Hi, I just installed the mistking misting system. Right now we have it set up for every 3 hours to run 2 minutes. Is 2 minutes enough or should I do more?
Also, what's the difference between a white, frosted "basking" light and a red infrared light. Are they both good for basking? I have both on the cage, but not sure exactly how to use them. I do leave the infrared on overnight, but turn off the white "basking" along with the uvb and uva.
Thanks!
Marla (again)
Lower the time "per misting" but increase the frequency of misting as a general rule imo. In other words, better to mist 1min every 2 hours, than to mist 2 min every 4 hours. A good way to check if you are misting right is to check how much water drains out of your plants....if there is a lot of runoff water, you are misting too long (lower your duration). If the soil is not moist, increase your duration. Your soil should have time to air-dry a bit before the next misting kick in...if its still wet when the mister is going on again, then lower your frequency...and if its BONE dry before the mister is going off...then increase it.
About the lights...
A "white" light is a ...white light
A "frosted" bulb is a normal bulb (of whatever color) but the glass of the bulb has been frosted rather than clear. I don't know why you said a "frosted basking bulb" (I'm assuming it is a frosted incandescent bulb)
An "infrared light" is a light that emits IR light rather than visible light (its a different part of the light spectrum). You do NOT need this light and you should *NOT* be having it on at night. You should not have any lights on at night.
If your ambient temps at night drop below 50F, then look for a CERAMIC HEAT EMITTER (they put out heat but no light) and use that at night.
Just to be clear, the old style incandescent bulbs give off heat and are combined with a dome to make a "basking spot". Incandescent bulbs can be somewhat referred to as "basking bulbs".
There is a lot of misinformation in the reptile market. You can simply buy ANY incandescent bulb (to give off the heat) and put it in a dome (to focus the heat) and voila! CFL bulbs are designed not to give off heat so they won't work for this purpose. The bulbs sold at pet stores for $7 each are just BASIC INCANDESCENT BULBS you find at home depot for $0.50 with a color coating on them.
Since you seem unaware of lighting, just a few other things so you don't get confused:
COLOR TEMPERATURE (6500K or w/e) refers to the average "color" of the light. Lower number = more red, higher number = more blue. This is a VERY rough generalization. (you want 6500K b/c its usually "full spectrum" ...both reds and blues are included for ideal plant growth)
the chameleon doesn't care really if you use 6500K or 3000K, its more for your plants.
the WATTAGE of the bulb will determine how hot it will get (and how much light it puts out). You want the lowest wattage that gets hot enough for your setup...I would start with a 60W bulb and test your basking temperatures and go from there
