More opinions please.

[Agentspades]

Ok so after lots and lots of reading I am thinking of maybe making an outdoor enclosure for my veil cham. I live in south Florida so weather I would believe is not a problem. If I go ahead with this would I need any additional lighting, UV type stuff or would the natural elements suffice and also what are the pros and cons of this idea. Thanks a lot for all your help

 

[ChameleonsTree]

The natural light is good enough. Just set up a misting system and have an alternative spot for them in case it gets too warm or too cold for them. There are plenty of people in Fla that keep them in a screened area inside their screened pool area. It really is very good for them to have natural sun and all that fresh air.

 

[MWheelock]

I agree. I would also mention that if your cage is going to be in direct light, there should always be a shaded area for he/she to escape the heat (to cool down if necessary.)

If you are going to allow them to eat "naturally" this okay if you are sure the bugs getting into the enclosure are not exposed to pesticides. Also, some of these bugs carry parisites, so a regularly scheduled fecal with your vet and maybe dewormings will be necessary.

Sounds like your going to have fun.

Matthew

 

[Jordan]

To my knowledge they are considered to be an invasive species right now in Florida. They can do good there.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

I think it would be absolutely fine to house veileds outside in Florida.
Personally, however, I would not allow or depend on wild insects.
My plan would be to create an enclosure that was insect proof (as much as possible) so that I could control and moniter feedings.
Perhaps I am a control freak, but I like to know what my cham is eating and how much.

-Brad

 

[Jordan]

I agree with you on that Brad.

It is a shame that are synthetic lifestyles kill off so many more advanced means of controlling the less then desirable things in our lives.

 

[flpanther]

outdoor enclosure

I too live in S. Florida and have had sucess keeping veilds and panthers outdoors. The natural, unfiltered sunlight is 100 times better than any artificial light. As long as your cham has access to shade and sun, he will be able to thermoregulate just as he would in nature. I agree with the previous posts about making the enclosure insect proof, you don't want him eating insects that have been exposed to pesticides or baby brown anoles who will enter the cage to drink from your mister. The other great thing about outdoor cages is you don't have to worry about water collection. I have a garden hose on an auto timer hooked up to a misting wand aimed at the cage. The only worry is that you have to check weather.com every day in winter to check what the overnight low will be. Most nights it stays in the 70's here, but two or three times a year it dips into the 50's or 60's at night. If the forcast is for lower than 65 I take my chams indoors until it warms up again. I never have to keep them in for more than a couple of days. Your veiled can tolerate overnight lows in the 60's, but forcasts aren't always completely acurate, that's why I bring mine in even if the forcast is for low 60's. Good luck, your cham will love it outside.

 

[flpanther]

Pic of florida outdoor setup


Here you can see my female panther cinnamon's cage on my patio. I built a stand since she feels safer up a little higher off the ground. You can see a wand attatched to the fence behind the cage. It is one of those $4 wands they sell at home depot that you can set to mist. The hose runs to a programmable auto timer that costs about 35 bucks and hooks right up to your hose faucet. I program it to come on for 30 minutes everyday around 2PM which simulates the wet season in Madagascar. The mist completely envelops the cage and the mesh starts dripping heavily simulating rainfall. On days that you know it is going to rain heavy during our natural wet season(which is almost an identical climate to northern Madagascar, just opposite time of the year) you can just shut off the valve. My previous post covers winter concerns since the average lows in our winter can dip a little lower than in Madagascar.