Steve enjoys his home

howasaur

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looks like a good start. But like Cherron said get a uvb light in there. Also for the water bowl that catches the water, I would put some sort of net over it in case your cham falls in. It would be better to install a drain on the bottom of the cage instead of the bowl. Then you could also get rid of the substrate. I put substrate in my cage when I first got my cham and found that it was too much of a hastle and not worth the risk of the problems your cham will have with it. He can eat a large chunk and get impaction, mites can develop, bacteria is more likely, and you'll have to clean it alot.
 
Regarding UVB Bulb

Hi Cherron and Marc1Oedora Thanks for the replys The one at the top my son says is a spot,uvb uva bulb never knew you could get all three with one bulb and the one at the side is a infra-red bulb. I was worried about the water dish never thought of a net thanks. The substrate is very thin I myself would like to remove it and put down tile but my son likes the look of the substrate and feels like with just tile it looks to clinical but I honestly feel its the chameleon (Steve) we should be more worried about. The water dish we do clean out (SCRUB) twice a week.
 
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they do make the type of uvb bulb that you are talking about (mercury vapor bulb).. i would mabe VERY sure that this is what you have. they are expensive and so you will know if you paid 40+ dollars for this bulb instead of the standard few bucks for a basking light. UVB exposure is the single most important thing that you can do for your chameleon and is not an area that can be improvised or slacked on. without uvb exposure they can't absorb calcium and other nutrients properly and will eventually die a slow, painful death.
 
Regarding Bulb

I spoke to my son and it is the proper bulb on top of Steves cage he had payed 40+ for it maker Z...... Not sure if you are to say advertisers products on the forums
 
can i just say please check again and if it is a zoomed flourescent coil 10.0 or 5.0 then it is good for uvb but not good as a basking bulb and only because i use them i don't think it would fit in that fixture, it also cannot be a mecury vapor because it would melt that screen they get so hot, i think those i do not use.
also the infrared bulb is obsolete, not needed.
the only reason i push is if there is a error in communication the chameleon will be the one to suffer!!
if you look at every other picture of anyones enclosure you will see a flourescent UVB bulb (typically zoomed 10.0 or 5.0) and a basking light bulb, i buy the spectrum lights but others use the household bulbs for a basking location.
what about humidity? mistings? temperature drop at night?
drew
 
As for the infrared bulb I would agree that they are not needed for a chameleon. They can not see in that spectrum of light, although, do not really think that any adverse reactions would occur provided it goes off with the other lighting.

Improving the reptarium

Now the link above is a thread I started awhile ago. I guess I would really suggest a couple of things that you can see in the pictures.

One is the lighting rack. Reptariums are not that solid. The little rack I made for the flourescent lights could be made very easily to secure your mercury vapor bulb in a set spot. The width was 30" so I made the rack 30 1/2" so it would not slide around when I opened the door. It is to my understanding that mercury vapor bulbs have to be mounted directly down or they can blow. So ignore the basking bulb I have tilted and keep the rack thing in mind because it very easily move around on the mesh working it's way into a tilted position. Really some very thin wood at home depot (mine was like some kind of thin molding) and some finishing nails could be bought for a few dollars.

Another thing is the bottom. I got a plastic storage bin for a couple dollars from walmart that was like 16.5"x36". I cut it to size, nocked the corners and secured it to the framing with some wire ties. Becareful when you cut the corners you do not want bugs getting under there. Really you do not have to add a drain if you do not want. Some paper towels or newspapers could be laid on the bottom to soak up water. I like the bottom because I can get a trash can on one end and wipe everything into it. The soft tray liners they sell for these are kind of a pain in the butt to get all the debri off the bottom without taking the cage apart. In any event the soft tray liner is better then letting the water ruin the furniture so you know do what you got to do there.

As you can tell the plants are quite thick in my cage. When using mercury vapor bulbs or even outside under sun light you want to give them good areas where they can escape the light. UVb in particular. These waves of light do not pass through things so maybe some rearranging of what you have already got in the way of fake plants or a couple real ones could help your guy out. I will say this with the 65 gallon reptarium you are some what limited to your selection when shopping for real plants because of the height of the cage. I got a schefferella abricola. Part of it had to be removed to fit. The rest I kind of pushed out by using real branches from outside, securing them from stalk to stalk with wire ties. This actually is a little harder then it sounds but it pushes the plant out instead of up.
 
Diezel

Steve is approx. 16" long from tip of nose to tip of tail. Since he was given to us and that person is not available I think he could be 1 year old but i could be wrong. The other replys I have received on this forum will only help myself and Steve. Again I must say thanks to all.
 
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