Lighting

Daesie11

Chameleon Enthusiast
I have a quad T5 fixture with 2 6500 daylight bulbs, one grow bulb, and one uvb 6%, and a dome with a 60W daylight bulb. I have both raised off the top of the enclosure, but my infrared is still reading 90F+ at the very top of the enclosure. And of course my boy sits at the very top corner of the enclosure where it's way warm up there. I've caught him gaping once or twice up there, so I've manually misted around (near but not at) him and he stops. My question is, what do I do to stop the heat from getting that high? Should I just take out one of the 6500 bulbs??
 
I have a quad T5 fixture with 2 6500 daylight bulbs, one grow bulb, and one uvb 6%, and a dome with a 60W daylight bulb. I have both raised off the top of the enclosure, but my infrared is still reading 90F+ at the very top of the enclosure. And of course my boy sits at the very top corner of the enclosure where it's way warm up there. I've caught him gaping once or twice up there, so I've manually misted around (near but not at) him and he stops. My question is, what do I do to stop the heat from getting that high? Should I just take out one of the 6500 bulbs??

2 6500s and a 60w bulb, that's a lot of heat. I'd recommend just taking one of the 6500 out and seeing what the temp difference is, much less drastic than some of the other options.
 
I plan to run no basking light with @Matt Vanilla Gorilla baby Ambanja after speaking with him on what the enclosure temps run without the light. If you can keep it 77-79 without the basking light you should be golden. What kinds of plants are you using? If pothos they really don't need that much light so taking out a 6500k wouldn't be a bad idea in that case.
Yeah I have a pothos and an umbrella plant. The pothos is growing like CRAZY. I'll just get rid of the basking lamp for now and see how it goes. He doesnt seem to bask under that one much anyway, mostly just under the quad fixture. I'll take out a 6500k if the heat is still high other than that. Thank you!! I wasnt sure what was necessary and what wasnt so I didnt want to remove anything without checking first. Obviously I know the uvb is necessary though.
Thanks guys!
 
I agree with what Camo is saying... But I do want to double check with you when you say you have the T5 raised up what do you mean? It needs to be sitting directly on the top of the enclosure with the basking branch at 7 inches below or you will not be providing the right uvb levels.
 
I agree with what Camo is saying... But I do want to double check with you when you say you have the T5 raised up what do you mean? It needs to be sitting directly on the top of the enclosure with the basking branch at 7 inches below or you will not be providing the right uvb levels.
I set up the fixture with the little feet that come with it last night when it was giving off too much heat. I'll take out the bulbs today and lower it back down! He still sits up pretty high in the enclosure so he should still be getting all the uvb he needs
 
I set up the fixture with the little feet that come with it last night when it was giving off too much heat. I'll take out the bulbs today and lower it back down! He still sits up pretty high in the enclosure so he should still be getting all the uvb he needs

So Uvb decreases very quickly as you move away from the bulb. Plus since you are using a 6% it is going to be lower then a 12% bulb. If you were using a 12% you could use the legs for how young he is. But with the 6% that 3 inches or so is a big drop in UVB in the cage below it.

Also the bulb placement in the fixture is important you want the UVB bulb to be over his basking area that he uses. If it is positioned to the front of the fixture and he hardly goes the the front area then he is not getting enough UVB.
 
So Uvb decreases very quickly as you move away from the bulb. Plus since you are using a 6% it is going to be lower then a 12% bulb. If you were using a 12% you could use the legs for how young he is. But with the 6% that 3 inches or so is a big drop in UVB in the cage below it.

Also the bulb placement in the fixture is important you want the UVB bulb to be over his basking area that he uses. If it is positioned to the front of the fixture and he hardly goes the the front area then he is not getting enough UVB.
Got it! I am thinking about getting a 12% just for my peace of mind. I might have to move around the placement of the bulb, he has mostly been hanging out in the back of the cage. He is still exploring though so it's all a guessing game right now. I'll keep all of that in mind though, thank you!
 
Got it! I am thinking about getting a 12% just for my peace of mind. I might have to move around the placement of the bulb, he has mostly been hanging out in the back of the cage. He is still exploring though so it's all a guessing game right now. I'll keep all of that in mind though, thank you!
Getting the 12%and keeping it around is a good plan. When theyre young in the wild they're hiding in the brush during the day trying to retreat from the powerful sun. 6% is fine for babies unless you have a ton of foliage.
 
Getting the 12%and keeping it around is a good plan. When theyre young in the wild they're hiding in the brush during the day trying to retreat from the powerful sun. 6% is fine for babies unless you have a ton of foliage.
I feel like I do have a ton of foliage in my enclosure. The bottom is pretty dark. I can post a close up picture tomorrow when the lights turn back on.
 
So I posted a full frontal and a top down picture of my enclosure. This is also after I took down my basking lamp and took one 6500 out of the quad fixture. I tested the temps today and they are much better, ranging from 77-85F around the top on various basking areas. It's really dark at the bottom of the enclosure though, and I dont think much if any uvb gets down there.
 

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Ah yes the ole "pet tree" setup. You will be fine with 100% blockage at some point. As long as you have a warm spot with 100%, they will bask as needed, and then when they are done they will just go and hide again.
 
Ah yes the ole "pet tree" setup. You will be fine with 100% blockage at some point. As long as you have a warm spot with 100%, they will bask as needed, and then when they are done they will just go and hide again.
You joke, but I'm very enamoured with my pet tree :ROFLMAO: my pothos I just put in my enclosure has more growth on it than the pothos I've had in my window for almost a year!
 
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