Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have read many of the forums within this site and I have seen a lot of different issues brought up on lighting. For starters let me say that I intend on designing and building my own custom cages for my chameleons that are all consistent with each other and can be stacked. I plan to include all the lighting built right into the cages. From what I have read the contraversy comes between the metal halides and floresants. I have no problem with expending money for these beautiful creatures but I'm not sure going to the local pet store to get the bulbs in question is worth the price. So my questions are these, Which would you recommend using and why (Brand names would be most helpful)? And is there a web site where I can find these bulbs at a better price than the local pet shop.

Thanks so much - Thomas
1.0.0 Tamatave
0.0.1 Nosy Be
0.1.0 Ambanja

There is no real substitute for natural sunlite. But I have
a pretty nice UVB meter, and the Capture the Sun mercury vapor
bulbs are currently the best on the market. Big Apple Herp.
has them. Go to the Cage/light/heat section on Kingsnake. Only
use the Mercury Vapor on the Larger cages. I use the Exo Terra
8.0 strip bulb on the smaller and baby cages. I don't know where
you live, but I would take your chams outside on sunny warm
days. Even if you only do it once a week it will make a huge
difference.

Legendcham

Hey Legend -

Once again you prove to be a wealth of knowledge for me. I just checked out Big Apple Herp and the prices are even affordable.

Thanks again - Thomas

Legendcham,

thanks much for sharing your experience with us!

I want to echo the comments about outdoor sunlight. This is the #1 thing that you can do for your chams health. I have outside chages for when it's warm enough. I live in Wisconsin, but there are several months when the chams can be outside 24x7 and several more when they can be outside during the day. It makes such a huge difference in growth, color, activity and attitude. Of course if you do this, no D3, just calcium and make sure they can retreat from the sun by using plants etc. Filtered sunlight is fine.

The difference is so dramatic that it makes me wonder if the lightbulb engineers can only deliver us so much in a bulb, or is there something about duplicating natural sunlight that we just don't get?

Joel Fish

To add to the sunlight comment, here's what I do. I just open the glass in my bedroom window (it slides so I dont have to worry about it falling on her). I put a plant in the window sill and she climbs in it and around the screen for a few hours. I live in an apartment so I have no backyard, and I'm in ontario so there aren't many days that are the right temps to keep her outside to make and outdoor cage worthwhile anyways. She likes the window lots, AND it gives me the chance to get some housework done. She is still supervised, but not as much as she would be if she were outside.
ALSO, if you are building your own cages DONT buy anything from a pet store. I made this mistake, they just charge way too much. Use a MV light for afew hours a day and a regular spotlight from a hardware store the rest of the time. you can set them up on timers...