Reptibreeze chameleon kit

[Uri]

So I made the mistake of a chameleon kit. I don’t have the chameleon yet that will be coming next week I am gonna get a male Jackson’s chameleon probably the machakos hills although I will settle for a yellow crested they are both beautiful animals. I was wondering tho in terms of lighting what would be better because I know the lights it comes with are trash. And I know the

 

[LukeTheLizard]

Welcome to the forums! Don’t worry I too made the mistake of buying the chameleon kit, but I was able to turn it around into a much better enclosure! for the lighting, the heat bulb is fine, but the compact UVB is crap. What you want(and this is what everyone will suggest) is a T5 HO Linear UVB bulb. It will give your chameleon the best UVB out of all the other bulbs. Feel free to ask us for any other questions!

 

[Uri]

Welcome to the forums! Don’t worry I too made the mistake of buying the chameleon kit, but I was able to turn it around into a much better enclosure! for the lighting, the heat bulb is fine, but the compact UVB is crap. What you want(and this is what everyone will suggest) is a T5 HO Linear UVB bulb. It will give your chameleon the best UVB out of all the other bulbs. Feel free to ask us for any other questions!

Thank you also what %? Is 6% too powerful? And let’s say I keep the heat bulb can i still use the dual bulb system and just only connect the heat bulb there it should I get a completely new dome

 

[LukeTheLizard]

I’d say a 5% or a 6%, but a 10% is too powerful. I would totally keep the dual bulb system, because you can totally connect just one, or if you have live plants, you can get a plant light and connect it to the dual bulb system.

 

[Fchamel]

@JacksJill

 

[JacksJill]

I use 5.0 or 6% T5 bulbs for my Machakos Hills Jackson's.

 

[Uri]

I use 5.0 or 6% T5 bulbs for my Machakos Hills Jackson's.

What about plants? I don’t wanna use plastic and I’ve seen some but there are so many options in non toxic plants I want some recommendations

 

[JacksJill]

Pothos is the work horse of chameleon cages and I use it as one of the plants in all my cages. I use a variety of others, wandering jew and croton for color, spider plants, schefflera and a few others.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

What about plants? I don’t wanna use plastic and I’ve seen some but there are so many options in non toxic plants I want some recommendations

Any plants from these lists are chameleon-safe:
https://chameleonacademy.com/plants/
https://www.madcham.de/en/pflanzen-fuers-terrarium/
https://www.chameleons.info/l/safe-and-unsafe-plants/
https://www.chameleonschool.com/safe-plants-for-chameleons/

Since all of the plants on these lists are "recommended", what criteria are you looking for?

 

[MissSkittles]

So I made the mistake of a chameleon kit. I don’t have the chameleon yet that will be coming next week I am gonna get a male Jackson’s chameleon probably the machakos hills although I will settle for a yellow crested they are both beautiful animals. I was wondering tho in terms of lighting what would be better because I know the lights it comes with are trash. And I know the

Are you able to return the kit? Much that it contains is pretty useless.

 

[Uri]

Are you able to return the kit? Much that it contains is pretty useless.

Unfortunately no my family members threw out the boxes

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

 

[Wildone666]

I made the same mistake, waiting on the new uvb light, but I made the rest of the enclosure ok with live plants, pathos, small ficus and wandering jew.

 

[Andrew1283]

Yep I bought the chameleon kit too! Within a month I ditched it all and got the XL Reptibreeze on Amazon for about $75.00 (sale price). Some people post negative comments about the Reptibreeze but IMO it’s not bulky and so it doesn’t distract from the beautiful flora and fauna inside! It does the job just fine I kept the dual bulb fixture and used two lower wattage incandescent bulbs for my heat lamps. I think the dual fixture helps spread the warmth across a wider area as opposed to just one higher wattage bulb. My Cham suffered a minor thermal burn on her back due to the Zilla halogen bulb which was recommended by Petco employees...which puts out very strong and focused heat as opposed to normal incandescent bulbs. I also use the Arcadia 6% high output T5 fixture and it’s fantastic. Get mature plants if possible as opposed to little ones that can take a long time to grow in. I found a really large pothos on Etsy for about $60.00 and I’m glad I got it!

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

I kept the dual bulb fixture and used two lower wattage incandescent bulbs for my heat lamps. I think the dual fixture helps spread the warmth across a wider area as opposed to just one higher wattage bulb.

If I'm understanding you correctly, the same can be accomplished by mounting a single bulb at an angle—producing an elliptical basking zone and providing a temperature gradient.

My Cham suffered a minor thermal burn on her back due to the Zilla halogen bulb which was recommended by Petco employees...which puts out very strong and focused heat as opposed to normal incandescent bulbs.

ICBW, but I believe those bulbs are also spots. This is one reason I always recommend floods (not spots). Spots emit just that—hot spots, while floods are more diffuse.

I use a 75W halogen flood myself because the 75W incandescent flood wasn't quite warm enough (and it's high enough above the screen top that the screen is not hot). As long as we remember to adjust halogen floods a little higher and apply the "back of the hand test", I think they're fine.

Get mature plants if possible as opposed to little ones that can take a long time to grow in. I found a really large pothos on Etsy for about $60.00 and I’m glad I got it!

IIRC, that's about what I paid for my first mass cane (along with 6 other species of dracaena in the same pot). The mass cane was about 42" at the time, but has grown to several leaves touching the ceiling. I just got another smaller one.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/36-mass-canes-at-lowes.182438/

 

[Uri]

Yep I bought the chameleon kit too! Within a month I ditched it all and got the XL Reptibreeze on Amazon for about $75.00 (sale price). Some people post negative comments about the Reptibreeze but IMO it’s not bulky and so it doesn’t distract from the beautiful flora and fauna inside! It does the job just fine I kept the dual bulb fixture and used two lower wattage incandescent bulbs for my heat lamps. I think the dual fixture helps spread the warmth across a wider area as opposed to just one higher wattage bulb. My Cham suffered a minor thermal burn on her back due to the Zilla halogen bulb which was recommended by Petco employees...which puts out very strong and focused heat as opposed to normal incandescent bulbs. I also use the Arcadia 6% high output T5 fixture and it’s fantastic. Get mature plants if possible as opposed to little ones that can take a long time to grow in. I found a really large pothos on Etsy for about $60.00 and I’m glad I got it!

That interesting what I did was mount an led plant light and a heat bulb and just got a t5 ho uvb bulb and got myself the xl reptibreeze cage too

 

[Andrew1283]

This is what I bought originally and I got the 25 watt white halogen bulb as opposed to the much stronger 50 watt. The information on the back is incorrect. 6-13” under the light should have been 85-90 but it was more like 115 with my wired probe. This was back when I thought 85-90 basking was good for a female veieled...which I now know is still way too high. I am currently getting 78-80 degrees with two incandescent bulbs mounted 8-10” from her basking and it’s comfortable enough for me to leave my hand there for an extended period of time. I no longer trust these mini high intensity halogen lamps.