Reptisun advice
- Thread starter BillH
- Start date
VeiledOwner87
New Member
i posted the same thread. no one gave me anything. im using a 5.0 and im confident it's sufficient enough. i mean if your enclosure was mad high with foliage not reaching close to the top, it would be recommended. or if you had thinner darker screen on top it would be needed.
Brad Ramsey
Retired Moderator
5.0 and the chameleon needs branches/perches that allow it to bask within 8 to 10 inches of the fixture.
Size of the enclosure has nothing to do with it.
-Brad
Size of the enclosure has nothing to do with it.
-Brad
xanthoman
Avid Member
i agree with brad, if the cage is appropriately setup, then a single 5.0 should suffice. it is a big cage, if you are having concerns about light coverage/penetration, or you are using a screen that has lower than normal transmission values (like superscreen or pet screen), then a second 5.0 wouldnt hurt, but i dont think its necessary. 10.0 is a desert bulb, and use of them for a non-desert species (i.e. most chameleons), should be left to the most experienced keepers with uvb meters and an in depth understanding of the issues. the one exception of course, would be if you are keeping Chamaeleo namaquensis ( sometimes called namaqua or namib desert chameleon), then 10.0 might be more appropriate. (just babbling, i dont know if they are even legal, or what, but if they are, it would be interesting to know if any body on the forum ever kept them, i know, off topic, sorry, i vote 5.0 and a second 5.0 if you are worried about it, but nix on the 10.0 unless you have a uv meter. i know, there are least some keepers on the forum who use 10.0 successfully. i still vote 5.0 jmo
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Tazjunky
Member
thanks for clearing this issue up as i will be getting a 2x2x4 Reptibreeze enlosure late i the year for my baby cham once its grown a bit.
my only question now really, is it ok to use and Exo-Terra Dual top canopy with 18" tubes and the Spot Halogen that you can place in the canopy? even though the light uit itself is 24" it only takes 18" linear bulbs.
I was thinking of geting a 2.0 and a 5.0 - Im right in thinking that these canopies have reflectors right?
does anyone else use these?
my only question now really, is it ok to use and Exo-Terra Dual top canopy with 18" tubes and the Spot Halogen that you can place in the canopy? even though the light uit itself is 24" it only takes 18" linear bulbs.
I was thinking of geting a 2.0 and a 5.0 - Im right in thinking that these canopies have reflectors right?
does anyone else use these?
tkilgour
Member
Someone once tried to tell me panthers would develope better colors if I used a 10.0. I have no idea where they came up with this idea, but I highly doubt that is true. I have never had any problems with the 5.0's and have been very happy. Just make sure to replace the bulb every 6 -8 months.
summoner12
Avid Member
is this a zoo med 2.0? if so they aren't really UVB lamps. They are 6500K lamps, more of a 'grow' light. So the 5.0 and "2.0" or grow light, would be a good diea. If the hood doesn't have a reflector, use aluminum foil, it will almost double the lamps effectiveness and brighten the cage more.
Tazjunky
Member
Yeah, I know that the 2.0 is just a visual/plant light and thats ok. The 5.0 is the UVB of choice though. The dual canopy has reflectors for the 2 bulbs and 2 Halogen slots for upto 50w bulbs, which may be good enough for basking? the hood comes with 2 seperate power leads so hopefully I could set the halogens up to a dimmer thermostat?
I have been trying to find out which is the best bulbs to buy, I was looking at the exo-terra ones and the reptisuns. will probably go for the reptisun though as iv read the interesting website on UV and Reptiles.
xanthoman
Avid Member
exo-terra dual canopy top
if you use one of those canopies, i would be careful about placing it directly on top. you want to be able to provide a min distance of about 8", so i would arrainge your basking spot by the very top of the cage and suspend the light 8-10'', that way he can never get too close, even if he cage crawls on the ceiling. also the exoterra uses g-10 style halogens, 15-25 watts would be fine, but probably too much (at 8") if he was cage crawling on the ceiling. depending on the specific bulb you probably could dim the G-10s, but personally i feel it would be better to just use the minimum wattage to acheive the desired temps. more stable temps, one less thing to go wrong, one less thing to buy, jmo
if you use one of those canopies, i would be careful about placing it directly on top. you want to be able to provide a min distance of about 8", so i would arrainge your basking spot by the very top of the cage and suspend the light 8-10'', that way he can never get too close, even if he cage crawls on the ceiling. also the exoterra uses g-10 style halogens, 15-25 watts would be fine, but probably too much (at 8") if he was cage crawling on the ceiling. depending on the specific bulb you probably could dim the G-10s, but personally i feel it would be better to just use the minimum wattage to acheive the desired temps. more stable temps, one less thing to go wrong, one less thing to buy, jmo
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