Keeping my Veiled outside on my patio

[Jacki314]

I am getting a Veiled next Friday and have been reading and reading and now I think I am even more confused than I was in the beginning! We live in SW Florida and we were thinking about having him live on our patio. I attached a photo for reference...basically the love seat on the left, he would be next to that and the hot tub. I would be removing the lattice work and plants and put his diy 2x2x4 cage there. I have a spectacular Pothos Devil vine that I have in a hanging basket. I have strong but thin wire that will hold the plant fine and I was planning to put a hook in our ceiling and run it inside of his cage then hang the basket from that. I have all kinds of driftwood & mopani pieces that I will be adding to the cage and some vines as well. I will just be hand misting at first. It gets lots of sun but I am now being told I will still need lights. I have read lots of different things here and other places and even talked to a few well known rep stores. Thoughts? Thanks for any input!!

 

[jannb]

Welcome to the forums. How hot does it get on the patio? What will you be using to check your temps? My screen back porch gets almost to 100 on the hot days with a ceiling fan and that's way to hot for a Cham. Without a UV meter you wouldn't know how much UV is passing through that screen but this time of the year it will be too hot for lights outside.

 

[Lpsouth1978]

It is hard to tell from the picture you attached. If the porch is enclosed in glass or plastic you will definitely need a UVB bulb. If, however, it is open or enclosed with screen and his cage gets direct sunlight for at least part of the day, you should be fine without a UVB bulb. Just make sure that he has cool places to hide inside his cage or he could easily overheat. I would also recommend an automatic misting system. You will find that you need to mist quite often to keep him cool if he is in the sun a lot.

 

[Jacki314]

Excellent questions sorry.....Yes it is a screen enclosure. We will be getting a mister but it just haven't narrowed it down yet...probably will by tomorrow. So it might be here before he is. I have a digital thermometer that I am running a test on for tomorrow to double check the temps. It typically is not over 90...today at 1:00 (which is almost the hottest time of the day here) it was 87. But I have plenty of fans and circulation out there. The UV meter will be here any day.

 

[jannb]

If you are a new keeper you might find my blog helpful. This is how I keep young veileds and panthers. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html