Questions about my chameleon

[louiesowner]

First I want to thank you for all the help thus far with our new pet. Everyone here is very friendly and Im glad to have stumbled across this site. With all that being said I have run into a couple more questions.

1. I just bought a UVB light and its 7% is that enough/too much?

2. Ive heard mention of hibiscus plants. Do the chameleons like those? I live in south Florida and have hibiscus in my yard is why I ask.

3. How often do I clean the cage? All his poop falls to the bottom which I clean up everyday and everything else seems to stay clean.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[Jordan]

7% is fine. Make sure that there are no obstructions between the light and the chameleon. Such as glass or plastic. Mesh or screen will diminish the concentration which is acceptable assuming the chameleon can still get close to the light. Something like glass or plastic can eliminate up to 99.9% of benificial UVb. I guess the only reason I am talking about plastic and glass is the only product that comes to mind when I hear 7% UVb is the ESU Slimline which has a plastic cover over the light.

A veiled as you have would more then likely like a Hibiscus. It is natural for them to not only eat vegatation but flowers as well. I would look a little more into the specific care of hibiscus in a chameleon's cage. They do require some what of a dormicy period in the year.

I clean the poop and cage every 2 or 3 days. Everybody is kind of different here. It would not hurt by any means to clean more often like you are.

 

[louiesowner]

Thanks Jordan.

Your dead on about the light. That is the one I got but I removed the clear cover as its says to do if your using a uvb light. The light is sitting on top of the aluminum screen. Is that blocking the UVB? It does have mounts so I can mount it inside the cage.

 

[Jordan]

Yeah it probably is blocking UVb a little but I would not worry about it. Lighting like this is typically the most effective with 12" from where it is located atop the cage. As long as he has access inside this range I would not worry to much about it.