Lights for the side of enclosure?

Lil’ Sneak

Established Member
Has anyone tried using light for the side of the enclosure? Something to penetrate a bit farther into the plants... We’re having a bit of dead leaves on the lower levels. Everything up top or within reach of the 6500k is thriving and lush. Just wondered what everyone’s thoughts were, or any potential issues. Again, just looking for some plant light, UVB is covered.
 
I'd imagine you could no problem, buy a lamp with a bendable arm up top and position it to shine down into the cage at an angle. You would have to use a screw in plant light bulb though.
What about a t5 single mounted vertically to the stand on the side? How much light is too much for a Cham? I mean I obviously don‘t want to blind him...
 
You should not have lighting mounted on the sides at all. This does confuse them... I mean think of it as the sun. It comes from above... Also this is going to mess up your heat gradient as you descend in the cage. So warmest on top where lighting is and then lower should get cooler. T5's will still put out heat. You may need an additional 6500k on top. Take a pic of your cage and post with lights on... Most commonly this can be an issue of too much or too little water.
 
You should not have lighting mounted on the sides at all. This does confuse them... I mean think of it as the sun. It comes from above... Also this is going to mess up your heat gradient as you descend in the cage. So warmest on top where lighting is and then lower should get cooler. T5's will still put out heat. You may need an additional 6500k on top. Take a pic of your cage and post with lights on... Most commonly this can be an issue of too much or too little water.
Thanks, that makes sense...
 
It’s an interesting question. Some do argue that light only from above is an unnatural position for the lights, and 2/3 of the day sunlight would be coming from the side. They further believe that basking occurs in the morning and the afternoon. At both of these times, sunlight would be coming more from the side. I have my lights on top as well, but there is some natural logic to the argument

https://www.chameleons.info/l/direction-of-light/
 
It’s an interesting question. Some do argue that light only from above is an unnatural position for the lights, and 2/3 of the day sunlight would be coming from the side. They further believe that basking occurs in the morning and the afternoon. At both of these times, sunlight would be coming more from the side. I have my lights on top as well, but there is some natural logic to the argument

https://www.chameleons.info/l/direction-of-light/
Yes, and even when the sun is high noon, the power and reflected light penetrate the forest canopy from multiple angles like no amount of overhead lighting could do...
 
Yes, and even when the sun is high noon, the power and reflected light penetrate the forest canopy from multiple angles like no amount of overhead lighting could do...
I definitely agree. No artificial light source can match the sun
 
My worry with it is not that it comes from the side. As mentioned sun does as well. It’s that you create an entire enclosure that has the same ambient temp. This gives them no where to cool down should they need it. Which we know there are times that they move down out of heat to regulate temperature. Gradients for temp and humidity are needed.
 
My worry with it is not that it comes from the side. As mentioned sun does as well. It’s that you create an entire enclosure that has the same ambient temp. This gives them no where to cool down should they need it. Which we know there are times that they move down out of heat to regulate temperature. Gradients for temp and humidity are needed.
Like I said, my lights are all on top, but wouldn’t those gradients occur in a horizontal fashion if the lights are on the side vs the top? I understand the original thought was having both side and top lit which could reduce the gradients depending on the size of the enclosure and how it’s furnished.
Theoretically, creating a sequential light source Left, top, right those gradients could still occur horizontally the same way they occur vertically in our current set ups. This would occur within a bush in the morning or afternoon in the wild with the sunlit side warmer than The opposite side. There’s obviously some major obstacles to overcome doing this, but I think gradients would be possible.
 
Has anyone tried using light for the side of the enclosure? Something to penetrate a bit farther into the plants... We’re having a bit of dead leaves on the lower levels. Everything up top or within reach of the 6500k is thriving and lush. Just wondered what everyone’s thoughts were, or any potential issues. Again, just looking for some plant light, UVB is covered.
Here's my take, ya Lil’ Sneak... :LOL:

There are enclosures that come with (or people have installed) LED strips, e.g.
https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-ReptiBreeze-Aluminum-Habitat/dp/B014Z4IOC2?th=1&psc=1
but AFAIK, those LED strips are only good for viewing a cham when ambient lighting is inadequate—they're not intended as supplemental plant lighting.

I agree that (and this is my opinion from my understanding of enclosure lighting) most lighting should come from the top—or slightly angled from the top. This could be from more than one source to increase lighting farther down, but all sources should be primarily from the top.

Looking at it from a plant perspective, different plants have different lighting requirements (e.g. full-sun, partial-sun, low-light, etc.) and enclosures can be planned & set up to take best advantage of these factors.

IOW, I'm planning my enclosure to have low-light plants at the bottom where they're likely to receive the least light, partial-sun plants at mid levels, and full-sun plants at or near the top.

No amount of planning is perfect, and adjustments may have to be made later, but it seemed like a plan... ;)
 
Like I said, my lights are all on top, but wouldn’t those gradients occur in a horizontal fashion if the lights are on the side vs the top? I understand the original thought was having both side and top lit which could reduce the gradients depending on the size of the enclosure and how it’s furnished.
Theoretically, creating a sequential light source Left, top, right those gradients could still occur horizontally the same way they occur vertically in our current set ups. This would occur within a bush in the morning or afternoon in the wild with the sunlit side warmer than The opposite side. There’s obviously some major obstacles to overcome doing this, but I think gradients would be possible.
Yeah theoretically sure I think it could be done. Not necessarily with the standard size cages we use though. IMO the gradients would still be effected. I run a few temp/humidity gauges in my enclosure. One at basking, one middle, and one 9 inches from the bottom. I get different temps and a humidity difference. While basking will site at 82 , 9 inches from the bottom I get a full 10 degree drop. With humidity it is the same. Middle and bottom being different humidity levels by about 5% and then about 15% lower then basking. Then there is placement of lighting such as T5 UVB you have to account for the UVI level. So essentially anywhere along one side they would be exposed then moving to the other side no exposure. This I would think would be problematic with chameleons being as how they go to the highest point to bask.

I dunno. I am more of a color between the lines and do what has been done and works kind of girl. While I will stray a bit this idea is a little too much for me lol.
 
Here's my take, ya Lil’ Sneak... :LOL:

There are enclosures that come with (or people have installed) LED strips, e.g.
https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-ReptiBreeze-Aluminum-Habitat/dp/B014Z4IOC2?th=1&psc=1
but AFAIK, those LED strips are only good for viewing a cham when ambient lighting is inadequate—they're not intended as supplemental plant lighting.

I agree that (and this is my opinion from my understanding of enclosure lighting) most lighting should come from the top—or slightly angled from the top. This could be from more than one source to increase lighting farther down, but all sources should be primarily from the top.

Looking at it from a plant perspective, different plants have different lighting requirements (e.g. full-sun, partial-sun, low-light, etc.) and enclosures can be planned & set up to take best advantage of these factors.

IOW, I'm planning my enclosure to have low-light plants at the bottom where they're likely to receive the least light, partial-sun plants at mid levels, and full-sun plants at or near the top.

No amount of planning is perfect, and adjustments may have to be made later, but it seemed like a plan... ;)
I agree, planting strategy is probably key, and a great way to maximize plant health... We have replaced the fern at the bottom that was not doing so hot with a snake plant that should do much better in the lower levels of light.

@DocZ really got me thinking though, with @PetNcs article on the direction of light... I started to notice how the lower levels are much darker, than say the lower canopies of the bushes and trees in my yard. I'm not sure a solution is practical, feasible, or even necessary; it has however, peaked my interest.
 
Yeah theoretically sure I think it could be done. Not necessarily with the standard size cages we use though. IMO the gradients would still be effected. I run a few temp/humidity gauges in my enclosure. One at basking, one middle, and one 9 inches from the bottom. I get different temps and a humidity difference. While basking will site at 82 , 9 inches from the bottom I get a full 10 degree drop. With humidity it is the same. Middle and bottom being different humidity levels by about 5% and then about 15% lower then basking. Then there is placement of lighting such as T5 UVB you have to account for the UVI level. So essentially anywhere along one side they would be exposed then moving to the other side no exposure. This I would think would be problematic with chameleons being as how they go to the highest point to bask.

I dunno. I am more of a color between the lines and do what has been done and works kind of girl. While I will stray a bit this idea is a little too much for me lol.
It maybe more trouble than it's worth, I can absolutely concede that... I think you are correct in that some sort of temp/humidity gradients would have to be maintained, and vertical levels in a 23" space would probably not work. I still think it would be possible to add "some" additional lower level lighting and still maintain horizontal gradients sufficient for a proper habitat. I just love thinking about all of the little details! Interesting stuff!
 
It maybe more trouble than it's worth, I can absolutely concede that... I think you are correct in that some sort of temp/humidity gradients would have to be maintained, and vertical levels in a 23" space would probably not work. I still think it would be possible to add "some" additional lower level lighting and still maintain horizontal gradients sufficient for a proper habitat. I just love thinking about all of the little details! Interesting stuff!

i solve the problem in my cages easily...
I put the linear sources vertically.
but I can not recommend it in general as tjere sre security constraints...

i can affird it as my cages are 4ft wide
 
There are no temperature gradients in nature like there are in our cages. I've had lights come from an angle before, but I get what beman is saying having them on top and the side can seem like overkill. Still though, outside it is much brighter, even in the shade, than what a t5 can put out. And t5s have heat, but not all that much and the warm air will rise so if anything it'll be slightly warmer next to the screen, but not all the way through like a basking light.

To sum it up, IMO you're not going to hurt your chameleon by having lighting on the side that is far less intense than even the shade outside.
 
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I think it may look kind of goofy though. Maybe have some LED bulbs that poke through the plants and reach below. Those 6500k t5 grow lights aren't nearly as good as them.
 
I think it may look kind of goofy though. Maybe have some LED bulbs that poke through the plants and reach below. Those 6500k t5 grow lights aren't nearly as good as them.
LED bulbs are better than the t5’s? Do you have a link to what you’re thinking... I was under the assumption that the LED tech wasn’t quite there...but I’m certainly not a lighting expert... New to all of this in general! I just genuinely like “rabbit holes”!?
 
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