Some time spent outdoors

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It was hard to meter the light when the subject is swaying back and forth in the sun and shade... so his colours are pretty 'bleached'.

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So here's another one of the same young chap- showing his contrast in the barring a bit better.

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Hanging out. The breeze was strong during this, he seemed to be contently swaying from side to side.

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And just to show i'm not prejudice about species.






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And just for fun- a garter I caught last month while camping.
 
Dave, after seeing them in the sun, sometimes I wonder weather its even worth it for me to keep chameleons indoors! The difference seems to be, a well surviving chameleon, versus a thriving chameleon.
 
Howdy Will,

I know what you mean about outside. I'd be more inclined to leave mine out overnight except that even in my city environment, I have raccoons, opossums, rats and squirrels (lions and tigers and bears oh my!) that I worry (probably needlessly) about.
 
good looking creatures! is the 2nd guy a maroansetra? (is that even the name) Very unique looking, looks a sambava who's been splashed with white paint :D

I know what you mean about seeing them in real sunlight, mine is not even comparable when he's in his cage and when he's outside on a sunny day. The difference in colors is like night and day, in-cage he's usually very blah looking and outside he brightens up like a pack of skittles. I'm looking to correct this by setting up some metal halide(HQI) lighting for him, which appears to be a must-have in chameleon keeping over in france/germany/europe. I wonder why here in NA it only seems to be used by aquaria enthusiasts.

oh and thanks for the pm reply! ()
 
I know what you mean about outside. I'd be more inclined to leave mine out overnight except that even in my city environment, I have raccoons, opossums, rats and squirrels (lions and tigers and bears oh my!) that I worry (probably needlessly) about.
I hear you on that one. I'll one up you though, we have nightly visits from skunks, which are peskier than most would think. Nosey little buggers.
good looking creatures! is the 2nd guy a maroansetra? (is that even the name) Very unique looking, looks a sambava who's been splashed with white paint :D
I know what you mean about seeing them in real sunlight, mine is not even comparable when he's in his cage and when he's outside on a sunny day. The difference in colors is like night and day, in-cage he's usually very blah looking and outside he brightens up like a pack of skittles. I'm looking to correct this by setting up some metal halide(HQI) lighting for him, which appears to be a must-have in chameleon keeping over in france/germany/europe. I wonder why here in NA it only seems to be used by aquaria enthusiasts.
(Maroantsetra) They are closer looking to Tamataves I think, but they are in between the two regions, so that understandable. White in chameleons apparently isn't saught after, but its just so dang striking.
Metal halides are pretty dang intense, and I just can't imagine using them in glass terrariums like they use even more so. Mercury Vapors are likely a much better alternative.
Hey Will,
Were you at the Mississauga Reptile expo?
Indeed I attend them all along with the Expos in Kemptville (Ottawa). Trying to get up to Montreal as well.
 
hmm i'm not sure about the germans using glass enclosures, but on the french forum I read they're totally against glass/plexi, they only do screen like here. They seem to prefer metal halide to mercury vapor though(which they refer to as HQL), mainly because the color of the light produced by the MV is much more yellow/orangish whereas the MH produces light more in yellow/bright white spectrum. The MV dissipates more heat than the MH (which can be a good thing in winter..), which is why the MH is more efficient because it generates more light and less heat compared to the MV. You can actually get them in really low wattages too, I'll only be doing a 70w setup which is roughly what most people here use as a basking light so I'm not really concerned with burning. It would be hung from the ceiling above the cage with about a 10-30cm gap between the lamp and the top of cage. (depending on the temps you want/need)

The main reason they speek so highly of these is cause MH in general(depending on the bulb) is as close as you can get to the light/color intensity produced by the sun because of the high color rendering index (CRI) which is usually above 90 (100 being that of the sun) along with the wide range of color temperatures available, for terrarium/chameleon application they recommend a color temp between about 4200k to 6500k(kelvins) which is pretty much equivalent to the sun's color temp at around noon, more or less. So far these seem to be the best bulbs I can find at the moment (http://www.eyelighting.com/colorarcr.html)

Most people who switch over from basic incandescent/fluorescent lights to metal halide lighting on that forum report major positive changes in the chameleon's mood, activeness, appetite, appearance... which is why I'm so keen on trying it out for myself. They're also big fans of the osram vitalux bulb (as seen on uvguide.co.uk) as their UV source, but that's a whole other article lol

this is all info I've gathered from that forum and from my own personal internet researching
 
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Good, keep in touch! I'd like to see how the little ones are doing and how they are growing. Everything is going well I trust? Post a photo of you and the little one so I can put a name to a face again.
 
I think you'd remember me. I'm the one who came back with the chameleon that passed away...But in brighter news, the chameleon I have now is doing great. You could already see the size difference from when I got him!
 
Ah, well glad things are off to a much better start. Yes the veileds we still have are now growing huge, they will have more than doubled by the end of this month- so hopefully I can make it up to Montreal for the next Expo.

If you have a camera, be sure to post some photos.
 
...They seem to prefer metal halide... Most people who switch over from basic incandescent/fluorescent lights to metal halide lighting on that forum report major positive changes in the chameleon's mood, activeness, appetite, appearance... which is why I'm so keen on trying it out for myself...
Howdy Electric,
I've been waiting to try MH lighting for quite a while. http://www.reptileuv.com/ is supposed to have a MH kit available soon and I wanted to try one of theirs. Here's what's on their Home page: "Metal Halide UVB EB kits in research and soon to be released!" Seems like that msg has been there for a while :eek:.
 
So, how about a female this time... she deserves some attention as well. This is the mate to the young blue ambanja male (who just shed by the way).

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