The definitive lighting thread! Everything you really need to know

[Venutus1]

The salt water aquarium bulbs should be replaced with a UVB Bulb found at Light your reptiles, 6% or 12% depending on your species and at least one 5000k or 6500K Full spectrum bulb for light and plants. There are a ton of variables when it comes to the "RIGHT" lighting for your Chameleon. Before you spend your hard earned money make sure you understand what environment the chameleon originates from so you can maximize your setup without buying twice.

Yes. Thank you!

Rid yourself of the actinic.

And dump the 10k too if you can afford to and do as Chameleopatrick suggests and replaces with a 6.0k- 6.5k full spectrum bulb.

It is not natural terrestrial light.

Here is the Deal:

10K Bulbs and Actinc blue bulbs are designed to SIMULATE NATURAL SUN LIGHT PASSING THROUGH 20 - 40 FEET OF SEA WATER.

Thus- it creates natural light for ocean inhabitants.
Not natural terrestrial lighting.

And traditionally in the past, most ho t5 units were sold for reef aquariums...
so they have traditionally been sold pre-loaded with salt water tank lighting.

Unless there is a species of Cham I am unfamiliar with that can live in the ocean like a marine iguana and dive down 30 feet... it might be best to avoid actinic bulbs and anything higher than a 7.5 kelvin rating. LOL

In such a large enclosure, using an Arcadia 6% HO T5... and even keeping the Repti -sun 5.0 in place ...
you would not be over uv-ing the set-up....
PROVIDED that the animal(s) have some naturally shaded areas as they would in the wild,
and an alternate basking spot with low / to no UV.
You should have 2 or 3 basking spots with something that size anyway.

I hope this helps.
And your cham is lucky to have so much room and an owner who is on Chameleon Forums educating themselves. Thnx.

OH.. PS:
Forget the Mercury Vapor bulbs for now.
All that are available are less than good ones.
(side note: I (LYR.com) am discontinuing all Merc Vapor for the time being.
Until a quality merc vapor bulb becomes available.
word ya' all.
There are now better things to use than those expensive, so-so , possibly dangerous MV bulbs that cost an arm and a leg and realistically only last on average 3-5 mo. )

CHEERS!
Todd
www.LightYourReptiles.com
[email protected]

 

[Zach Valois]

Why we do not have a sticky lighting thread, that is kept up to date is beyond me..

https://www.chameleonforums.com/current-consensus-lighting-89392/

 

[oldskoolmodder]

So I read all the first post, trying to gather some info on maintaining a hibiscus in the enclosure with out over-lighting the chameleon.

So I have a two 4 month old female panthers coming in, I'll have the cages next to each other so I decided to buy a 48" duel tube fixture.

I'll have a Reptisun 5.0 T-8 bulb in one slot, so from what I read I'm looking for a 4' 5000k T-8 plant bulb to support the hibiscus but not hurt the chameleons. While the Reptisun bulb is for the critters

Did I understand that right?

 

[Venutus1]

So I read all the first post, trying to gather some info on maintaining a hibiscus in the enclosure with out over-lighting the chameleon.

So I have a two 4 month old female panthers coming in, I'll have the cages next to each other so I decided to buy a 48" duel tube fixture.

I'll have a Reptisun 5.0 T-8 bulb in one slot, so from what I read I'm looking for a 4' 5000k T-8 plant bulb to support the hibiscus but not hurt the chameleons. While the Reptisun bulb is for the critters

Did I understand that right?

Yes... that is correct!

 

[Drachen Zor]

Hey guys im having a lighting crisis & due to money right now i've really got to get this right this time around. I have a 260 APOGEE REPTARIUM 29X29X72" it's got a 4ft ficus, 2 hibiscus 12", 2 pothos & the cage itself is 6ft tall. My lighting setup was all out of wack & using old bulbs(repti-glo YUCK) from my last veild so im going for a total overhaul. what would my ideal setup be? Im thinking a 4 tube setup & one basking lamp, but this whole mesh top penetration issue t8 vs t10, Arcadia vs repti sun & proper lighting for plant growth has got my mind doing circles. So Ive finally decided to stop being stubborn & ask for help in my first ever post. I care deeply about my 3-4 month old veild chameleon his name is loki & hes is in terrific shape, each day he gets to go outside with me for an hr or so n eat his lunch (today he caught a fly outside sooo cool ) & i give him a few ml of water through a eye dropper to ensure hydration plus his daily misting. Im very watchful of him & im seeing some hints of potential problems with some recent eye wincing ( got rid of the old bulbs & re washed ficus an cage) & more concerning holding his mouth open(i have Exo Terra Solar Glo Mercury Vapor Bulb 160w in a 10" dome) its a super hot bulb & i swear it was far enough away on the top of the mesh but to figure out what was going on i raised another 1½ ft off the cage it measures 90° at the lid or top hes another almost 2ft from that on his branch making about 3.5ft maybe more away from the heat bulb. All this has been within the week & hes very strong so i know if i correct his situation promptly everything will be fine. puzzles me why the setups been fine till now but i don't care i see slight irregularity so im making immediate changes. plz give me a 123 ur done kind of thing for the lights my heads gonna exploded from info & worrying i might need a doctor for myself soon & next week its the humidity project ugh lol -Lee... p.s.-sorry for spelling & or punctuation im very tired an its all just one big run on sentence in my head right now hehe PICS- http://s774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/Lee_S_Edgar/Chameleon/


This is what im thinking
- 2 36" fixtures
-1 Arcadia(t8 or t10?) & 1 plant bulb (not sure what kind to get?)
-1 Zoo Med 36" Repti Sun 10.0 Fluorescent Bulb (t8 0r t10?) & 1 plant bulb?
-1 zoo Med powersun heat bulb (100w or 160w? very large cage)

 

[oddmary]

vitamin-D always = heat?

is there vitamin-D lamps that don't produce heat?

 

[Olimpia]

is there vitamin-D lamps that don't produce heat?

Yes, absolutely. There are bulbs that only produce UVB, as opposed to both heat and UVB. The most popular ones are linear fluorescent ones, like from the brands Reptisun, Reptiglo, and Arcadia. Then there are compact fluorescents or incandescent-style bulbs that produce only UVB as well.

 

[stuwoac]

made my head hurt

I click on this just to see if we should get a second uvb 5.0 or a 2.0 to go with the 5.0 already in there for are exo terra set up to help the cham out and his new live plant

but I didnt want to blind the poor guy

also is that true on the mesh tops only allowing 50% through ??

 

[CleanHome Chameleons]

Since Evil asked...

Carpet and Serreta enclosure with 6 t5HO. Recently set up.

The difference between exo t8 UVA and arcadia HO T5 UVA tubes the left one is the T5 ad the right has 2 exo terra T8 an both haver reflectors, IMO the t5 is far superior.

 

[Psychobunny]

I agree with u ! thats the first thing I did right after sticking batteries in my new Solormeter 6.5 is run around test UV bulbs.
Tested 3 ExoTerra T8 5% and 3 Arcadia HO T5's of about equal lenght.

Arcadia UV readings were consistent, and no loss passing through the black mesh screen.
Exo readings were all over the place and no 2 were the same.
Also, a 2 to whopping 3% UV loss through the screen.

Maybe not real scientific sampling, but enough to convience me to swap out all my Reptisun bulbs with Arcadia.

Plus, you can see a huge different w/o needing a meter. Arcadia is brighter and looks more like real sunlight.

 

[Chameleopatrick]

Arcadia UV readings were consistent, and no loss passing through the black mesh screen.
Exo readings were all over the place and no 2 were the same.
Also, a 2 to whopping 3% UV loss through the screen.

Actually , there is considerable loss through the screen no matter what bulb you use. I just want to clarify, Are you saying no loss through the screen because of the bulb brand name?

Im surprised your information would state that there is no decrease in UV transmission when myself and others have tested that theory extensively and shown UV loss through screen of up to 50% on bug screen and roughly 10% with hardware cloth, with Arcadia bulbs. It all depends on the screen cell size that determines the volume of UV to pass.

 

[CleanHome Chameleons]

Actually , there is considerable loss through the screen no matter what bulb you use. I just want to clarify, Are you saying no loss through the screen because of the bulb brand name?

Im surprised your information would state that there is no decrease in UV transmission when myself and others have tested that theory extensively and shown UV loss through screen of up to 50% on bug screen and roughly 10% with hardware cloth, with Arcadia bulbs. It all depends on the screen cell size that determines the volume of UV to pass.

Agreed the smaller the mesh holes less uv, to get no loss u need nothing between bulb and Cham

 

[Chameleopatrick]

Needs a bump, read carefully, if you live in a area where your chameleons don't get to live outside then good quality lighting is essential.

 

[Erwan]

Exo Terra 35W halogen lamp----HELP

I just purchased a 35W halogen lamp from exo terra wich is recommended for the dual top light fixture.

are halogen safe for panther chameleons?

thanks,

Erwan

 

[jmwhitel]

Thanks to everyone for the information! Very good thread

 

[tpw]

Lighting info brilliant

I have a exo terra 90 x 45 x 90 glass terrarium is a 100w MVL arcadia D3 basking lamp enough or too big and what height should it be suspended at if that lamp is OK. Thanks

 

[JimO]

Is there a difference for lighting pygmy enclosures since they don't live up in the vegetation?

 

[ChuWuti]

Venutus1 posted:

I would like to know what they mean by "emitting" phosphorus?

I have never heard of that.

UV is LIGHT energy.
LIGHT that is invisible to our eyes.

Not a chemical like phosphorus.

I’ve been reading through this entire thread, and when I read Venutus1’s post about this but could find no response, I immediately sent an email to my DH at work. He is a physicist who does spectrum studies in his research, so I consider him a reputable resource for this kind of information. I copied Venutus1’s question to him, and he asked me to send him spectra to look at. I sent the following links:

http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products/compact_fluorescent_bulbs.php

A UK article on lighting that also provided spectra:

http://www.uvguide.co.uk/phototherapyphosphor-tests.htm#spectra

It turns out that Venutus1’s question highlights the important distinction between phosphorus and phosphor. Here’s what my husband said:

The uvguide website is really good at explaining the problem. In particular the FS phosphor is the problem. The article does a good job of explaining. It is not the UVB rating but the UV index that is important. I believe the bottom line is to go for bulbs that do not use the FS phosphor. I believe the forum people have convoluted "phosphor with "phosphorus" just as people convolve "silicon' and silicone.

This morning he repeated that the uvguide from the UK is quite good. He added that the UVB bulbs that emit a lot of phosphor are akin to the lights that tanning salons use. He mentioned that tanning salons are actually changing to different bulbs because the ones that emit a lot of phosphor are potentially dangerous and definitely harmful to the skin.

Folks, as a complete newbie to the world of chameleons who is studying everything I can get my hands on, I really, really appreciate threads like this one. The kind of information y'all provide and the important questions you are asking really are helping me understand much more about lighting, enclosures, and other husbandry issues.

Y'all are GREAT! THANK YOU!

Sandy

 

[ChuWuti]

Actually, to be accurate as well as to prevent blaming anyone here for the misinformation, Kammerflage Kreations is the original source of the conflation of phosphor and phosphorus!

Sorry I didn't make that clear to my DH; I will do that in just a moment.

Sandy

 

[jmwhitel]

I have a question regarding LED lighting.....

I will be building a large custom acrylic terrarium for my male ambilobe. My house stays between 70-75 degrees at all times. The tank will be 2x2x4. Will the LED fixtures provide enough heat for him to bask, or should I also have a heating lamp?

Thanks!