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chameleons are highly unusual, delicate, fragile, and for the most part threatened or even rare species, and as such, it is incumbent upon anyone considering such an animal, that they would first make an effort to educate themselves on (at least) the most basic elements of their care, PRIOR to getting one. common sense dictates that somebody who is selling them soley for the profit of doing so, keeping them for only a short period of time, and hiring for the most part, minimum wage workers, who in all likely hood have only marginal experience or training, is not the best place to receive reliable, responsible, competent or complete care info. common sense also dictates that no one pet store, person, care sheet, or website, should be the sole basis for determining their responsible and complete care. would you buy (and care for) a rare piece of art, or a rare antique automobile, based soley on the information provide by the seller ? the pet store is at fault for selling such animals to the general public in the first place , but it is the responsiblity of any potential pet owner, to at least learn the basics of their care or something about them, before getting one, especially such a rare, unusual, and exotic one. that is the resopnsibilty you have failed to accept and that is why your chamelon died. or maybe it was the chameleons fault, damn chameleon, how dare it die anyway, (oops it appears now both of us have violated posting policy) but it needed to be said, and no one else was saying it !? my apologies for hijacking the thread.Make sure its a tube.. Fucking Petland told me the coil was what I needed and I ended up with a blind and dead chameleon. Coil kills.
chameleons are highly unusual, delicate, fragile, and for the most part threatened or even rare species, and as such, it is incumbent upon anyone considering such an animal, that they would first make an effort to educate themselves on (at least) the most basic elements of their care, PRIOR to getting one. common sense dictates that somebody who is selling them soley for the profit of doing so, keeping them for only a short period of time, and hiring for the most part, minimum wage workers, who in all likely hood have only marginal experience or training, is not the best place to receive reliable, responsible, competent or complete care info. common sense also dictates that no one pet store, person, care sheet, or website, should be the sole basis for determining their responsible and complete care. would you buy (and care for) a rare piece of art, or a rare antique automobile, based soley on the information provide by the seller ? the pet store is at fault for selling such animals to the general public in the first place , but it is the responsiblity of any potential pet owner, to at least learn the basics of their care or something about them, before getting one, especially such a rare, unusual, and exotic one. that is the resopnsibilty you have failed to accept and that is why your chamelon died. or maybe it was the chameleons fault, damn chameleon, how dare it die anyway, (oops it appears now both of us have violated posting policy) but it needed to be said, and no one else was saying it !?
to be honest, its hard to come by a linear tube UV light in my city...............
it doesnt kill a cham directly, but a blind cham has little chance of thriving or feeding properly, its not so much that they put out excessive uvb, but the concentrated way in which they deliver it , a 27w zoomed reptisun cfl , in terms of wattage is roughly the equivalent of a 36" linear zoomed cfl , except its not a broad wash of light like a 36" linear, its concentrated into a roughly 6-10" beam (at its source) eminating from a bulb that is less than 4" across (actual light meter readings may be considerably different, i dont own a light meter so i cant really be specific as to actual light meter readings) so without getting into all of the technical variables, thats crudely equivalent to being 6x more concentrated than a lineal reptisun of the same wattage, any way you slice it, its considerably more concentrated, and of course like all things, there are variables, and exceptions, to every rule, i am sure there are cham keepers who have used cfls with succsess, but it is probably more the exception than the rule, they have a long term proven history of being less than cham friendly, just look at the posts currently on cf (including this one) not to mention the endless string of posts since chammers have become aware of the issues involved (took several years). plus i am sure there are plenty of chammers who refuse to recognize the problem because there cham has so far been doing fine with one for some time, there was recently a post on kingsnake were i predicted the problem before i was even told he had a cfl in regards to a cham he had, had for some time with no problems, (see recent kingsnake post veiled not eating like he used to , typical of cfl users and the problems that arise, so predictable), problems derived from a cfl can take a substantial amount of time to manifest themselves and are often discounted by inexperinced keepers for that reason. not all cages and schedules are the same , some chams are better at self regulating than others (not just uvb but overall light exposure as well) for the most part most chams are aboreal, or at least forest or scrub oriented animals, and are not neccessarily subject to full sunlight for long periods of time, and a typical cage enviroment doesnt provide as much opportunity and motivation to escape the light as does a wild enviroment. the reason they still sell them is two fold, one they are more (still) suitable for other (desert dwelling) species, like bearded dragons or gila monsters, where they are less of a concern, and cause less issues . they may also be less of an issue for certain desert chameleons for instance, Chamaeleo namaquensis, which thrives in the searing desert sun , often with little or no cover. the second reason they sell them is because they are a for profit company and their primary goal is to make a profit , they are easier to package, transport, store, and market , pet stores are one of their biggest markets, and often have a lessor informed clientel, as well, someone not as informed is more likely to choose a cfl , less room, less complicated, (less overall cost no extra fixture required), yes there is a picture of a chameleon on the box, but they are a for profit item and and the manufacturers that sell them would put a transformer, or a clown on the box if they thought it would increase sales, but they dont because they at least want to maintain a certain image of being pet concious, and regretably it is one of their better selling products, so they are not so eager to give it up altogether, i know there has been talk at zoo med about redoing how they are packaged and marketed, (largely because of all of the flak they have gotten and the reputation that cfls have received). but you can bet that is profit motivated as well, rather than a genuine concern for the animals involved , as far as availability , i live in a large city where lineal reptisuns are readily available, but i think you will find that most forum members buy bulbs online because of the better prices and the ability to shop for better prices. the local petco charges $47 for a 24" reptisun 5.0 $37 on sale , i just bought the exact same bulb for $23 dollars shipped and no tax (another savings of up to $5), it arrived in 4 days and i didnt even have to leave my house. i assume they have postal service where you live? anyway thats just my take, others may hold a different view /edit/ my apologies to zoo med (and cf) for any negative conotations, but its kind of hard to address the issue without at least mentioning itok, so my question is..................why does the coil light cause chams to die..............does it put out too much UV? does it always cause death/blindness? in all cases? if they are so horrible, why are they still being sold...........to be honest, its hard to come by a linear tube UV light in my city...............