HELP ME! Lighting & UVB question for my BABY panther Cham.

[Khamzilla]

Hi guys. I have a question for you guys. I have a baby Panther chameleon in an 18"x18"x36" All screen cage.
I have the "Zilla- Slimline" DESERT UVB TUBE lamp which includes the lamp fixture with the lamp in it.
I later found out that I should be using a TROPICAL lamp and not a desert one SO today I went to petco and bought a Zoomed reptisun 5.0 TROPICALlamp (tube only).
I came home and opened my Zilla fixture and replaced my lamp...

THIS IS HOW MY QUESTION AROSE... I noticed the Zilla fixture has a hard clear plastic that keeps the tube lamp inside the fixture and is screwed in. This plastic is about 1/8th of a centimeter thick and ALL light has to go through the plastic before hitting anything else. I know UVB is greatly filtered out by glass BUT...

My questions are...

1) doesn't this plastic filter my lamps UVB out?

2) Should I remove this plastic (even though the manufacturer knowingly designed it that way)?

3) How many hours a day should I run my UVB light?


ANY HELP would be good. Thanks guys!

 

[Samsonsfrogs]

I'm still new to the forums and to chameleons , but many people have told me to get the reptisun 5.0 and the light schedule should be 12 on 12 off. As for the plastic reducing the uvb.... I believe it does.

 

[bradley]

Hi guys. I have a question for you guys. I have a baby Panther chameleon in an 18"x18"x36" All screen cage.
I have the "Zilla- Slimline" DESERT UVB TUBE lamp which includes the lamp fixture with the lamp in it.
I later found out that I should be using a TROPICAL lamp and not a desert one SO today I went to petco and bought a Zoomed reptisun 5.0 TROPICALlamp (tube only).
I came home and opened my Zilla fixture and replaced my lamp...

THIS IS HOW MY QUESTION AROSE... I noticed the Zilla fixture has a hard clear plastic that keeps the tube lamp inside the fixture and is screwed in. This plastic is about 1/8th of a centimeter thick and ALL light has to go through the plastic before hitting anything else. I know UVB is greatly filtered out by glass BUT...

My questions are...

1) doesn't this plastic filter my lamps UVB out?

2) Should I remove this plastic (even though the manufacturer knowingly designed it that way)?

3) How many hours a day should I run my UVB light?


ANY HELP would be good. Thanks guys!

The plastic will filter out the uv so yes remove it. You can use the desert lamp in his adult setup if you wish to. I would go 12 hours in winter and 14 hours in summer of light.

 

[SilverDragoness]

Agreed plastic is bad. Sucks that they make them that way at all.

 

[summoner12]

DO NOT REMOVE PLASTIC FROM THIS FIXTURE!

REMOVE FIXTURE FROM CAGE!

R-Zilla lamps are bad... toss it.. return it... sell it...

Buy a Zoo Med Reptisun 5.0 for the size cage you have.

R-Zilla, expecially the desert lamp put out high levels of UV. they can give you a sun burn if you leave your hand there long enough. They have low level spectra of UVB.... near te harmful range. They are not good lamps. Just stay away from it.

It is true that UVB will not transmit through plastic or glass. so the plastic cover is stopping the UVB.... but this is a good thing in this case so that you do not harm the animal.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

DO NOT REMOVE PLASTIC FROM THIS FIXTURE!

REMOVE FIXTURE FROM CAGE!

That made me lol! True though!

 

[Olimpia]

I follow a different light schedule, I prefer to do what the sun is doing. So mine get UV from 7am to about 5:30, while it'll be from 6:30 to 7:30 in the summer, or something along those lines. They wake up or go to sleep according to when the sun is up or down through the window anyway, so why have the lights on longer if they are sitting in their little sleeping spots, ready for darkness. But that's just me.

 

[Tabooza]

Good question I hope some of the older members have been able to answer all you questions.. And it looks like I just learned some more lol

 

[Davonat]

DO NOT REMOVE PLASTIC FROM THIS FIXTURE!

REMOVE FIXTURE FROM CAGE!

R-Zilla lamps are bad... toss it.. return it... sell it...

Buy a Zoo Med Reptisun 5.0 for the size cage you have.

Summoner..... He did replace the Zilla bulb!..... With a Zoo Med 5.0 I bought a Zilla Desert Series hood,,, But found no Zoo Med tube to fit it. So I yanked out 2 of the Halogen sockets & replaced with ceramic regular bulb sockets...... Then put in a regular 100 watt Blue day bulb & a Zoo Med 5.0 compact flourescent. I dont use the Tube fixture part of this hood at all.

 

[lindawaz]

Doesn't matter they never came back...

But good for you being able to salvage that hood