It takes 2-3 minutes for it to turn on and the ballast to get warm enough.
If you ever get worried about air flow you can buy a 12 V DC fan for a computer and an arduino for less than $25 and program it to turn on and off in between mistings....
broderp
Avid Member
I'm not a "beginner" My last Cham was about 5 years old at the time he passed. So I'm not a breeder, but have been a member here for some time and am familiar with general husbandry. As many have stated, there is no one way that fits all.
I'm listening, can you please provide any evidence to this? Have you done tests that you can share the results from that back up this statement? I say this because previously in this same terrarium, I could feel a flow of heat from the top of the terrarium. It sure felt like the head in the terrarium was rising, and as such was sucking the air thru the vents towards the bottom of the enclosure. The basking temps were about 95 degrees, but the lower part of the enclosure stayed about 73. I monitored this with two digital temperature and humidity sensors that remotely sent the into to a monitoring station at my home office desk.
Thank you for the compliment and suggestion.
Can we please put this thread back on track? I'm looking for heating, UVB and lighting options. Combinations that work well and Pros & Cons of what I proposed and even what you have. Truth be told, I have a special delivery coming in exactly 1 week, and this needs to be done and running, preferably for a few days to tweak my controller and setting. I've never had to deal with moisture as it pertains to keeping live plants. So although I am not new to Chams, I am new to this type of husbandry and am looking fro device.
Thanks you
For many years now I have used a regular household incandescent bulb of a wattage that provides the appropriate temperature in the basking area. As I said before I place it to one side/corner of the cage in a domed hood. I also use a double fluorescent fixture with a regular white tube in one half and a Repti-sun 5.0 in the other half.
broderp
Avid Member
Yikes!
$130 on Amazon! Maybe later.I like the Arduino idea. I'll look into it for a later upgrade, maybe sooner if misting and watering plants is causing a small flood in bottom of the terrarium.
Aside from the concerns I have with water, misting and live plants, the truth of the matter is I don't have a lot of room to place everything up top without severely blocking the airflow. The T5 lighting fixture, although producing great lighting, takes up over 1/2 of the screen opening. A heat lamp single dome would only fit behind the lamp, further blocking airflow and in my last setup, burned the Styrofoam wall. I then have to plum in a humidifier or mister (or BOTH
) then to top it all off, I need to mount my controller up there somewhere's to manage the temps and humidity. Short of putting a fan to suck up the air in whats left of the available screen area I'm not sure how much air flow is possible.I want to simplify and have a very minimalist look and approach without sacrificing function for the Cham. I'm leaning towards a suspended dual dome lamp, with a UVB bulb and Ceramic heater. This will work if I can make the custom LED lighting for the terrarium. Basically, the LED lighting would be high output 6000K LEDS around the perimeter of the screen top. The new LED light would actually replace the ExoTerra original screen top. I'm hesitant to specify which way I'm leaning as I really do want to get as many ideas as possible. Maybe there is a better way that can work for me.
RcManChild
Member
I would then use a fluorescent with a daylight heat source. I would not be turning the bulbs on and off throughout the day but rather adjusting the heights in the cage and wattages until you got what you wanted.
RcManChild
Member
Ceramic heater also require the wire dome, otherwise too much heat builds up in them and they break.
http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products/wire_light.php
http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products/wire_light.php
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RcManChild
Member
You can get the terrarium fixture it is basically the same house as the sunray fixture without the cost and UVB setup. This would allow you to adjust the height as needed and keep thing looking clean
https://www.amazon.com/Exo-Terra-PT...=1487217627&sr=8-1&keywords=terrarium+fixture
https://www.amazon.com/Exo-Terra-PT...=1487217627&sr=8-1&keywords=terrarium+fixture
RcManChild
Member
Zoo med also makes a dual LED/Flouscent fixture but it is more expensive than the sunray last i looked.
broderp
Avid Member
Since I need to use a controller to maintain temps (my house will change temps during the day when no one is home) how do I account for the heat lamp (incandescent bulb) turning on and off as the controller shuts off the power when it gets too hot, then turns it on again when it gets too cold? I used to use incandescent bulbs before I couldn't leave a heater on unattended. (don't ask) When the house stayed 67 degrees, I could use the height of the bulb to regulate. I also used a lamp dimmer to regulate, but the lamp dimmer would also reduce the light being output. I may need to test this once my LED's screen top is made. The light output loss may be minimal....
RcManChild
Member
Why do you "need" to use a controller to maintain temps?
broderp
Avid Member
J
JohnnyLawrence
Guest
"Terrariums work fine for Chameleons". That's not an accurate statement, which is what I was trying to explain. For Adult Panthers, you shouldn't be keeping them in a Terrarium of that size. You would need something even larger. Is it possible to have a Panther survive in one if you provide enough effort, yes. But that can be said with just about any animal for any setup...doesn't make it right. Also, the link you sent says it all..."Anyway, these terrariums aren't for every species but for smaller montane species...".
Now, for another page that's pro-terrarium, here is an excerpt that also supports the earlier advice I was trying to give you: "Adult male Veiled Chameleons (Chamaeleo calyptratus) or Panther Chameleons (Furcifer pardalis) require larger enclosures than are currently offered by many of these glass terrarium suppliers. Some sources, however, will custom build you enclosures of your desired dimensions, in which case adult males of these species could easily be kept in them. At large sizes, however, the enclosures become very heavy. If you want to read it yourself, go to http://www.chameleonnews.com/10JulAndersonGlass.html
I know you had 1 Chameleon before and it lived 5 years, but that's actually not long for a Male Panther - that's just average with minimal effort.
Chris Anderson
Dr. House of Chameleons
Sorry, JohnnyLawrence, but I'm going to disagree with you on this one. I wrote both the original thread on this forum that was referenced earlier (For everyone who KNOWS you can't keep chams in glass) and the article you're referencing now (Keeping Chameleons in Glass Terrariums). I wrote those in 2009 and 2010, respectively. At the time, the largest commercially available glass terrarium in the US was 36"x18"x24", with no terrariums available commercially over 24" tall. This meant that options were extremely limited and for larger chameleon species, such as panthers and veileds, they simply weren't feasible for adult animals in most cases. Since those articles were written, however, multiple companies have started to produce 36" tall terrariums, including models up to 36"x18"x36", and numerous private companies have popped up that will do custom options. This has been a game changer and means that even when only considering commercially available glass terrariums with proper ventilation, such enclosures are now a viable option, even for larger species like adult male veileds and panthers, as the internal volume of these enclosures is very close to that of the standard 2'x2'x4' screen enclosure. Here is a more recent source I've done on glass terrariums that you may find informative: http://www.chameleonbreeder.com/pod...n-in-glass-terrariums-with-dr-chris-anderson/
Chris
Nursemaia
Chameleon Enthusiast
@JohnnyLawrence
Are you pushing this care sheet because there's a tab that takes you to where you can purchase chams and ultimately you're just trying to make a buck? So really it has nothing to do about offering advice but more about making sales.
Are you pushing this care sheet because there's a tab that takes you to where you can purchase chams and ultimately you're just trying to make a buck? So really it has nothing to do about offering advice but more about making sales.
