Help with lighting?

[Dano650]

SO I have a couple fluorescent lighting in my chameleons cage already and just curious...since the fluoro's light up the cage enough, can I use a night heat lamp instead of a bright day bulb? Just don't want too much light in his cage..His eyes seem to be drying out a little bit. Not sure if he has possible eye infection or not. He rubs his eyes on branches often and it seems like there is something in his eyes and moves around. Sometimes his eyes will be normal. Sometimes he has a little something in them. Cage setup is almost 4 feet tall and about 2 feet wide all around. Chameleon is about 5 -6 months old. 2 fluors. Heat lamp Ficus tree, fern plant, and some branches around. Feed him dusted crickets about 2 times a week and sometimes superworms. Gets heavy misting about 3 times a day. I can post pics if necessary. Thanks

 

[chamerina]

I don't know that the color really matters as much as the basking temperature you are able to sustain. I'm assuming the fluoro's you're talking about are UVB lights in which case for a 4 foot tall cage, I think you can just use a regular heat lamp.

I'm concerned about his eyes however, do you see him cleaning his eyes during his misting sessions? Are you using a tube UVB? I've read that the twist bulbs cause blindness in chameleons, which is why most owners on here use the reptisun 5.0 tube light.

 

[p1u5h13r4m24]

I agree tube UVB is much better. You shouldn't need much heat I use a 60 watt daytime light for a basking spot

 

[Dano650]

I'm using a uvb tube zoo med 5.0 and a spiral exo-terra repti glo 5.0 and the heat light. Heat light I am using is a house bulb 75 watts soft white...

 

[chamerina]

I'm using a uvb tube zoo med 5.0 and a spiral exo-terra repti glo 5.0 and the heat light. Heat light I am using is a house bulb 75 watts soft white...

I think you should get rid of the sprial exo-terra bulb right away and replace it with a tube light. The spiral bulb could be the reason why your cham's eyes are irritated... he could be going blind!

Is the 75 watt providing a good basking temp? If so, it looks like you're good!

 

[Dano650]

So, the tube light I am using is about 17-18 inches. Just use the tube light and heat light? The cage is in my closet by the way and not sure if it gets much circulation .. it should. By the way, cage is dark at bottom without as much lighting. Is that ok?

 

[LitldevlblueBar]

I think you should get rid of the sprial exo-terra bulb right away and replace it with a tube light. The spiral bulb could be the reason why your cham's eyes are irritated... he could be going blind!

Is the 75 watt providing a good basking temp? If so, it looks like you're good!

its funny you said that I was telling another member about the blindness mishaps

 

[LitldevlblueBar]

you should be good on the lights but like the other comment i dont like the compact light due to some blindness cases. I was just telling a friend on here about the lights and how that " can " cause blindness. i only add the " " because i dont want other to nitpick at my comments. but as far as rubbing goes he might start shedding. do you know when the last time he shed was ? also your set out sounds pretty sweet i woujld love to see some pics !

 

[Dano650]

Here are some pics of his setup and him. Custom built cage with wire mesh and also a black mesh material. Can the black stress him out? 3 sides are black front and top metal. He doesn't like the camera what so ever. But he is a cool little guy. Not very aggressive towards me.

 

[Dano650]

You can see a little bit of what is in his eye in the close up pic. It's kind of pink and fleshy..??

 

[LitldevlblueBar]

you dont need any lights at the bottom of the cage if your liitle guy gets warm he will want to thermoregulate and try to go towards the bottom of the cage to cool down. as far as the closet goes i would leave the doors open 24/7 maybe put a fan in your room somewhere just to get the air a moving but you should be good ! and the black should not stress him out at all. its bold color like red yellow or anything else might get him a little upset but all in all you should be good and you cage set up looks AMAZING !!!!!!!! i like it a lot i would just take the light away from the bottom just so its not warm EVERYWHERE you know

 

[Dano650]

Alright..rite on thanks for the help. I build my own cages and just go all out after that. BUT try not to overcrowd it. And I feel like I might be just a bit. I feel like he is small for a six month old veiled. But he is about 5-6 inches without and around 8 and some change with tail

 

[chamerina]

you dont need any lights at the bottom of the cage if your liitle guy gets warm he will want to thermoregulate and try to go towards the bottom of the cage to cool down. as far as the closet goes i would leave the doors open 24/7 maybe put a fan in your room somewhere just to get the air a moving but you should be good ! and the black should not stress him out at all. its bold color like red yellow or anything else might get him a little upset but all in all you should be good and you cage set up looks AMAZING !!!!!!!! i like it a lot i would just take the light away from the bottom just so its not warm EVERYWHERE you know

I agree with the not needing lights at the bottom. I was taught about using a heat gradient - basically meaning that you want to let your cham move around and get different temperatures

I would try to add a little more foliage toward the top and around his AWESOME branches - let's him hide and feel secure.

His eyes look a little sunken in to me but it could be the angle. Are his urates white? And I do see the pink you're talking about. I would think about taking him to a vet as it could be an infection.

 

[Dano650]

Yeah, might be angle .. he's pretty chubby and fed well. Unless it is something else. Urates? I'm assuming it has something to do with his feces. We'll when he goes there is a little white portion with his feces...

 

[LitldevlblueBar]

the little white stuff is the urine white is good yellow can mean dehydration. if the eyes are sunken in he could be dehydrated just keep misting him and keep his dripper dripping and you should be good.

 

[Dano650]

Thanks a bunch