How much natural sunlight a week.

[Bush baby]

Now that the weather is starting to get nice i've been placing my Jackson cham outside in the out door enclosure i built for him. It's nothing fancy; about the size of a 29 gallon tall aquarium with all sides screen.

I've been taking him out there for a few hours, a few times a week.

How much/and how long do they need to be exposed to the sun daily/weekly, at minimum, to produce their own D3…?

Thanks

 

[Bush baby]

Anyone…..

 

[Devokid]

Depends on the sun. In full force a couple hrs a day 3-4 days a week should easily cover it. Mine enjoy being outside so I have them out there as long as possible.

 

[Reyphox]

My opinion is the more the better, you can't overdose him on sunlight . Just make sure he has some shade to hide so he doesn't over heat. And keep him well hydrated. One person mentioned on an older post that using those patio misting systems work great.

 

[maxttu]

My opinion is the more the better, you can't overdose him on sunlight . Just make sure he has some shade to hide so he doesn't over heat. And keep him well hydrated. One person mentioned on an older post that using those patio misting systems work great.

Ding, ding! The more the better. My clan is outside 24/7 now that Spring has finally shown its face.

I use the patio misting system and it worked great in the 100 degree Texas heat last summer. I set it to go off for 20 min, every hour. Of course, lots and lots of shade.

 

[Psychobunny]

I would say at least 2 hours of full sun a day.
I have some used small reptibreeze cages I got from eBay for my chams outside.
I cant really put them out very long on week days, since I get home at 3:30pm, but on week ends, I take advantage of the sun whenever I can.

 

[deadhd5]

As much as possible, but lots of hiding places for montanes.

 

[Bush baby]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I took him outside yesterday, seeing as how the temp was around 75 degrees and it was nice and sunny.

 

[Cait0420]

Mine love going outside when it's warm enough, the longer they're outside getting natural d3 the better

 

[Bush baby]

Even on a sunny day when the sun may be regularly covered by some clouds..some UV is still penetrating through the cloud cover, right?

 

[junglefries]

You may want to concern yourself more with temp highs than uvb amount. Any time it is above 89°f, you should bring him/her inside. Make sure that there is proper humidity in the cage while outside, as they are montane and will dehydrate or stress very quickly. Even in the shade they will receive more uvb than from a bulb. With jacksons luckily needing a fraction of the amount of supplements than other species, you can rest in the fact, that any outdoor time is getting the necessary job(s) done. So, just make sure to watch temps and rh, and enjoy some outdoors with your jax, also. Grab a lemonade or mojito and start swatting the skeeters.

 

[JackP308]

doesn't take long about 15 mins of exposure to start synthesizing D3 , Id keep my chameleons out as long as possible and as much as possible given the right set up and where you live

 

[Bush baby]

In MD here it gets pretty humid. I have mine outside early morning for about 3 hours at a time, several times a week. So long as the temp doesn't get above 80-85.

I've noticed that their colors are more vibrant when outside also.

 

[waynek]

I leave my quadricornis outside as soon as the overnight temps remain above 40 degrees F. my veiled chameleons when overnight is above 50 . the quads come inside when daytime temps are above 90 - they need the ac then.

 

[Yowzercham]

I have outside cage of hardware cloth to 1 protect him better than screen 2 allow more sun in. I trade off two one day two next feeding them in am then out for uv rays. ( I have four chams) I have out side misting system on cheap $24 timer for 20 minutes every three hours..shade available, but watch for dogs cat etc which is why I went with heavy duty hardware cloth and wood. I also planted greens in bottom that are growing.. In case they are interested

 

[Lovereps]

You may want to concern yourself more with temp highs than uvb amount. Any time it is above 89°f, you should bring him/her inside. Make sure that there is proper humidity in the cage while outside, as they are montane and will dehydrate or stress very quickly. Even in the shade they will receive more uvb than from a bulb. With jacksons luckily needing a fraction of the amount of supplements than other species, you can rest in the fact, that any outdoor time is getting the necessary job(s) done. So, just make sure to watch temps and rh, and enjoy some outdoors with your jax, also. Grab a lemonade or mojito and start swatting the skeeters.

I'm sitting here laughing at this last part of your comment, Junglefries.
I've been swatting those pesky skeeters every time I go outside ever since those horrible Asian Tiger mosquitos moved into the area.
They are super persistent and they are out biting all day long.
Unfortunately, when you look up what a mosquito's favorite food is, they just show a picture of me!

 

[pieter dhoop]

i have jacksonii from 4 months and rudis outside day and night.

when it rains a lot i cover the top, and when it 's very hot every hour 15 minutes of mist.

works fine

 

[Bush baby]

Just bought and put together a small reptibreeze cage so that i can safely and securely put my Jackson cham 'Kamino' outdoors for a few hours, on days when the weather is right.

 

[junglefries]

If in any doubt about the temps, bring indoors. It can affect any number of things, that can last for days. Dehydration can take a day or two to fix. Overheating can upset the stomach, curbing their appetite. Afternoon sun is the worst (1-4pm). My deck is setup for full sun from 7-9am. 3/4 sun from 9-11am. 1/2 sun from 11am-1pm. 1/4 sun from 1-4pm. Full shade rest of day. I make use of fence, two sheds and house wall. Upon first using the outdoors, I saw immediate results. I believe I saw one really credible user here say that 8hrs a week was the sweet spot for UVB. If they got that number, they didn't even need the bulb. I could be wrong. I still offer mine the bulb, while inside, as a precaution. But I also provide a lot of hiding places in the cage for them to get out of the way. I hope this helps.