Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
I have been wanting to set up my cages to a thermostat for a while now. I am leaning towards a porportional thermostat, or possibly a Ranco. The thing is my daytime heat/light source is going to be Mercury Vapor bulbs. It is my understanding that you can not control the heat of a MV bulb because of the gas or something in the bulb. Should I use a MV bulb and another heat source during the day? My night time heat source is going to be ceramic heat emmiters. Should I leave the ceramic heat emitters on all the time? How hot do MV bulbs get? By the way,my cages have chameleons and noctural lizards in them. THeir temps are the same, so I do not see any problem with hooking them up to the sane thermostat. I would appreciate any help that anyone can offer. Thank you, Josh

This is a situation with no straight answer.

You definately do not want to control MV bulbs with any sort of controller. If you need a hotter or cooler heat spot you either need to got a different wattage bulb or move the bulb closer or farther away.

It's my understanding that a lower wattage bulb closer to the animal is better than a higher wattage bulb placed farther away. This is due to the inverse square "law".

I think running a non light emitting heater in conjunction with a MV is not a great idea. With diurnal lizards you want to provide as much light intensity as possible. So unless your room temperature flucuates dramatically throughout the year I would simply find the right MV bulb and place it at the right distance for your animals.

I suppose you could run another heat source for your nocturnal lizards and then control that with a thermostat of some sort.

What wattage MV bulb depends on many factors. What species of chameleon, temp of the room the cage will be in, and the type, placement and amount of cage ventialation being most important.

Hope this helps a bit.

Chris,
My cage for my chameleons(Veiled) is 5ft tall, 3ft wide, and 2ft deep. The two 3ft walls are both solid. The 2ft walls a mesh doors. THe top is mesh as well. The cage for the noctural lizards(Prehensile-tailed skinks) is 5ft tall, 2.5ft wide, and 1.5 inches deep. It has thress soild sides and one mesh side. THe top is mesh too. Why do you think running a ceramic heat emitter with a MV bulb would be a bad idea? Do you mean running it during the the is a bad idea, or running it at all is a bad idea? I think my chameleons should have a heat source during the night. SHould I get one of those red light night bulbs for them? IDO you have a recommendation fro a MV bulb? I just thought more information would help. Thanks for the help, Josh

Both Veiled Chameleons and Prehensile-Tailed Skinks will probably benefit from large amounts of visible light and possibly some of the UV spectrum. As such, to provide heat from both the MV bulbs and a non light emitting heat sources is not maximizing the available light. If an MV is not warm enough it's likely better for the animal to provide either a higher wattage MV or move the current one closer. To use the ceramic is taking away visible light from your animals.

I'm not sure I agree that the Veiled Chameleons need heat at night. You should read some of the weather data from Yemen. Many very successful breeders have night time temperature drops in the 50's for Veiled Chameleons. If you're worried you could always add an inexpensive red bulb of some sort. Again, a thermostat would be overkill. Simply dim the red bulb with a rheostat or move it closer or farther away.

I do not have a recommendation for a MV bulb. With your setup I think you could get away with a fairly high wattage product, however.

In a nutshell, I supspect the species you keep will benefit from MV light as well as night-time temperature drops. With this combination a fancy thermostat is simply not needed. Unless you need one to provide ambient room heat during the winter, for example.

BTW, I have kept and bred both species if that helps.

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My cage for my chameleons(Veiled) is 5ft tall, 3ft wide, and 2ft deep. The two 3ft walls are both solid. The 2ft walls a mesh doors. THe top is mesh as well. The cage for the noctural lizards(Prehensile-tailed skinks) is 5ft tall, 2.5ft wide, and 1.5 inches deep. It has thress soild sides and one mesh side. THe top is mesh too. Why do you think running a ceramic heat emitter with a MV bulb would be a bad idea? Do you mean running it during the the is a bad idea, or running it at all is a bad idea? I think my chameleons should have a heat source during the night. SHould I get one of those red light night bulbs for them? IDO you have a recommendation fro a MV bulb? I just thought more information would help. Thanks for the help, Josh