New Enclosure...review pretty please

I finally got my Reptisun 5.0 linear bulb and hood...so I got the babies into their bigger enclosure. It's a 16x16x30. They will both get their own 18x18x36 or larger, as they mature. They're both 3 week old females.

I'd love any suggestions for something I may have missed.

The plants are both live...golden Pathos and a spider plant. Both plant soils are organic and covered with flat, large diameter river rock. The branches are olive tree branches from my yard that have been dried, stripped and washed. There are 10 different sized and located branches for them to travel from top to bottom. Their basking spot is about 78degrees and the lower level is 65. Humidity is 48% right now...I hand mist and use a dripper. The bottom will contain a laying box in the next month or so. They have a dark heat lamp at 60w and the Reptisun 5.0 HO Linear lamp and hood. I believe it's a 24". I have both lamps lifted off the screen because they are screen climbers. They sit on a 2x2 H Frame I constructed.

What have I missed or need to change?
 

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No...the heat lamp is a black heat lamp (doesn't put out light) and the hood is a white linear UVB
Okay I don’t know if this is good because I’m not familiar with hatchlings but for older I definitely know this

It should be a white light so the chameleon recognizes it as a heat source.
 
And I would raise your lights a little bit

Btw on my light post I meant

I don’t know a lot about hatchlings light but when they get older you will definitely need a white light I know that much
 
And I would raise your lights a little bit

Btw on my light post I meant

I don’t know a lot about hatchlings light but when they get older you will definitely need a white light I know that much
Lights are raised. They are sitting off the cage on a frame I built. It's black, so you're not looking at the lights sitting on the cage. Their basking temp would be too cool if I lifted the lights any higher.
 
And I would raise your lights a little bit

Btw on my light post I meant

I don’t know a lot about hatchlings light but when they get older you will definitely need a white light I know that much
Because they're hatchlings...and my husband is part polar bear, I had to have a lightless heat lamp for night time. I get to set my alarm mid way to check the temps. They were dropping below 60. We've been cooler this week...but hitting triple digits again so I'll be battling the cold ac house and keeping them in a good range at night. As they mature, I won't have an issue and can use a white light and only worry about heat during the day. So for now...I've been told this was a fine option. But everyone has a different opinion so I'm sure someone else will tell me to let them get colder than 60 lol
 
I finally got my Reptisun 5.0 linear bulb and hood...so I got the babies into their bigger enclosure. It's a 16x16x30. They will both get their own 18x18x36 or larger, as they mature. They're both 3 week old females.

I'd love any suggestions for something I may have missed.

The plants are both live...golden Pathos and a spider plant. Both plant soils are organic and covered with flat, large diameter river rock. The branches are olive tree branches from my yard that have been dried, stripped and washed. There are 10 different sized and located branches for them to travel from top to bottom. Their basking spot is about 78degrees and the lower level is 65. Humidity is 48% right now...I hand mist and use a dripper. The bottom will contain a laying box in the next month or so. They have a dark heat lamp at 60w and the Reptisun 5.0 HO Linear lamp and hood. I believe it's a 24". I have both lamps lifted off the screen because they are screen climbers. They sit on a 2x2 H Frame I constructed.

What have I missed or need to change?
Hi there.... So with the T5HO fixture and the 5.0 bulb you want a total of 8-9 inches to the branches at the top level. You will want to lift the T5 up off the top 4 inches and then have 4-5 inches to the branches from the screen. So this would make a total of 8-9 inches from the bottom of the fixture to the branch.

This way if the babies screen climb the top panel they are not over exposed to high levels of UVB lighting.

Heat fixture should be lifted quite a bit as well. You do not want thermal burns from them sitting on the screen.

You want to put them into 2x2x4 cages rather than an 18x18x36. And I would not leave them together for more then a few more weeks. They will start nipping at each other and one will try to establish dominancy. So really watch them in the coming weeks. You will not want to wait until they are older than 3 months or one can actually decline and even die.

Because they're hatchlings...and my husband is part polar bear, I had to have a lightless heat lamp for night time. I get to set my alarm mid way to check the temps. They were dropping below 60. We've been cooler this week...but hitting triple digits again so I'll be battling the cold ac house and keeping them in a good range at night. As they mature, I won't have an issue and can use a white light and only worry about heat during the day. So for now...I've been told this was a fine option. But everyone has a different opinion so I'm sure someone else will tell me to let them get colder than 60 lol

How are you checking your basking spot temps? What type of bulb exactly are you using? Is it a ceramic heat emitter?

I understand not wanting to drop them below 60 this young. I probably would not want to either.
 
Hi there.... So with the T5HO fixture and the 5.0 bulb you want a total of 8-9 inches to the branches at the top level. You will want to lift the T5 up off the top 4 inches and then have 4-5 inches to the branches from the screen. So this would make a total of 8-9 inches from the bottom of the fixture to the branch.

This way if the babies screen climb the top panel they are not over exposed to high levels of UVB lighting.

Heat fixture should be lifted quite a bit as well. You do not want thermal burns from them sitting on the screen.

You want to put them into 2x2x4 cages rather than an 18x18x36. And I would not leave them together for more then a few more weeks. They will start nipping at each other and one will try to establish dominancy. So really watch them in the coming weeks. You will not want to wait until they are older than 3 months or one can actually decline and even die.



How are you checking your basking spot temps? What type of bulb exactly are you using? Is it a ceramic heat emitter?

I understand not wanting to drop them below 60 this young. I probably would not want to either.
Thank you so much for replying. I do have their basking area 8 inches from the uvb. But only 3 inches if they screen climb. The heat lamp is a black, night time heat lamp that produces no real light. It's only 40w (I thought I had bought 60w..but remembered I opted for 40 so that they had that night time drop...but not too low) I will get that replaced. I only have LED bulbs in my house...so I'll get an incandescent and another dome for daytime basking. I can leave my hand (palm side down) actually touching the screen and it not feel anything but luke warm. Is this still too hot for them?

I have three thermometer/hydrometer probes in the different areas of the enclosure so I can monitor each zone. Because they're babies, they rarely leave the basking area. If they want shade...they hide under one of the leaves.
 
Thank you so much for replying. I do have their basking area 8 inches from the uvb. But only 3 inches if they screen climb. The heat lamp is a black, night time heat lamp that produces no real light. It's only 40w (I thought I had bought 60w..but remembered I opted for 40 so that they had that night time drop...but not too low) I will get that replaced. I only have LED bulbs in my house...so I'll get an incandescent and another dome for daytime basking. I can leave my hand (palm side down) actually touching the screen and it not feel anything but luke warm. Is this still too hot for them?

I have three thermometer/hydrometer probes in the different areas of the enclosure so I can monitor each zone. Because they're babies, they rarely leave the basking area. If they want shade...they hide under one of the leaves.
Ok so that is better then the ceramic heat emitter. The CHE bulbs can be dangerous. So what I would do is get a second dome for a daylight regular white light bulb for day time. Pull these fixtures up... You do not want it ever hotter then 78-80 for them. Luke warm should be fine. I would hold your hand there palm side to the screen for a good 5 minutes.

You want to pull the uvb ideally up one more inch this should make the max UVI on the screen a 6. Higher UVI exposure can effect growth so this one I would really be picky on having the placement right.
 
Ok so that is better then the ceramic heat emitter. The CHE bulbs can be dangerous. So what I would do is get a second dome for a daylight regular white light bulb for day time. Pull these fixtures up... You do not want it ever hotter then 78-80 for them. Luke warm should be fine. I would hold your hand there palm side to the screen for a good 5 minutes.

You want to pull the uvb ideally up one more inch this should make the max UVI on the screen a 6. Higher UVI exposure can effect growth so this one I would really be picky on having the placement right.
Yeah..I've never been a fan of the CHEs...even for my desert dwelling repies. They're just too hot and a fire risk.

I have another dome on order. So I'll get a white light for heat in the next day or two. Basking never goes over 76 as it is now. So I'll keep the same wattage as the heat bulb I currently have.

Does higher UVB stunt growth?
 
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