Lighting confusion

[Shalynchameleon]

The first photo is the light I’ve been using. It doesn’t give off any heat and my cham has been with me for a month since I adopted him from neglect. He is still very angry and stressed. Now the second photo is a light I just turned on for him for the first time ever and he is so happy and soaking up the heat. How should I manage these lights with the times etc, I’ve posted before and have answered all the husbandry questions and I can’t post pics of him rn because he is shedding. So should I alternate these lights? Keep these on together at the same time?

 

[bbyoda]

First off welcome back and thanks for giving a neglected chameleon a good home.

I went back to look at your previous thread and saw that you got great advice from @Beman and @MissSkittles already. I can hop in here and clarify a bit! It's really an iterative process getting husbandry down right. You set up the basics as recommended here, observe your chameleon, make tweaks as needed based on your temps, humidity, etc. So don't get discouraged!

In this post, @Beman said to remove the film off your Zilla light (or no UVB gets out) and go buy the proper T5 5.0 High Output linear light for the right UVB levels. Did you do that yet? Proper UVB is key to prevent chameleons from developing Metabolic Bone Disease, or MBD.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/new-chameleon-owner.184607/post-1696783

I believe those blue lights aren't good because the light can damage the chameleons eyes. As you know their eyes are part of what makes them unique and they also happen to be very sensitive! So you'll want to get a regular white incandescent light to replace the blue light.

It's important to get the right lights so that's why I'm making these points first.

But regarding the light schedule, 12 hours on and 12 hours off for UVB. You can have the heat lamp on for the same amount of time, too.

A lot of members here, myself included, have the heat light on for a few hours in the early morning and afternoon for Veileds (mine is 8am to 3pm). That way they get heat as they need in the morning and after eating, and then you save electricity and they don't bake themselves all day. I live in Florida so things get hot in the afternoons and turning off the heat lamp helps keep ambient temps in a safe range, too.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

The first photo is the light I’ve been using. It doesn’t give off any heat and my cham has been with me for a month since I adopted him from neglect. He is still very angry and stressed. Now the second photo is a light I just turned on for him for the first time ever and he is so happy and soaking up the heat. How should I manage these lights with the times etc, I’ve posted before and have answered all the husbandry questions and I can’t post pics of him rn because he is shedding. So should I alternate these lights? Keep these on together at the same time?

No wonder—they're different kinds of lights for different purposes.

The T8 is old tech UVB. A newer T5 HO will be more powerful (reach a greater distance) and last at least twice as long.

The Daylight Blue is a basking bulb; it is for daytime heat only. It has no (useable) UVB, and the UVA it gives off is redundant—you'll get better UVA from a linear T5 UVB HO UVB bulb. If your cham is happy under it, it may just be because he's finally warmer than without it. IMO, gimmick bulbs like this are marketed/sold for the keeper's benefit rather than the animal's health/well-being.

A chameleon needs BOTH kinds of light. If you're keeping your chameleon indoors and have live plants (which is advisable) you'll likely also need a third kind—a plant/grow light.
TWO kinds of lights for the chameleon—ONE kind of light for the plants.

There's no harm in running all 3 kinds of lights on the same 12/12 schedule. As your knowledge & experience grow, you might want to explore some tweaking, but getting everything right initially should take precedence.

 

[Shalynchameleon]

First off welcome back and thanks for giving a neglected chameleon a good home.

I went back to look at your previous thread and saw that you got great advice from @Beman and @MissSkittles already. I can hop in here and clarify a bit! It's really an iterative process getting husbandry down right. You set up the basics as recommended here, observe your chameleon, make tweaks as needed based on your temps, humidity, etc. So don't get discouraged!

In this post, @Beman said to remove the film off your Zilla light (or no UVB gets out) and go buy the proper T5 5.0 High Output linear light for the right UVB levels. Did you do that yet? Proper UVB is key to prevent chameleons from developing Metabolic Bone Disease, or MBD.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/new-chameleon-owner.184607/post-1696783

I believe those blue lights aren't good because the light can damage the chameleons eyes. As you know their eyes are part of what makes them unique and they also happen to be very sensitive! So you'll want to get a regular white incandescent light to replace the blue light.

It's important to get the right lights so that's why I'm making these points first.

But regarding the light schedule, 12 hours on and 12 hours off for UVB. You can have the heat lamp on for the same amount of time, too.

A lot of members here, myself included, have the heat light on for a few hours in the early morning and afternoon for Veileds (mine is 8am to 3pm). That way they get heat as they need in the morning and after eating, and then you save electricity and they don't bake themselves all day. I live in Florida so things get hot in the afternoons and turning off the heat lamp helps keep ambient temps in a safe range, too.

Yes thank you I did make those lighting adjustments. So i can use a standard white reptile light for heat at the same time as the original bulb I had. Keep the original on for the 12 hours but the white heat light can just stay on for about 5 hours?

 

[Shalynchameleon]

No wonder—they're different kinds of lights for different purposes.

The T8 is old tech UVB. A newer T5 HO will be more powerful (reach a greater distance) and last at least twice as long.

The Daylight Blue is a basking bulb; it is for daytime heat only. It has no (useable) UVB, and the UVA it gives off is redundant—you'll get better UVA from a linear T5 UVB HO UVB bulb. If your cham is happy under it, it may just be because he's finally warmer than without it. IMO, gimmick bulbs like this are marketed/sold for the keeper's benefit rather than the animal's health/well-being.

A chameleon needs BOTH kinds of light. If you're keeping your chameleon indoors and have live plants (which is advisable) you'll likely also need a third kind—a plant/grow light.
TWO kinds of lights for the chameleon—ONE kind of light for the plants.

There's no harm in running all 3 kinds of lights on the same 12/12 schedule. As your knowledge & experience grow, you might want to explore some tweaking, but getting everything right initially should take precedence.

Perfect. Thank you

 

[Shalynchameleon]

Perfect. Thank you

So get the T5 and use a white basking heat lamp right?

 

[CasqueAbove]

Yes thank you I did make those lighting adjustments. So i can use a standard white reptile light for heat at the same time as the original bulb I had. Keep the original on for the 12 hours but the white heat light can just stay on for about 5 hours?

Generaly it is 1 hr in the am and 1 hr in the evening. for heat. Some will over bask if given the chance.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

So get the T5 and use a white basking heat lamp right?

Yes.
For basking lights, I prefer (in order of preference):

1. Household incandescent bulb (not LED)
2. Incandescent flood light (not LED and not spot light)
3. Halogen flood light (not spot light)

A clamp light fixture works well for basking lights.

Basking lamps are best installed/mounted at an angle to produce a temperature gradient rather than a hot-spot.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Generaly it is 1 hr in the am and 1 hr in the evening. for heat. Some will over bask if given the chance.

I've heard of reduced hours, but nothing that austere. IDT I've ever heard of over-basking either.
Got a link/article I could read?

 

[CasqueAbove]

I've heard of reduced hours, but nothing that austere. IDT I've ever heard of over-basking either.
Got a link/article I could read?

From a chameleon Acadamy podcast.

 

[Shalynchameleon]

Yes.
For basking lights, I prefer (in order of preference):

1. Household incandescent bulb (not LED)
2. Incandescent flood light (not LED and not spot light)
3. Halogen flood light (not spot light)

A clamp light fixture works well for basking lights.

Basking lamps are best installed/mounted at an angle to produce a temperature gradient rather than a hot-spot.

That’s great because that’s the only way I can had both lights on at the same time is by having it hang at that angle.