Is my UVB or basking light too close?

[Cacti3]

This is Spyro my 10-12 month old Male veiled chameleon. Around a week ago, I saw him gaping underneath his basking light. I for some reason immediately panicked and moved it down more. His basking light is 75w.

Now, I’m most concerned with the UVB lamp being too close. I placed one fake branch or stretchy branch directly underneath the UVB lamp as you can see in some of the pictures. I’m not sure if it’s too close. And yes, his UVB is T5 HO Reptisun 5.0.

 

[LizardLurkin]

I think you might want to tuck your basking and uvb light a lil closer together so he's getting the best of both worlds when he sits on the basking branch.

I also want to add that sometimes chameleons will gape while they're basking as a means of thermoregulation. It's true that sometimes it may be because it's too hot, but if they're choosing to stay under the bulb while gaping, and aren't pointing their nose way up or anything concerning, it could be just that they want to stay under the heat, while also keeping their temps down. I'm not sure their reasoning, I just know my chameleon often does this while basking and the branch is always within the suggested temperature range of 80 (measured by a heat probe, which is super accurate)

As far as placement, you will want the branch 8-9 inches below the uvb. If you're suspicious of the basking bulb making things too hot, you can prop it up with a safe material. If you're interested in affordable temperature monitoring, I bought this and it works well for me.

 

[Beman]

So unfortunately chams normally will not move out of the heat even if it is too hot. We see this even when they are getting thermal burns. They will continue to bask even when their skin is burning. A 75 watt can still produce some hot temps and depending on your bulb type it could be producing temps that exceed what he should be exposed to.

Depending on how you are measuring your temps even with a probe hooked in at the branch. If it is reading 85 at the branch then they are actually getting temps closer to 90 which would be too hot. Your range for a male veiled is still the 80-85. So if probe is showing 80 then they are hitting 85 at their back.

For your UVB you need a branch running parallel to the fixture. WIth a 5.0 T5HO and your cage screen type you want a measured distance of 8-9 inches to the branch from the screen where the fixture sits on top.

So he is not gaping due to UVB it would be heat exposure if it is due to temps sitting too hot. You can also see this happen when your ambient temps are too high. You want those to sit around 70-73ish. If they are sitting hotter than that then more then likely you have an overall temp issue involving your ambient temps.

 

[Cacti3]

I think you might want to tuck your basking and uvb light a lil closer together so he's getting the best of both worlds when he sits on the basking branch.

I also want to add that sometimes chameleons will gape while they're basking as a means of thermoregulation. It's true that sometimes it may be because it's too hot, but if they're choosing to stay under the bulb while gaping, and aren't pointing their nose way up or anything concerning, it could be just that they want to stay under the heat, while also keeping their temps down. I'm not sure their reasoning, I just know my chameleon often does this while basking and the branch is always within the suggested temperature range of 80 (measured by a heat probe, which is super accurate)

As far as placement, you will want the branch 8-9 inches below the uvb. If you're suspicious of the basking bulb making things too hot, you can prop it up with a safe material. If you're interested in affordable temperature monitoring, I bought this and it works well for me.
View attachment 364911

I’m not sure how I would be able to make the basking light and UVB together. But I think before the basking light may have been too close because I used a tape measure and it was like 9 inches away from the branch. I also live in a state where it’s hot and humid, so I didn’t want it too close. I think I may be fine, I’m just concerned about the UVB being too close. I’ll go measure real quick.

Ok, it’s 7 inches away. I know it’s supposed to be 8 or 9, but I have a lot of other branches attached to that one. I’m not sure how to lower it without… breaking everything.

 

[Cacti3]

So unfortunately chams normally will not move out of the heat even if it is too hot. We see this even when they are getting thermal burns. They will continue to bask even when their skin is burning. A 75 watt can still produce some hot temps and depending on your bulb type it could be producing temps that exceed what he should be exposed to.

Depending on how you are measuring your temps even with a probe hooked in at the branch. If it is reading 85 at the branch then they are actually getting temps closer to 90 which would be too hot. Your range for a male veiled is still the 80-85. So if probe is showing 80 then they are hitting 85 at their back.

For your UVB you need a branch running parallel to the fixture. WIth a 5.0 T5HO and your cage screen type you want a measured distance of 8-9 inches to the branch from the screen where the fixture sits on top.

So he is not gaping due to UVB it would be heat exposure if it is due to temps sitting too hot. You can also see this happen when your ambient temps are too high. You want those to sit around 70-73ish. If they are sitting hotter than that then more then likely you have an overall temp issue involving your ambient temps.

I know this seems kinda Uhmm… but I don’t have a thermometer. I don’t really want to share this personal stuff online, but I’m not the one buying everything so. You can sort of guess what it is. If it makes sense.

But no, he was only gaping that one time under his basking light. I’ve never seen him do it under his UVB. After I moved his basking lamp down, I haven’t seen him gape since. I don’t see any burns either.

 

[LizardLurkin]

So unfortunately chams normally will not move out of the heat even if it is too hot. We see this even when they are getting thermal burns. They will continue to bask even when their skin is burning. A 75 watt can still produce some hot temps and depending on your bulb type it could be producing temps that exceed what he should be exposed to.

Depending on how you are measuring your temps even with a probe hooked in at the branch. If it is reading 85 at the branch then they are actually getting temps closer to 90 which would be too hot. Your range for a male veiled is still the 80-85. So if probe is showing 80 then they are hitting 85 at their back.

For your UVB you need a branch running parallel to the fixture. WIth a 5.0 T5HO and your cage screen type you want a measured distance of 8-9 inches to the branch from the screen where the fixture sits on top.

So he is not gaping due to UVB it would be heat exposure if it is due to temps sitting too hot. You can also see this happen when your ambient temps are too high. You want those to sit around 70-73ish. If they are sitting hotter than that then more then likely you have an overall temp issue involving your ambient temps.

Is it too hot for my cham if the branch probe usually reads 77-80? I use a 60 watt. I was concerned my temps were too low because of it.

 

[Beman]

Is it too hot for my cham if the branch probe usually reads 77-80? I use a 60 watt. I was concerned my temps were too low because of it.

No, that should be ok... I found that temps higher like at their back that they were exposed to were normally sitting around 4 degrees warmer this was with an ambient cage temp of 71 though (Also for an adult male that sits much taller off a branch). If your cage is hotter then the temps at the top near the lights are going to sit higher. If you add more lights like a plant light this will also add extra heat so little changes can change ambient temps as well. I kept my probe set on 79 on my thermostat... Beman stayed in basking temps no hotter than about 83 his entire life and did very well with it.

 

[Beman]

I know this seems kinda Uhmm… but I don’t have a thermometer. I don’t really want to share this personal stuff online, but I’m not the one buying everything so. You can sort of guess what it is. If it makes sense.

But no, he was only gaping that one time under his basking light. I’ve never seen him do it under his UVB. After I moved his basking lamp down, I haven’t seen him gape since. I don’t see any burns either.

No worries hun. You do not need to share your personal details or how you buy stuff. Get a zoomed temp gauge with a probe. the probe gets hooked in at the basking branch directly below the heat fixture. You can use a small zip tie to secure it to the branch. Then pull the gauge outside of the cage so it doesnt get wet or it will stop working. These are normally less than 10 bucks at petstores. Look like this... https://www.chewy.com/zoo-med-digit...MIgYKG37PBjgMVQTYIBR37djspEAQYASABEgLa7vD_BwE

Per your branches... Looks like your using floral wire to attach them to everything. Take the flexible vine and unhook it from the screen and drop it down 2 inches. Get creative with it if it destabilizes, you can anchor it multiple times to the screen to make it work. But you want a distance of 8-9 inches... If it is sitting at 7 inches on one side where it is hooked to the other branch then drop down the other side that is attached to the screen. That at least gives one area of reduced UVB. Even with where it is now he is not in over exposure limits so you do not need to worry at all about it hurting him.

 

[nightanole]

I angle my basking bulbs, i dont set directly on the screen. This means i can get the basking area under the UVB, and my basking bulb is a wide ellipse, not a round hotspot.

 

[LizardLurkin]

No, that should be ok... I found that temps higher like at their back that they were exposed to were normally sitting around 4 degrees warmer this was with an ambient cage temp of 71 though (Also for an adult male that sits much taller off a branch). If your cage is hotter then the temps at the top near the lights are going to sit higher. If you add more lights like a plant light this will also add extra heat so little changes can change ambient temps as well. I kept my probe set on 79 on my thermostat... Beman stayed in basking temps no hotter than about 83 his entire life and did very well with it.

Thank you so much for the information. I'll try to emulate your temps better!

I'm afraid to give out misinformation, but I do notice once a day, either in the morning or afternoon, my chameleon will bask, puff out his throat and open his mouth nice and big, like he's really into it, before going about the day. It's a pattern, but it doesn't seem be a detrimental one.
There are certainly a lot of things to be worried about and watch out for with regards to temperatures, burning, and gaping behaviors in general.

 

[Beman]

Thank you so much for the information. I'll try to emulate your temps better!

I'm afraid to give out misinformation, but I do notice once a day, either in the morning or afternoon, my chameleon will bask, puff out his throat and open his mouth nice and big, like he's really into it, before going about the day. It's a pattern, but it doesn't seem be a detrimental one.
There are certainly a lot of things to be worried about and watch out for with regards to temperatures, burning, and gaping behaviors in general.

That is normal behavior. Warming up the body and stretching. Beman did it every single morning within about an hour after waking up and basking. Nothing to worry about there.

Learning their behaviors and what is normal vs what is not is probably one of the hardest aspects next to learning husbandry. Because these two things in my opinion go hand in hand. When husbandry is on point and you know what the normal behaviors are then spotting the abnormal ones become very easy. This is how you can identify issues before they become major ones. However this takes time to learn. It is one thing to read what to do and provide but in reality a lot becomes hands on knowledge which you only get with time and experience. You will get there like we all do and find the comfort in the flow and confidence in what you provide. It just takes time.

I found when I was learning that sticking to the aspects I knew inside and out and giving that advice then tagging in more experienced members to address the things outside of my skill set worked well. Then the experienced members do not have to cover A-Z with a new keeper and can target very specific concerns. This also made it so that I had the basics drilled into my head and helped build my confidence in my own husbandry knowledge while also being able to make an impact to newbies. I read the advice of the experienced members non stop and kept learning. Then when I needed further understanding of things like UVB or supplements I focused on understanding those aspects. This took time. I joined the forum in 2018 when there was not a chameleon academy or Neptune the chameleon to learn from. It took a good year before I fully felt confident in husbandry that I provided and I still kept making changing through the following years. Modifying and upgrading to make things more perfect. Again it took time for me to get to a point where I felt confident addressing serious health issues and to this day if it is outside my skill set I tag those members that are even more experienced than me.