Need opinions from the experts

[slowfoot]

Sorry for the long...

So, I've had my new guy (adult male panther) for a few days now. I've been keeping him in his outdoor cage because it's easier to provide lots of water outside. The issue I'm having is whether or not he's getting enough basking time.

The outdoor cage is 6ftx5ftx3ft. My yard is pretty much a jungle, so the cage stays in the shade for a large part of the day. It gets dappled sun in the morning, some steady sun along the front part during the middle of the day (for about 2 hours), then more dappled sun in the afternoon. The rest of the time, it's mostly shaded, though there are occasional sunny spots. The temps in the shade are around 80F, in the sun it's about 100F.

I'm just not sure if he's getting enough of an opportunity to bask - the sunny spots are small and they move around a lot, so the poor guy would have to be constantly in motion to get sun. His behavior looks fine: he's been cruising pretty much non-stop around the cage, eats everything that's offered, and is fast when he wants to get somewhere quickly. When I do see him bask, he doesn't maintain the 'basking pose' for very long before moving out of the sun, however this could just be because the sun doesn't stay in one place.

I have the option of moving him inside, where I have a cage set up with a basking lamp, etc. But I'd really like to keep him out if possible. However, I definitely don't want to put him at risk. There's really no place to move the outdoor cage that gets more sun. I even chopped down a tree to let more light through.

Any thoughts?

 

[Julirs]

100 degrees is a little hot. He will not need to "bask"-if you define basking as sitting in direct sunlight since the temps are so high already. How old is he? 100 is way too hot for a juvie.

 

[slowfoot]

He's an adult

 

[Julirs]

Then it sounds like he is fine where he is as long as you keep him well misted. Indirect sunlight will provide plenty of UVB.

 

[eisentrauti]

Just my thoughts, Julirs is exactly right !

 

[jkoskosky]

agreed

sunlight is sunlight.. it doesnt have to be pointing directly on him to get the necessary UV.

i went for an outdoor setup with my veiled and within 5 minutes she was up a pine tree. looks like a need to go back to the drawing board hahaha

 

[slowfoot]

Okay, so not having a real 'basking spot' available at all times is fine? Just making sure

 

[eisentrauti]

Yes, it's just that the chameleon get the right body temperature

 

[hallenhe]

Dave Weldon recently posted on UV-B bulbs, linking to a UVB post on another forum by Dr. Frances Baines. Here is a relevant paragraph from Dr. Baines's post:

"The UVB obtained from any fluorescent lamp (tube or compact) is very weak compared to sunlight. At a reasonable basking distance, eg. 25 - 30cm (10" - 12") it rarely exceeds UV Index 1.0 with a brand new lamp. With many 5% tubes it does not even reach UV Index 0.4 - 0.5.
These levels are typical of the daytime UVB outdoors in the SHADE. This is very different from a UV Index of maybe 3.0 - 5.0 in full early morning sunlight anywhere in the world where reptiles are basking at the beginning of the day. To provide levels as high as that, you need a high quality mercury vapour lamp or metal halide over the basking area."

- So, in the shade most of the day should be fine; it would be no worse than he'd be getting indoors with a Reptisun 5.0 or other linear. (And it's probably much better, as long as the weather's good for him.)

 

[slowfoot]

Thanks for the replies! I guess I was more concerned with my cham being able to regulate a proper body temp, rather than the UV issue. Though, I agree that he'll get a lot more quality UV exposure outside.