Help create perfect conditions in the terrarium

[Trafa]

Hello, friends! I’m very happy to be on these forum. I prepared new terrarium for my panther chameleon (boy). I should get him soon. I have no much experience I’d like to get some advises from you, if everything right with my terrarium and maybe I need to correct something? 1) I have hybrid terrarium ( glass + grid) the size is 90*45*90. 2) there I have two flowers : shefler and ficus. 3) one lamp is t8 UVB 10 from exo-Terra 60 centimeters inside of terrarium. 4) also I have the day light lamp 6500 k and heating lamp outside of terrarium. 5) I have mini fan on the top of terrarium. 6) I have automatic fog generated. 7) and rain system “monsoon” ( on these picture it’s not available)
All this system has auto timer. At 7:30 am UVB light on. At 7:40 am monsoon on for one minute. At 8:20 am the day light on. At 8:30 heating lamp on for 1 hour and again at 6:00 pm for 1 hour also. At 10:00 am mini fan on for 10min and every next hour it works in same interval till 4:00 pm.
The temperature in heating zone is 28-30 C. The day temperature in terrarium about 23-26 C. At night 22-24C.
8:30 pm all lamps is off. 8:35 pm monsoon on for 1 minute. For monsoon I use filtered water. At 00:00 am fog generator on for 30 min and 20 min off, this interval repeat till 7:00 am. For fog generator I use distilled water. At night humidity is 80-95%. During the day the humidity is 30-45%. Thanks for attention and sorry for my English, I’m from Ukraine ??.

 

[Beman]

It is a beautiful enclosure. I would pull the UVB outside the enclosure. But that is what we do typically with T5HO Fixtures. You are using a T8 which produces much lower UVB but I do not have direct experience with the levels these put out.

I would be careful using the fogger during the day. Heat plus fog creates an environment for them to develop a respiratory infection.

These links would be helpful for you.
https://chameleonacademy.com/
www.chameleonbreeder.com

 

[Trafa]

It is a beautiful enclosure. I would pull the UVB outside the enclosure. But that is what we do typically with T5HO Fixtures. You are using a T8 which produces much lower UVB but I do not have direct experience with the levels these put out.

I would be careful using the fogger during the day. Heat plus fog creates an environment for them to develop a respiratory infection.

These links would be helpful for you.
https://chameleonacademy.com/
www.chameleonbreeder.com

Thank you, I know that fog generator should work just at night. I have it configured. I know that during the day should be warm and dry and at night cool and wet . I measured UVB lamp with a special card and I saw not so high result of UVB. On this photo The distance between card and lamp 13 centimeters

 

[Beman]

Thank you, I know that fog generator should work just at night. I have it configured. I know that during the day should be warm and dry and at night cool and wet . I measured UVB lamp with a special card and I saw not so high result of UVB. On this photo The distance between card and lamp 13 centimeters

I honestly have never heard of a UV Card. We use Solarmeter 6.5 devices. As far as your main set up I will tag in someone that is far more familiar with T8 UVB then I am. He can give you feedback on having it inside the cage. @nightanole

 

[Trafa]

I honestly have never heard of a UV Card. We use Solarmeter 6.5 devices. As far as your main set up I will tag in someone that is far more familiar with T8 UVB then I am. He can give you feedback on having it inside the cage. @nightanole

 

[Trafa]

Thank you! I will write him soon!

 

[nightanole]

Its a 36" / 90cm cage. So if the cham hangs out mostly in the 12" away from the light zone, you can go with a 10/12% T8, or a 5.0/6% T5 HO. However if the cham mostly hanges out 18-24" away from the bulb, the T5 would be a better choice. The T8 10 is perfect for 18" tall "glass tanks" because by the time the lizard is at the bottom of the tank its getting very little uvb. But if you pop a T5 6% on the same tank, it would be too much, because even at the bottom of the tank its getting a lot of uvb.

The same is true for the 36-48 tall cages, a T5 5.0/6% would still be putting out usable UVB mid tank, and very little UVB on the last 1/4-bottom of the tank. But a t8 10.0/12% would only have usable uvb for the top 1/4 of the tank. By mid tank it would be worthless.


PS: most of those UVB cards are worthless. The ones with the single little sun only trigger at UVI 5.0, which is slightly below direct sunlight. And about 2-3 times higher than recommended for a chameleon.

The ones with the 4 bars, are just inaccurate.

So the cards are only good for testing if you have a UVB light, since you can just pop the card 1" from the lamp and see if its a uvb or not.


But you are tuning for a 2.0 at the cham hang out zone, and a 3.0 where the cham gets really close to the bulb (6").

 

[cyberlocc]

Where is the humidity 30-45% in the day? Suggested humidity for panthers is usually 45-70%.

If your basking area, is 30-45 and thick in the plants is 50-70 that would work though.




Chameleon Academys video says about 45% - 60%, forgot the site number numbers, but its not 30-45% thats veiled humidity.

As to the fogger thing, thats a long standing myth. With some truth, but some fallacy, here. https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/heat-humidity-ri.173549/

 

[Trafa]

Where is the humidity 30-45% in the day? Suggested humidity for panthers is usually 45-70%.

If your basking area, is 30-45 and thick in the plants is 50-70 that would work though.




Chameleon Academys video says about 45% - 60%, forgot the site number numbers, but its not 30-45% thats veiled humidity.

As to the fogger thing, thats a long standing myth. With some truth, but some fallacy, here. https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/heat-humidity-ri.173549/
[/QUOTE

I know that if during the day in terrarium will be warm and wet it’s not good for chameleon. Chameleon need 100% wet just at night ( its similar climate At night on Madagascar ) that’s why I don’t want to increase humidity during the day.

 

[cyberlocc]

I know that if during the day in terrarium will be warm and wet it’s not good for chameleon. Chameleon need 100% wet just at night ( its similar climate At night on Madagascar ) that’s why I don’t want to increase humidity during the day.

Your correct it is 90-100% humidity in Madagascar at night, in Tropical and Humid bioclimates. Its also 75% plus humidity during the Summer, and 50% or higher during the Cold Dry season during the day.

Read the thread I linked.

Your current Humidity if that is the highest anywhere in the cage, 45%, thats not high enough for a Panther chameleon. If its 30-45% in the top of the cage, and higher lower down, in the plants thats fine.

 

[Trafa]

Your correct it is 90-100% humidity in Madagascar at night, in Tropical and Humid bioclimates. Its also 75% plus humidity during the Summer, and 50% or higher during the Cold Dry season during the day.

Read the thread I linked.

Your current Humidity if that is the highest anywhere in the cage, 45%, thats not high enough for a Panther chameleon. If its 30-45% in the top of the cage, and higher lower down, in the plants thats fine.

Thank you for your advice, I have humidity is 45 all over all terrarium. How careful And safe for chameleon I can increase Humidity in day time.

 

[cyberlocc]

Thank you for your advice, I have humidity is 45 all over all terrarium. How careful And safe for chameleon I can increase Humidity in day time.

Your bioactive should be increasing the lower cage humidity, but its a little barren down there. Is that Bio btw?

So I would raise the soil line, to the top of the Soil bin (to the doors) and then fix your soil makeup, Im not sure what you got going on there, but it appears to just be dirt on top of a layer of bark? I would mix up a more water retaining soil, with a bunch of sphagnum moss in it. Add a drainage layer, doesn't look like you have one. Add leaf litter, and Isopods (If you dont have isos) to make fully bioactive.

Then I would add some lower plants, some ground level cover plants, especially things like Ferns that will increase humidity. Your soil should always be moist in a bio viv, that you got in there in this pic looks bone dry.

 

[Trafa]

Your bioactive should be increasing the lower cage humidity, but its a little barren down there. Is that Bio btw?

So I would raise the soil line, to the top of the Soil bin (to the doors) and then fix your soil makeup, Im not sure what you got going on there, but it appears to just be dirt on top of a layer of bark? I would mix up a more water retaining soil, with a bunch of sphagnum moss in it. Add a drainage layer, doesn't look like you have one. Add leaf litter, and Isopods (If you dont have isos) to make fully bioactive.

Then I would add some lower plants, some ground level cover plants, especially things like Ferns that will increase humidity. Your soil should always be moist in a bio viv, that you got in there in this pic looks bone dry.

Thank you for your answer, I will think about it.