Panther Cages

[Chameleon Nation]

I just set up 4 260 gallon flexariums with a mist king misting system, live ficus trees and 5.0 compact UVB bulbs. I have flex trays in the bottom, I viewed another post asking about drainage for the 260 flex. After the mister timer has gone off there is a interval of about 4 hours after that time all the excess water in the bottom has evaporated. Please check out my set ups and let me know what you think. These are only 4 of the fifteen that i have, it is a lot of maintenance.

 

[Justin Carl]

Cage looks great......but
You need to get rid of the compact bulbs right away.
They can cause Photo-caroten-Conjunctavites(sp)
You need to take the bulbs out of the inside of the cage.
They will burn the sh*% out of your chameleons.
Then you are left with a big nasty scar on your beautiful pather chameleons.

 

[Chameleon Nation]

Breeding colony

2.4 veileds 180 eggs, 1.2 ambanjas 350 eggs, 1.3 nosy be 100 eggs, 1 nosy be/ambanja cross, 1 bearded dragon (garbage can). Oorana menas, Nosy Mitsios, and red barred Ambilobes coming..

 

[Chameleon Nation]

Cage looks great......but
You need to get rid of the compact bulbs right away.
They can cause Photo-caroten-Conjunctavites(sp)
You need to take the bulbs out of the inside of the cage.
They will burn the sh*% out of your chameleons.
Then you are left with a big nasty scar on your beautiful pather chameleons.

People have been telling me all sorts of bad things about the compact bulbs. but I have had the bulbs on my chams their whole lives with no problems. the cages are so big and the chameleons are smart enough to move out of the way and regulate their own UVB. Check out my pics in members gallery (chameleon palace) the nosy be female is three months old and way bigger than the rest of her clutch that were under the 5.0 tubes.

 

[Justin Carl]

Well, you asked what we thought.lol
I'm just giving you my opinion, but I'm sure you read the review on compact bulbs.
If that is a risk you are willing to take.
Good luck!

 

[Chameleon Nation]

Well, you asked what we thought.lol
I'm just giving you my opinion, but I'm sure you read the review on compact bulbs.
If that is a risk you are willing to take.

Good luck!

thats great thanx for the input I'm just trying to figure out what everyone thinks about the bulbs and cages. The only problem that i run into if I take the bulbs out is that the trees will die. I don't know what will be bright enough to penetrate all the way to the bottom of the cage do you have any suggestions?
I heard that the bulbs can cause blindness in baby chameleons too. In those cases the the enclosures were so small with no cover they could not escape the light. It's like us staring at the sun for a couple minutes. If you can think of a better source of light for me please let me know. I have some mercury vapor bulbs on a couple of my 400 gallon custom cages but I cant put those on the flexariums because they will burn a hole in the cage.

 

[Justin Carl]

They will most likely burn a hole if they are above 100 watt.
The reason I like to push aluminum screen is for lighting.
The price is double, but the benefits are 10 fold.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

What about Repti-sun 10.0 tubes coupled with full spectrum plant fluorescents in a double tube fixture?
I use this but with the 5.0 over my aluminum screen enclosures.
I am also concerned about light fixtures in the enclosure.

-Brad

 

[Justin Carl]

here is an example of a burn from a bulb inside the cage.
This picture is from a member on this forum.

 

[Chameleon Nation]

What about Repti-sun 10.0 tubes coupled with full spectrum plant fluorescents in a double tube fixture?
I use this but with the 5.0 over my aluminum screen enclosures.
I am also concerned about light fixtures in the enclosure.

-Brad

will those fixtures fit inside of the cages. and are the 10.0 not more powerful than the 5.0? If you look at my pics my veiled is within 5 inches of the compact bulbs he is 8 months and uses the bulbs as a basking source. Ficus trees are really picky if not given enough light they die. thanx for the input keep em coming.

 

[Chameleon Nation]

here is an example of a burn from a bulb inside the cage.
This picture is from a member on this forum.

yeah for sure that is a bad burn I have never seen anything like that..... wow.
Thats from a 5.0???

 

[Justin Carl]

Basking bulb I think.
10.0 tube ontop of a reptarium is usually suffice.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

will those fixtures fit inside of the cages. and are the 10.0 not more powerful than the 5.0? If you look at my pics my veiled is within 5 inches of the compact bulbs he is 8 months and uses the bulbs as a basking source. Ficus trees are really picky if not given enough light they die. thanx for the input keep em coming.

My suggestion would be to have all light fixtures on the outside of the enclosures.
Juli uses some of those enclosures with a 10.0 tube.
Personally, I do not feel that any electrical fixture inside of a chameleon enclosure is safe.
With the 5.0 and plant fluorescent over screen cages, I have had good luck keeping hibiscus and ficus quite robust and healthy all winter.
I definitely think basking lights should be mounted outside of the enclosure as well.

-Brad

 

[Chameleon Nation]

My suggestion would be to have all light fixtures on the outside of the enclosures.
Juli uses some of those enclosures with a 10.0 tube.
Personally, I do not feel that any electrical fixture inside of a chameleon enclosure is safe.
With the 5.0 and plant fluorescent over screen cages, I have had good luck keeping hibiscus and ficus quite robust and healthy all winter.
I definitely think basking lights should be mounted outside of the enclosure as well.

-Brad

In those pics you can see that I have the bulbs placed on all levels throughout the cage to ensure the trees have sufficient light. If I place the lights on top of the cages the light won't travel the 6 feet to the bottom of the cage and ultimately the leaves near the bottom will drop off and the plant will begin to thin out significantly. This works on my smaller cages but I don't think it will work on the 260 flexariums.

 

[Chameleon Nation]

Cage looks great......but
You need to get rid of the compact bulbs right away.
They can cause Photo-caroten-Conjunctavites(sp)
You need to take the bulbs out of the inside of the cage.
They will burn the sh*% out of your chameleons.
Then you are left with a big nasty scar on your beautiful pather chameleons.

Are the bulbs that you are talking about the exo-terra 5.0 or the flukers 5.0 compacts???

 

[LaserGecko]

the cages are so big and the chameleons are smart enough to move out of the way and regulate their own UVB.

http://www.uvguide.co.uk/phototherapyphosphor.htm

I guess those chameleons just weren't smart enough. It happens with the 5.0 CFLs, too.

 

[davemailcall]

My lights are on the outside of the cages and they still produce a little too much heat to keep my pothos from wilting! I should switch plants I guess.

10inches from a 75watt light is too much for them I suppose. About once a week I have to pull one out for a day or two to let it recover....glad its hard to kill a pothos!

 

[Julirs]

I don't like those lights inside those cages-scares me. Water and eletricity scares me. I would use 48" dual fixtures with a Reptisun 10.0 and a regular flourescent light-that should work out well enough. I use 75w household bulbs directly on Reptarium mesh with no problem and 100w about 1-2" away from the mesh.