Tips on keeping chameleons outside?

[celinann]

I want to keep my veiled outside but I have a few concerns. I live in eastern PA and currently our temps have been just reaching 70, going into the 50s at night. I'm sure it will warm up soon, and due to a miserable week of cloudy, rainy weather, I've been keeping him inside at the moment. My specific questions are:
-Is it a huge deal if there is a period of cloudy weather? If there is, should I set up a basking lamp or UVB lamp outside?
-What about wind and rain? I don't want my little guy to catch a cold.
I suppose I'm just feeling a little cautious because it takes so much care to ensure the indoor environment is suitable for chameleons, it's hard to come to terms with just leaving him outside through bad weather. Does anyone have any pictures of their setups or advice they'd like to share?

 

[fluxlizard]

Hi there-
I'm south of you, but we are having what sounds like the exact same weather the past 10 days or so- rain every day, nights low 50s, days low 70s or upper 60s.
I've kept my chams outdoors all summer every summer since the latter half of the 1990s. Moved my chams out last week in fact.

There is usually more UV outside in cloudy days than there is indoors under artificial lights.
So, enough UV is a non-issue.

Wind- mine never have had a problem with wind at all. They've been out in some ferocious wind storms and it hasn't seemed to bother them a bit once the storm has passed. I keep my enclosures on rustic tables made of 2x4's and tie them securely to the tables to prevent things from tipping over.

I have this photo that isn't great of the chameleon cages but you can see some of them behind my boys in this picture. The cages blocking the view actually have other lizards in them not chameleons, but you can still see the tables I make and how I tie the cages down and you might kind of see that I use the tie-downs to hold the sun-shields on top of the cages so the lizards can always find shade. You can also see that non-chameleons are hard on reptariums and I have to patch them to keep them going (some are over 10 years old now and still going! Bearded dragons especially try to scratch through them to get to the the dragons in the next cage over to breed with some other lizard's females. Females are always more attractive the next cage over instead of in one's own cage. LOL).

Oh nearly forgot- temperatures-
I move mine out when night temps remain above 50.
Veileds can take a lot of cold without problem- from what I have read down to low 40s and it even frosts sometimes in their range. I've never pushed it- I just use the 50 rule for everything except monitor lizards (my iguanas and sulcata and green basilisks etc are all out right now and they do great every year).
If it is cold and wet (as in day temps don't climb out of the 50s for a few days and it is rainy) then I would bring the more tropical lizards in. But this almost never happens. I think 1 or 2 times in the past 15 years or so that I've been doing this...

Oh one other thing you cannot see in the photo- if the cages are top heavy I will attach 6' or so long 2 x 4's to the feet on each end of the table- 1 2x4 to both feet at that end, and it sticks way out in front and behind the table. That keeps the wind from tipping the tables over. The tables run east-west for best sun exposure and the storms come from the north, so the 2x4 supports at the feet run north-south which prevents the storm winds from tipping the tables. On some tables the legs are extra long and I "stake" the legs into the ground a foot or so which accomplishes the same thing.

 

[suzi]

Quote: Females are always more attractive the next cage over instead of in one's own cage. LOL).End quote
TYPICAL!!!!!!!! . Great pics Flux!

 

[celinann]

Wow! Thanks so much for your input. This is really helpful and definitely quiets the concerns I had.