Is she to close to the basking light??

ronnie

New Member
Trixxi has been sitting in a new spot that she has never used before!two days ago she climbed up the fake plant in the top right hand corner of her viv so she was right under the basking light(60 watt house hold bulb)she is at it again this morning,the bulb is on a clamp that is directed diagonally into the other corner(right back hand corner) of the viv so it is not directly pointing down on her although from the top of the light bulb to the top of her crest is a 5.5-6 inc gap(mesh in between)...is this enough of a gap to prevent a burn accruing?temp at that point gets no higher than 88deg,thanks for any info
 
my recomendation would be to get a real basking light and a real cage , do you have proper uva/uvb lighting in addition to that lighting ?, if not, by the time symptoms appear , it will probably be to late , even an incandescent BASKING LIGHT like a zoo med will produce some uva , a household bulb produces none, in general ,(except for pygmies) aquariums dont make good cham cages, for a whole host of reasons, if you value trixxi, you should do more homework and get her setup properly
 
A household bulb is fine as long as you have a UVB linear tube. MV bulbs if used properly are ok too and will provide both UVB and heat. I just wouldn't use one without having a UV meter, as you run a risk of over exposing the cham to UVB if it's too close.

Your viv as I'm sure you know is fine. Being in Ireland and most of Europe, glass is preferred as long as you've taken some sort of measures to add extra ventilation. Vent strips on one of the 4 walls of the viv or a small weak fan on the top pointing outward.

To answer your original question. No I don't think she is too close. At first I wanted to say yes, but seeing as you don't have any kind of dome/heat pointing fixture and it's just a naked light bulb, it shouldn't be a problem.
 
my recomendation would be to get a real basking light and a real cage , do you have proper uva/uvb lighting in addition to that lighting ?, if not, by the time symptoms appear , it will probably be to late , even an incandescent BASKING LIGHT like a zoo med will produce some uva , a household bulb produces none, in general ,(except for pygmies) aquariums dont make good cham cages, for a whole host of reasons, if you value trixxi, you should do more homework and get her setup properly

Yes i do have uvb lighting(a tube 5.0)!you just can't see it in the pic's i posted as it wasn't my concern on this post!only the fact of being to close to the basking light bulb was my issue!as to the issue "if i value" Trixxi then my answer is!!!!!...what u think,do my homework...have done... and check out my prev posts and see what kinda set up my girl had before i got her...wrong lighting,wrong temp,wrong substrate,no real plants...er....wrong everything...the fact that i have a glass enclosure(i know it's not the ideal!) is that i live in the U.K and i need it to be able to maintain her temps and humidity levels...anyway loads of people in the U.K have glass viv's!
 
Distance is going to depend on the desired basking temp. You need a way to accurately measure the basking temp and adjust the bulb's wattage and distance accordingly. But a real clamp light with a reflector might help focus the heat onto one spot thus allowing you to increase the distance. BTW I don't even use a basking lamp in my girl's cage. A 5.0 and a florescent plant bulb keep the temp near the top of the cage between 82 and 84*F. Remember if you are trying to keep her from cycling infertile clutches it's best to keep her temps in the low 80s and only feed her 6-10 feeders every other day. Like out lined on Brad's care guide:
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

Glass is commonly used in the UK without any problems, just watch your temps!!!
 
How old is she? Does she have a place to dig in the cage in case she needs to lay eggs?

Yep,got a large tug of damp play sand in the bottom right hand corner for when she's ready!the guy i got her from told me that he thought(guessed!more like!)that she was around 2-2 and a half years old and that while she was with him she laid two infertile clutches.
 
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my recomendation would be to get a real basking light and a real cage , do you have proper uva/uvb lighting in addition to that lighting ?, if not, by the time symptoms appear , it will probably be to late , even an incandescent BASKING LIGHT like a zoo med will produce some uva , a household bulb produces none, in general ,(except for pygmies) aquariums dont make good cham cages, for a whole host of reasons, if you value trixxi, you should do more homework and get her setup properly



lmao......:D


I always get a chuckle out of j walkers post...:)





Looks good Ronnie, and with good ventilation your fine mate!


-Jay
 
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