Light too weak?

TylerMcCoy

New Member
i just purchsed the repti glo 5.0.. the light emitted does not seem strong enough... i was wondering if i should use perhaps a natural sunshine light in addition to the repti glo
 
If you do get the ReptiSun, UVB bulbs tend to look a little dim (compared to a regular light) even when they are doing their job.
 
i just purchsed the repti glo 5.0.. the light emitted does not seem strong enough... i was wondering if i should use perhaps a natural sunshine light in addition to the repti glo
it doesnt have to be either or , natural sunshine in addition to artificial lighting is always a good idea , but be sure to adjust your d3 accordingly , the more natural sunshine you are able to provide, the less d3 you need to supplement, (calcium is still required, so are occasional multivites). i agree with the previous posters that a genuine reptisun is a better bulb, thats not to say that others wont work, but reptisuns have the most proven track record and i believe are the only ones made from a pure quartz tube. uvb lights are not in a spectrum that is pleasing to the human eye , if you want lighting that shows off your animals use a 2 bulb fixture (or 2 fixtures) and make one a full spectrum, that will brighten things up considerably and and provide a better viewing experience
 
The UV-source is just that - the source of UV. This has nothing to do with the visual "white" light you want, you will have to get that on the side.
Daylight tubes are great, lots of different brands.
 
Lighting is one of the most over looked aspects of keeping chameleons with live plants. Plants need light. Different plants need different levels of light intensity.

Typical "plant" floros you find at DIY stores and Wilmar/Target are better than standard floro tubes but are usually on the high end of the spectrum, outside of what's "ideal" for plants. For that you want a bulb in the 5500-6700 Kelvin range. Little tip...if it doesn't state it being in that range on the box, it usually isn't. You can look through plant supply websites for the right bulbs or you can go to your local pet store. They usually will have limited supply of plant bulbs in the right spectrum. You can usually find them cheaper online at bigal's.com or drfosnsmith.com.

In response to the not using a UV bulb. That form of keeping is a possibility, but it is not easy to dose the right levels of D3, especially for a young cham that is growing and will need varying levels. It is really easy to over dose and kill your cham. So with that, no it is not something even an experienced keeper should attempt long term, and it certainly isn't something a novice should attempt.
 
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