New cage finally set up...

[zqblondie]

So after a month of having our male and female Veileds together it was finally time to seperate them. We got a new cage from Blue Beast and set it up for Mr Miyagi...

Hope we did a good job, let me know some feedback on what you guys think of it...
Mr Miyagis(male) new cage:

Mr Miyagi in his new home

Agent 99's(female) cage:

Agent 99:

 

[bg77]

looking good........

 

[Julirs]

Cage looks great-where is your UVB light?

 

[m1ndless]

X2 on the UVB light! Are you using a mercury vapor bulb in the first enclosure? WHere is your basking light in the 2nd setup?

 

[Vibrant Chameleons]

Cage looks great-where is your UVB light?

I would imagine they are using a MVB. Looks like it to me. Considering their obvious research, I highly doubt they'd forget about the uvb.

 

[zqblondie]

Cage looks great-where is your UVB light?

In the first setup we have the Zilla 2 in one...
It has a circular UVB light, with a basking/heating light in the middle.
have a 2 1/2 foot dracaena and a ficus in there. Mr Miyagi seems to like it so far, but he still looks a little lost in the cage...lol

In the second setup we have a zilla Tropical series 20" T5 UVB light with an Exo Terra basking light behind it.

We havent been using the basking lights really tho...
I cant regulate the heat in my apt and there cages have been between 85-90 degrees without the basking light even being on.


any other thoughts?
for mr miyagis cage, we want to build one of those rock looking backrounds we have seen on here. Think it will really make it a great cage setup when complete.

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy,

Here's the link to my original posting about the Zilla Tropical T-50 UVB lamp. Until the manufacturer finishes their re-formulation of the phosphor, this lamp remains dangerous. Even though you might be able to position it far enough away to minimize the danger, I'd take it out and use a Reptisun 5.0 linear tube. I personally photographed one of the little dead panthers as part of the report to the manufacturer .

https://www.chameleonforums.com/new-special-report-uvb-6122/

 

[zqblondie]

Howdy,

Here's the link to my original posting about the Zilla Tropical T-50 UVB lamp. Until the manufacturer finishes their re-formulation of the phosphor, this lamp remains dangerous. Even though you might be able to position it far enough away to minimize the danger, I'd take it out and use a Reptisun 5.0 linear tube. I personally photographed one of the little dead panthers as part of the report to the manufacturer .

https://www.chameleonforums.com/new-special-report-uvb-6122/

The store we bought it from told us all about this...and he told us the one we bought was safe.
It is the Zilla tropical series 25...
25 microwatts UVB@12"
at the bottom of the box is says 20" T5
http://www.zilla-rules.com/products/tropical-series-low-profile-fixtures.htm

is this the dangerous one?

this is the one we used on Mr Miyagis cage.
http://www.zilla-rules.com/products/combo-dome.htm

 

[dectr6]

IMO you will get much better advice on here than in the store that is selling these. Two of our major pet stores including one that sells chams, told me all I needed was a basking light and no UVB. I knew better but it just goes to show you that most don't know what their talking about. Dave Weldon has done actual measurements on various bulbs and knows what he's talking about. About your setup. It looks great but I don't know if it's just the lighting but it looks very dark in the top two pics. Good luck. I'm sure Dave will get back to you on your specific questions about the bulb you are currently using. David

 

[Dyesub Dave]

Hey ... I love that rock wall in the back!! Is that just small pieces of slate hot glued together or something?

Dyesub Dave.

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy,

Sorry to say that I think it is still too risky to go with even the 25uW/cm2 tube at this point. Not only is the risk related to the actual output level in uW but that the spectral spread is wrong for our animals. There are wavelengths being output that are not part of the natural spectral content of sunlight and are actually leaning towards the direction of the dangerous UVC wavelengths. This is part of the reason that they are re-formulating their phosphor. It all comes back to eliminating variables that can potentially lead to illness. If your chameleon should begin to become sick, you want to have been keeping him within acceptable parameters so as to be able to eliminate things like UVB, temp, hydration, foods, supplements etc. as causing the problem.

I shouldn't joke about things like this but: If the Zilla Tropical 50 made dead chameleons then I guess the Tropical 25 series will only make half-dead chameleons . Seriously, get the Reptisun 5.0 linear tube and eliminate the possibility.

Zilla 50 at 1 inch as an example of what a screen crawling chameleon might be exposed to (1752uW/cm2):

Blistering after a few days of Series 50 "UVB" exposure:

 

[zqblondie]

Hey ... I love that rock wall in the back!! Is that just small pieces of slate hot glued together or something?

Dyesub Dave.

thanks everyone for your comments...
real quick Dyesub...Its actually a picture backround we bought from a Fish Store. The cage is 3 sides screen, and the back is glass. We figured best to have that instead of glass so she does not see her reflection.

We are looking to build a rock looking backround for the larger tank tho.

Dave
I am going to try and return the Zilla light tomorrow for a reptisun. The store we bought the lights from is a dedicated reptile store and they reallllllly seem to know about all of their products. He guaranteed that this would be fine, but I really dont want to take a chance.

any other suggestions on how we can improve the tanks?

 

[Dyesub Dave]

I was wondering if it was real? I looked at it for a while and it looks very 3 dimensional in the pic. LOL

Good luck with your UVB lighing!

Dyesub Dave.

 

[Dylan Dutz]

The cages look good, but I suggest making there be an actual subtrate in the female's cage, so when she gets gravid she'll have a place to lay her eggs