those that have the apogee reptarium ?

[kim01]

i just got my 100 gallon and am setting it up.
thus far i have tried the 5.0 repti sun and now i have a 10. repti sun and it is still quite dark.
also for a basking spot i have tried a 40,60,and am now tried a 75.

those that have these are your cages dark? especially at the bottom i can't even see what is at the bottom of the cage.
any ideas? what are you guys doing?

 

[Justin Carl]

Get a real cage(aluminum screen) and use the reptarium for outside sunning.
This is a constant issue with these cages.
Chameleon Palace(I think) keeps their lights on the inside of the cage.
They use the compact flouresencts too.

 

[kim01]

ack now i am not sure what to do. i just bought this thing and will have my cham monday.
is there any way to safely use this for a bit before making/getting a new cage?
how do you go about putting the light inside the cage? and obviously my next question would be is it safe?
i image something would have to be put on it to kep the cham from climing in it?
any help here would be great. now i am not sure that i can get my cham that will be here on monday.

 

[SuperRad]

well your enclosure is going to be darker on the bottom. The flourescent is not supposed to make the whole thing shine with light.
So i have my uvb right on top of the enclosure and my heat lamp sitting directly on top of the screen.
It's good enough trust me.

 

[AFH]

I wouldn't recommend putting the light in the cage, especially with a baby. It may seem a little dark in the cage because of all the foliage, but if the temps are right for the ambient and basking spot, I wouldn't worry too much. The reptarium mesh is much thicker than screen, so you may have to move up quite a bit on the wattage for the basking lamp. Again, the basking temp is important, not necessarily that you can see the bottom.

When he/she outgrows the reptarium, do what Justin said and use the reptarium for outside and get a screen cage.

 

[kim01]

thanks guys.... i checked the basking area it seems to be sitting right about 90 or 91 thats ok right?
as for the other temps i know at the bottom(it is 71)
i am going to rehang my digital in the middle(i just used the sticky crude that came with it and it feel last night.so today i am going to get it hung up anothere way so that i can get a accurate reading there as well.)
thanks again i do appreciate all you taking the tiime to help me out.

 

[AFH]

What type of cham are you getting. 90 may be a little high for a panther baby. You could probably go back to the 60 watt, aim for mid 80's.

 

[Spikethechameleon]

I use a 100 Watt basking bulb abd a 1o.o exo terra repti glo in my 175 gal. reptarium and only half of the cage is lit but i think its just becuase of the foliage. And from what i see my chameleon barely goes to the floor when you know nature calls, so I wouldn't worry that much about keeping the bottom warm.