ERKleRose
Chameleon Enthusiast
You can DIY one, but I bought mine from Solarmeter to make sure it was calibrated right. I would raise the UVB if possible because it being 7” away from his basking branches in the middle of the bulb and still by the basking area will be too high. He might bask to digest/warm-up and get too high of UVI levels, as the middle of the bulb is where they’re strongest. Without a Solarmeter, the recommended guess is 8-9” away from the basking branch for a 5.0/6% bulb.I do not but That’s funny you ask cus I was on Amazon just now looking at them and some manzanita branches. I would get it tomorrow if I purchased today, but does anyone use any cheaper versions that work perfectly fine or is it gonna be a 200$ Purchase I’m gonna have to make lol. I have no problem doing so of course.
here are some pics and measurements from screen cage where lights are positioned (at the basking spot both uvb and uva lights are able to be absorbed and basked under here). I then transition the rest of the length of the uvb bulb diagonally away from the higher plants in the back and away from the rest of the three different levels of basking porches I provided him so that he may still bask under the uvb along the branch (but not the basking light) at least halfway along the rest of the branch as it goes higher up to the right side of the cage. The highest part of these basking porches is on the right side and this part does not sit directly underneath the uvb bulb, as it’s positioned over the lower canopy where he shouldn’t have a problem escaping rays if he wants to and the rays should not be high at all since they diminish dramatically with every inch you move away from it.View attachment 289980
How lights are positioned on top of screen above the basking spot
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I use a rock to tilt the basking fixture toward the basking spot so that the UVB bulb can also run across the basking spot, and to achieve the 85F basking temp.
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This is what basking temp reads constantly after drying out and returning back to normal after misting. Drops to about 70F during mistings sometimes even 60F. I know ambient temp remains at a 70F-73F range throughout the day in the house and drops to 68F at night.
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The spot where the lights are focused is here and this is 9" from directly under the UVB bulb which sits on top of the screen cage.
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This is the end of the basking branch where it goes higher up towards the top of the cage. The uvb bulb does not sit directly over this area but is diagonally positioned away from it, more toward the front of the cage about 10-20 degrees (of course guesstimating) away from this porch. Rays may fan out and affect this area , but this is also positioned near the end of the linear lamp where you should be getting weaker UVB readings anyway. So 5.5-6" away from the top of the screen cage and gets an indirect shower of UVB rays.
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This is the middle portion of the basking porches where the UVB runs right across them for the most part and is 7" away from the top of the cage and uvb bulb.
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This is where the end of the UVB bulb is on the right side away from the basking spot and rest of the basking branches, where it is positioned over the plants below. Top of plant is a full 12" away.