Thoughts on not using uvb bulb during winter

[jamest0o0]

Going for a somewhat unorthodox set up for my parsonii(out of convenience). Set up a free range in our office room that gets a lot of natural light and regular temperatures, rather than my garage where I had to blast a space heater. In the late spring through early fall he lives outside full time, so plenty of sun. This set up will only be temporary until then. Was wondering if I could get away dusting with a little repashy calc lod(small amounts of d3) each week in the mean time. I'll also be trying to get him outside on the random sunny day, but being in the northeast, there's not too many of those. Hoping some of the long time keepers could chime in. I know I've heard some say they had chameleons for long periods on only d3. This wouldn't be ideal, but I'm thinking it shouldn't hurt for only a couple months...?

 

[jannb]

Personally, I wouldn't go a couple of months without UVB. If it were a couple of weeks that should be ok.

 

[I love CHAMS]

I’d still have the UVB lights in winter. Just not as much.

 

[jamest0o0]

Personally, I wouldn't go a couple of months without UVB. If it were a couple of weeks that should be ok.

Thanks for your input jan. Uvb has been a real struggle with the Parsons. The size of the enclosure makes it hard to get a nice spread without hanging fixtures all over the place.

 

[kinyonga]

Does your Parsons move around a lot in the winter?

 

[jamest0o0]

Does your Parsons move around a lot in the winter?

Not a whole lot with the cold temps. I plan to bring him out of brumation though. Going to keep him at about 68 ambient with a basking In the high 80s(which he probably won't use, but we'll see). Anyway, with that, he should be more active.

 

[snitz427]

Do you have a south facing window? I know our temps vary quite a bit for such a short distance away, but on mild winter days I sometimes open the window and put a clip on light nearby to raise the temps, and then let the chams free range in front of the window. A 65 degree day plus the heat lamp usually keeps ambient temps in the low 70s, and high 70s/80 near the lamp. I only keep the window open for a half hour or so, because this is a little chilly for the veileds, but they really enjoy the sun despite the cooler temps. Since noname likes it on the cooler side, anyway, it may be a good way to sneak in some natural uvb now and then.

I've been trying to measure the UVB with a solarmeter this winter, but every day we've gotten like that, so far, has been partly cloudy. So not a good read... on partly cloudy days its only hitting around .5.

 

[nightanole]

Plenty of breeders do not use UVB bulbs and run 100% on supplements. We even had 1 breeder on here that would hand grind pure calcium(like a marble size would kill a human) and mix his own D3. All his crew just used 6500k bulbs.

Just from personal experience, i have raised veileds using technically UVB bulbs (T12's that odds are were immeasurable past 6") in the 1990's using just stickytonguefarms indoor(10x less than rheaspy LOD) every feeding. They always got good marks from the vet.

 

[jamest0o0]

Do you have a south facing window? I know our temps vary quite a bit for such a short distance away, but on mild winter days I sometimes open the window and put a clip on light nearby to raise the temps, and then let the chams free range in front of the window. A 65 degree day plus the heat lamp usually keeps ambient temps in the low 70s, and high 70s/80 near the lamp. I only keep the window open for a half hour or so, because this is a little chilly for the veileds, but they really enjoy the sun despite the cooler temps. Since noname likes it on the cooler side, anyway, it may be a good way to sneak in some natural uvb now and then.

I've been trying to measure the UVB with a solarmeter this winter, but every day we've gotten like that, so far, has been partly cloudy. So not a good read... on partly cloudy days its only hitting around .5.

Not a bad idea, the windows do let a lot of sun through. Even outside the solarmeter doesn't measure much here though, but I'm going to give it a try.

Plenty of breeders do not use UVB bulbs and run 100% on supplements. We even had 1 breeder on here that would hand grind pure calcium(like a marble size would kill a human) and mix his own D3. All his crew just used 6500k bulbs.

Just from personal experience, i have raised veileds using technically UVB bulbs (T12's that odds are were immeasurable past 6") in the 1990's using just stickytonguefarms indoor(10x less than rheaspy LOD) every feeding. They always got good marks from the vet.

That's reassuring to here. Thank you, I thought I saw you post something about this in the past.