Lighting Schedule

Larissa132

Member
I'm about to order a light for my plants & want opinions on the best lighting schedule. I do my uvb and heat light 12 hours on and off but I seen people mention not using the heat bulb all day! With it on all day her basking spot sits at 85, not quite sure what it's able to get down to if that light were to be off.
 
Depends on the species and the ambient conditions. I would offer basking spot all day for any Furcifer species for example, but only offer morning basking spot (2-3hrs) for montanes and calumma species. Or if your ambient temp is on the lower end @72 I would offer all day.
 
Depends on the species and the ambient conditions. I would offer basking spot all day for any Furcifer species for example, but only offer morning basking spot (2-3hrs) for montanes and calumma species. Or if your ambient temp is on the lower end @72 I would offer all day.
Currently have a 3-4 month old female veiled chameleon.
 
I know the hobby is shifting towards lower temps for female veilds to prevent big clutches of infertile eggs. I would still go basking spot all day @85 degrees, but strictly limit her diet.
 
I'm about to order a light for my plants & want opinions on the best lighting schedule. I do my uvb and heat light 12 hours on and off but I seen people mention not using the heat bulb all day! With it on all day her basking spot sits at 85, not quite sure what it's able to get down to if that light were to be off.
IIRC, we touched on this before... The only light(s) I run 12/12 are the plant lights, because that's often the cutoff for short/long night plants.
https://extension.oregonstate.edu/news/what-are-short-day-long-day-plants

As far as UVB, early morning and late afternoon, most UVB is filtered out by the atmosphere.

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... so I have my UVB set to come on an hour later—and turn off an hour earlier—than the plant lights. This has the added effect of extending the usable life of the UVB bulb by up to 2 months.

Basking lights—as have been mentioned—can also be shortened, depending on species and ambient temps. (No sense in having a basking/heat lamp on any time the ambient temp in the enclosure is at or above basking temp.) I have my basking lamp set to go on & off with the UVB, but during warm weather, I shut it down earlier (I just have to remember to turn it back on for the next morning! :eek: )
 
IIRC, we touched on this before... The only light(s) I run 12/12 are the plant lights, because that's often the cutoff for short/long night plants.
https://extension.oregonstate.edu/news/what-are-short-day-long-day-plants

As far as UVB, early morning and late afternoon, most UVB is filtered out by the atmosphere.


... so I have my UVB set to come on an hour later—and turn off an hour earlier—than the plant lights. This has the added effect of extending the usable life of the UVB bulb by up to 2 months.

Basking lights—as have been mentioned—can also be shortened, depending on species and ambient temps. (No sense in having a basking/heat lamp on any time the ambient temp in the enclosure is at or above basking temp.) I have my basking lamp set to go on & off with the UVB, but during warm weather, I shut it down earlier (I just have to remember to turn it back on for the next morning! :eek: )
Thank you, didn't want to do this conversation on the other thread since it touched base on something else but I do appreciate you coming over to this one and explaining!!!🙂
 
IIRC, we touched on this before... The only light(s) I run 12/12 are the plant lights, because that's often the cutoff for short/long night plants.
https://extension.oregonstate.edu/news/what-are-short-day-long-day-plants

As far as UVB, early morning and late afternoon, most UVB is filtered out by the atmosphere.


... so I have my UVB set to come on an hour later—and turn off an hour earlier—than the plant lights. This has the added effect of extending the usable life of the UVB bulb by up to 2 months.

Basking lights—as have been mentioned—can also be shortened, depending on species and ambient temps. (No sense in having a basking/heat lamp on any time the ambient temp in the enclosure is at or above basking temp.) I have my basking lamp set to go on & off with the UVB, but during warm weather, I shut it down earlier (I just have to remember to turn it back on for the next morning! :eek: )
You're so educated , I love reading all the forums on this site. People probably thing I'm annoying liking stuff from 2+ years ago haha I just can't stop reading & learning.
 
IIRC, we touched on this before... The only light(s) I run 12/12 are the plant lights, because that's often the cutoff for short/long night plants.
https://extension.oregonstate.edu/news/what-are-short-day-long-day-plants

As far as UVB, early morning and late afternoon, most UVB is filtered out by the atmosphere.


... so I have my UVB set to come on an hour later—and turn off an hour earlier—than the plant lights. This has the added effect of extending the usable life of the UVB bulb by up to 2 months.

Basking lights—as have been mentioned—can also be shortened, depending on species and ambient temps. (No sense in having a basking/heat lamp on any time the ambient temp in the enclosure is at or above basking temp.) I have my basking lamp set to go on & off with the UVB, but during warm weather, I shut it down earlier (I just have to remember to turn it back on for the next morning! :eek: )
Although now I'm interested. I thought uvb was 12 hours ? So 9 to 9 8 to 8 etc. Can you tell me your schedule like time to time lol. Just wanna get a good idea.
 
Although now I'm interested. I thought uvb was 12 hours ? So 9 to 9 8 to 8 etc. Can you tell me your schedule like time to time lol. Just wanna get a good idea.
OK, I learned the... less soft way to sync lights with the Sun (It just makes things easier for me). Looking up my local climate data, I found that during EST, noon really is noon; the Sun rises & sets exactly the same length of time each way before & after.

So I set my "Sun" (plant lights—the brightest lights in the enclosure) 6am-6pm EST
UVB 7am-5pm EST
Basking 7am-5pm (or earlier than 5pm if warranted) EST

Part of the beauty is that even though it's still DST, I don't have to change the light timers. The clocks change twice a year—but the Sun doesn't—it stays the same year-round, so do the timers.
 
@Klyde O'Scope has some really good points (might be changing some of my timers)

I’m a big fan of dimming thermostats for any heat source. I use herpstats. They’re very reliable. Using the ramping and bask assist features, you can gradually increase temperature from night temps to daytime over a couple of hours each day

also, your ambient conditions are constantly fluctuating throughout the day and the year and a dimming thermostat will adjust with ambient conditions to avoid heat spikes
 
OK, I learned the... less soft way to sync lights with the Sun (It just makes things easier for me). Looking up my local climate data, I found that during EST, noon really is noon; the Sun rises & sets exactly the same length of time each way before & after.

So I set my "Sun" (plant lights—the brightest lights in the enclosure) 6am-6pm EST
UVB 7am-5pm EST
Basking 7am-5pm (or earlier than 5pm if warranted) EST

Part of the beauty is that even though it's still DST, I don't have to change the light timers. The clocks change twice a year—but the Sun doesn't—it stays the same year-round, so do the timers.
O that's really cool. Thanks for explaining lol.
 
Sun plants can sit on top. Basking temps & uvb need to be lifted depending on where your basking branches are or if you cham screen climbs. Depends on your watt & uvb watt as well. I don't know the different inches for different lights off the top of my head but I can chime in a few who do.
 
Sun plants can sit on top. Basking temps & uvb need to be lifted depending on where your basking branches are or if you cham screen climbs. Depends on your watt & uvb watt as well. I don't know the different inches for different lights off the top of my head but I can chime in a few who do.
I have the basking branches at the length they need to be at for the uvb and heat bulb but the plant light is bright so I wasn't sure if that could just sit up their or not!
 
I have the basking branches at the length they need to be at for the uvb and heat bulb but the plant light is bright so I wasn't sure if that could just sit up their or not!
If it doesn't have heat I'm pretty sure it can just sit on top.
 
I don't like to sit anything directly on the screen mesh, because over time, it will stretch & deform the mesh. I prefer to support lights on slats of wood that keep them just above the mesh, and transfer the weight to the frame.

I've updated these, but the idea is still the same.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/simple-uvb-fixture-supports.177896/
I have everything sitting on boards right now besides my heat lamp! I love that idea for cutting the board for the uvb light, going to have to do that with my new light fixture coming in today!!! I also realized that was going to weigh down the screen after just setting it up there so I got boards up there asap. Just wasn't sure if there was a certain distance the light needed to be from my little girl or not!!
 
I have everything sitting on boards right now besides my heat lamp! I love that idea for cutting the board for the uvb light, going to have to do that with my new light fixture coming in today!!! I also realized that was going to weigh down the screen after just setting it up there so I got boards up there asap. Just wasn't sure if there was a certain distance the light needed to be from my little girl or not!!
A UVI meter (Solarmeter 6.5x or DIY equiv.) is the only way to tell for sure.
Some "guesstimate" 8-10" from UV bulb to basking site (see bulb mfrs. sites for recommendations), but my UVB runs a little hot, so it's 12-13" to get a UVI of 3.

If that new fixture includes a new UVB bulb, remember that these T5 bulbs typically require a burn-in period of 50-100 hours when they will put out higher levels of UVB. Some let them burn for a week (12 hrs/day) or temporarily lower the basking site by a few inches. Again, a UVI meter is really the only way to know for sure. They're a few dollars, but will pay for themselves in time just in not replacing bulbs too soon, but also in peace of mind that everything's as it should be without guesswork.
 
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