lighting arrangement on top of cage/misting questin

[budthecham]

hello i ahve a 1.5yrs old vieled. i have a 2x2x4ft cage i keep him in. and just come to find today after i put my brand new reptisun 5.0 dual light fixture up yesterday he apparently loves it, i woke up this morning to find him with his nose at the top of the cage trying to get as cose as he can to it. the fixture i have dosnt have reflectors on it so i made dues with aluminum foil. now his basking light is at the front of the cage it is 100watts at is about 9 inches away from the bulb. sould i have the uvb and the basking light aiming in the same direction? or does basking only occur for brief periods of the day? i also have a 60w regular house lamp that he can get rather close to but it does not put off any heat that would harm him. along with a reptiglo 18" 5.0 that i took the fixture out of a blacklight fixture. should i arrange so that everything is hitting in one spot? could anyone show me a few pics of their lighting setup?


also how do you guys measure the temps of a basking spot? i used a forehead thermometer color strip and tied it to one of those lance armstrong braclets so that it would be a few inches above the stick as if the height it would be if the cham was standing on it. it was at 94 i beleive so i left it there. any easier methods? becuase one inch up or down can mean the diff in 2-3 degrees.


when you mist your cham does he always run for cover? i use room temperature water and a spray bottle, he is usually fine but after i mist for a few mins he will run to his cubby hole in the back corner,

 

[jamie and jarrett]

My cham absolutely HATES being sprayed. She hisses and tries to bite the sprayer, and tries to hide of course! But, I have learned that she actually likes being sprayed once the lights are off. So I wait until the lights have been off for about 10 minutes and then I spray her. I guess this works because thats when it "mists" in the wild.

You should use really hot water because by the time it reaches them it will be a lot cooler. If you think it is too hot, spray yourself first. If it doesn't burn you then it is okay for your cham!

Also, try giving your cham a shower. Put them on a plant in the shower and turn the shower head so the water bounces off the wall and onto the plant. Do not let the water hit them directly from the shower head. Leave them in there for about 30 minutes.

 

[SuperRad]

Your basking light and uvb should be in the same direction. Your cham senses light as heat. So when he goes up to the uvb to absorb heat your heat lamp will give him what he's looking for.
Most veileds will run from water. Especially if it is cold or room temp. Try using warmer water and see if he runs or not. My female loves warm water. My male still hates mist period.

 

[budthecham]

ok i will try the warm water but i have alwys been under the impression that if you mist them when the lights are out they woukld get cold, as having no way to warm up. what do you guys do about plant growth i have one those ivy plants. will the uba-b lights help that or should i get a plant light?

i am wanting it to take over the cage but that will be a while

 

[summoner12]

Here is what my lights look like.

The ZooMed is a 10.0 in the picture. I currently use 5.0 and moved the lamp a little lower. The dome fixture houses a 100w ZooMed daytime UVA lamp.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

You should only mist when there will be plenty of light/heat time left for your chameleon to completely dry out and warm up.
I would not advise misting the animal at night or right before lights out.
Your chameleon should be able to choose between the UVB light or the basking (heat) light and sit under one or the other. They should not be directed at the same spot or right next to each other.

-Brad

 

[tryme]

I was worried then as i kind of have my basking light a bit away from my actual uv light but thanks to good old ramsey saving the day for me yet again



This is how mine is set out. (Bare in mind I now have a big dripper and those boxes arn't there any more)

 

[tryme]

Oh yeah also, will my uva/ubv light be enough for my plants to grow and stay alive :S I was thinking this the other day because i've had them for a while and they haven't died or anything yet they're looking really healthy.

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy Tryme,

As Brad said, creating a little bit of a UVB/heat gradient allows your chameleon to shift its position to get the balance of heat and UVB that most fits its needs. UVB alone without the right heat (skin temp) will not effectively produce the biological reaction that eventually ends-up taking care of his D3 needs. Your chameleon's skin needs to be up to operating temp for the UVB to work . You may find that this means that your UVB and heat lamps need to be within a few inches of each other for your chameleon to be able to tune his position for more optimum results. Remember it's a balance between the distance from the UVB source (usually around 6"-12") and the distance from the heat source that lets his skin temp get up to around 90-95F and thus utilize the UVB.

 

[tryme]

Yeah I see. Well, the distances seem ok to me which you can see in my pic