UV lighting whats your take which is good or not

[summoner12]

Compacts and mercury bulbs can in fact produce higher UV output than the sun would produce in a chameleons natural enviornment . That is why they are not recommended.

Not only that... but that some produce levels of UVC... and that is BAD.

Edit: the UVC is what a lot of the issue is with compacts... not ALL make it.. but some do and it causes issues. The amount of UV index a CFL can generate is crazy. You and I can get a sun burn after a few minutes of close exposure......

 

[Cham King]

meters

These links you guys posted are great and fully detailed with alot of knowledge
Thanks for posting them.

I have to pick up a meter myself any ideas who has the best price around. I know of one type mainly anyone using them uses but was wondering has anyone found a good supplier with a good price.

 

[summoner12]

These links you guys posted are great and fully detailed with alot of knowledge
Thanks for posting them.

I have to pick up a meter myself any ideas who has the best price around. I know of one type mainly anyone using them uses but was wondering has anyone found a good supplier with a good price.

Best thing to do is watch for a group buy.... otherwise your gonna pay close to 200 bucks regardless of who you buy from. Group buys don't happen too often though... so if ya need one asap then you might have to bite the bullet. Check out Yahoo groups for the UVB owners club. If one is going to happen it will most likely be through them. You can try posting and see if anyone is up for it and a mod might organize the troops.

 

[Cham King]

quote

If you have a meter... You want to have somewhere between 12-30μW/cm² maybe up to 50μW/cm². I keep my UVB around the 20-30μW/cm² if I can.

I wouldn't use a MV or MH lamp without a meter to properly setup the lamp's distance from the basking area. Having a temp gun to take body temp readings would help as well.

In a free range I have I use two 36" 10.0s with a reflector and get a perfect amount of UVB in almost the entire free range. The lamps are about 20-24" above where the chameleon roams around.

The rays a cham sees hiding out in a tree can be kind of low. Yes at times they do spike a bit. Keep in mind that the UVB a cham sees during the day will rise and fall as the sun moves through the sky. So a cham might see 100μW/cm² for part of the day in the shade... but it isn't allllll day. and for a couple of hours in during the day they don't see much UVB at all as the sun rises and falls. Even with an hour or more of light at the end of the day i get very low UVB on my meter even in direct sunlight.

Here is a thread showing how the UVB swings with the clouds passing...

Here is look at the new 10.0 T8 lamps from Zoo Med... I have 5.0's but haven't tested them yet.

Here is a thread about some readings I took on some mildly used T8 Reptisun lamps I had... It shows the effects of screen and reflectors used with the lamps.

At what distance do you keep the 20-30 UV rating at ?

 

[summoner12]

At what distance do you keep the 20-30 UV rating at ?

Take a look at the links I sent you.

A 5.0 through the screen of a cage gives you a good UVB level at 6"...

 

[lisa h]

Really? Do you have any of these species? I am obsessed with all three, the only thing I am missing is a Parson's .

Sadly I have none of those
I very briefly had a pair of Rudis, but there was an accident with them. They were fabulous. I'm still trying to find a carpet, but it's not been easy. I am waiting for another pair of rudis, but I have to be patient -- not easy! I really love the smaller chams.

 

[lisa h]

Take a look at the links I sent you.

A 5.0 through the screen of a cage gives you a good UVB level at 6"...

Does it matter if the mesh is aluminum or the flex stuff like found in a reptarium? Curious as my husband is building me an enclosure and we were wondering. I thought I read a post about it a while ago.

 

[jadeaudio]

Compacts are dangerous, yes there are instances where some people have had no problems. But those who do have problems (and quite a few do), have serious problems. So why take the risk? Zoo Med spirals are compacts and therefore dangerous. Reptiglo is better than the reptisun? I think you may have mixed those around

Yes I did mix up the two. Sorry. It's the ZooMed ones that are better.

 

[summoner12]

Does it matter if the mesh is aluminum or the flex stuff like found in a reptarium? Curious as my husband is building me an enclosure and we were wondering. I thought I read a post about it a while ago.

Yes there is a difference. The reptarium material is thicker and doesn't let as much UVB through. You can still use a 5.0 and I would do so especially on a smaller cage (I had issues using a 10.0 on a 16x16x30 cage) You could prolly use the 10.0 on a larger cage and lower the basking spot to about 10" from the top. In the name of smaller electric bills I prefer to coax my guys to the top of the cage so I don't have to use high wattage heat lamps .

If you haven't selected your screen yet, I would purchase this material. the mesh is spaced wider than normal screen so your cham won't lose it's claws climbing on it and more UV will get through. The only real down side to this material is that you won't be able to feed house flies without some escaping.... but if you don't plan to feed flies or don't care if some escape, no worries .

 

[Cham King]

mesh

I like that mesh, alittle costly though.

i guess it would have to be used in a custom wood cage as its harder then screening and wont be able to fit into the groove of a frame locked in by spline. I wonder if this is what DIY cages is using. They did mention their are using a coated mesh. Well i find out this week and we tried them out and ordered a cage.

 

[Cham King]

fixtures

What do most of you like to use as fixtures for your UV lighting ?

If any of you use homedepot shp light fixtures do you use both bulbs or 1 bulbs type.

 

[summoner12]

What do most of you like to use as fixtures for your UV lighting ?

If any of you use homedepot shp light fixtures do you use both bulbs or 1 bulbs type.

I buy dual lamp fixtures and and put a 'grow light' in the second position with the UVB in the other position. So far so good. I also use home made reflectors.

 

[Cham King]

fixtures

Thats what i was figuring on doing as well. 1 bulb UV and other maybe a daylight bulb