Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i gotta say this forum is great. thanks to everyone whos given me some help along the way its my first time owning a veiled chameleon. my chameleon has been vet-checked and hes doing good. no problems so far, everything that i asked here got answered and with great results. i have another question though, to anyone, my chameleon is constantly basking or at the top of his plant. he is in a darker color pretty much all day long, except for night and when hes sleeping. im wondering if its the amount of heat my bulb is putting out. for heat i use a 25 watt incandescant bulb, in a 10 gallon aquarium. i also use a 50 watt uva/uvb coil lamp. hes 2 months old and the temperatures are around 78-80 during the day. any advice would be greatly appreciated. please feel free to email me at ridethesky900@comcast.net

Well first off, the bulb needs to be more powerful. We use 100 Watt to 150 Watt broad-spectrum heat bulbs for our Veileds. You also need to supply a bulb offering UVB/UVA lighting, like a flourescent bulb. The darker colours would indicate that they are too cold. The average temperature in the habitat should be around 80 - 80 degrees F, with a basking spot (or right at the top) of 90 degrees F. Your Chameleon will pick the height at which to bask. Right now, he probably wants to be holding onto the bulb.

For Lizard Care information, visit www.the-lizard-lounge.com