u/Educational_Power924

Hey hi again, soooo Lucerys is getting their ass kicked by this 3D background that they sold at the pet store. They love to climb the wall, that’s fine get ya exercise buddy. Feeding time is the issue… crickets will find gaps and crawl behind the wall and then hide there teasing my Little. Which forces me to blow canned air to get them out but it startles everyone, there I go pissing Lucerys off again 😭 we are not off on a good foot lol
I’ve made the decision to pull that wall out; maybe reuse it but in smaller pieces? Worried about exposed foam tho. I ordered some vinyl for the back glass.
Since I’m pulling the climbing wall Lulu is gonna need something to play on, so what y’all got that is tried & true beardie approved?😂

As the title says I’m a brand new Beardie dad, got my baby Lucerys (Lu/Lulu) yesterday from a big box pet store; save the moans and groans, I live in a small podunk town and shipping anything in this heat makes me nervous…. Anyways I got a 40gal “starter” kit, yes I know 40gal is a lot for a baby it’s cuz I am committed to my little growing into it. I threw out the sand that was supplied don’t want Lu to ingest it, but I pretty much used everything else. I upgraded the uvb light to Arcadia tube light, the lightbulb supplied in the kit wasn’t strong enough to get the heat in the hot zone up to 90°. Since the upgrade hot zone is consistently at 93°-110°. I’m manually adjusting the light sources as of right now (raising/lower the fixture &/or switching the heat emitter on/off) I have 2 analog gauges and 1 digital.
I’m sure I stressed the shit out my little yesterday with all the changing of lights and moving decor around, and not realizing my damn flash was on when I took photos of them last night; on top of the fact that they’re no longer in a pet store window. I taped up paper because the reflections are bad when my room lights are off during Lu’s day cycle. Got more of those foam backgrounds coming in for the side walls.
Lucerys seems to really like the “cool” side of the tank today but I figured that’s cuz the light fixtures are damn near consuming the whole tank lid. Tank lid is getting an upgrade soon as well, the mesh on the lid supplied seems super thin and came with a few defects.
Anyways I’m rambling… any help, guidance, or suggestions on how to make Lulu as happy & comfortable as possible would be great appreciated.
Also I know it’s pretty bare in the tank right now, more things are in transit- hammock, ledges. I’m also in the process of building a basking platform.

Hey everyone, as you can tell from the title I am new to the life of chameleon keeping. I've owned multiple ball pythons & a tarantula in my younger years lol aka my parents tolerated my weird pet fascination. Obviously at some point I had to stop creature keeping due to roommates or living conditions. I now am in a spot where I can have at least 1 reptile (wife says only 1 at this time lol)

My plan of action was a living biome since I can only have the 1 chameleon; I wanted to get the biome up and running for at least 1 month before getting said chameleon. Researched into cost on that and as soon as my wife heard springtails and saw a picture the biome got nix lol Basic setup with a few live plants it will be. Over some months, because shit is expensive due to the nature of who and what its for, I have gathered enough of a setup- tank, therm/hygro, misters, light/heat and got my terrarium going so I can start dialing in air temps & humidity for my new friend.

Here lies the problem. I'm having what my eyes and basic research comprehension is telling me is a heating issue. Chameleons (dependent upon species) like 92F-80F in the hot zone, mid 70s in the cooler zone; with a night temp drop in the 70s as well- please correct if wrong. According to my thermometer my air temp are between 74F-77F and humidity 63%+.

Multiple factors could be materials, equipment brands, wattage, location. So here I am asking the wide community that is reddit for help/guidance on my "possible" issue or am I being a helicopter parent?

Tank- 45gal front open glass with metal mesh screen top; leca false bottom, substrate cloth, soil, moss; 3 live plants- ficus & fern

Mister- reptizoo 2L adjustable misting system

Control- Digital hygro/thermometer & non digital gauge (came with tank); 100W dual light/heat mini dome; 100W ceramic heat bulb, 5.0UVB Reptisun 13W mini compact bulb