UVB in the Shade?

[Forestdellic]

Hello there,

I have recently moved back into my parent's house for the summer and I have brought my chameleons with me.

Right now it's summer over here with average temperatures of 30C and a UV index of 8-9.

I do have my equipment with me such as basking bulbs and UVB linear tubes but I am trying not to use any electricity and take advantage of the summer weather in order to heat up my chameleons. I am currently keeping them in the balcony at the back of the house.

The front of the house get's morning direct sunlight and lasts till around 12pm-1pm and then the back of the house get's direct sun from around 4pm till 7pm.

I don't want to keep alternating between the front and the back of the house as this would surely stress out my chameleons and I am thinking of moving them to the front of the house as they would get a longer period of direct sun rather than in the back.

My main question is, would my chameleons still be getting UVB in the shade due to scattering?

 

[Rufi0]

They should be get getting some UVB even in the shade, however the only way to be certain if they are and how much they are getting would be by using a solarmeter.

 

[carol5208]

I believe one of our members, Jannb used a meter in the shade and said there were still uvb rays registering. If they are getting sunlight for many hours of the day, they should be fine. The amount they get from sun far outweighs what they get from the artificial lights. Even though we are running the lights on an average of 12 hours I still believe several hours of natural sunlight is just as or even more beneficial.

 

[jannb]

The UVB in the shade is still in the 100's way more than any UVB light could ever put out. It's better to keep him in the shade than take a chance on over heating him and killing him.

 

[nightanole]

https://www.chameleonforums.com/uvb-10-harmful-128206/index2.html#post1121612

 

[Forestdellic]

The UVB in the shade is still in the 100's way more than any UVB light could ever put out. It's better to keep him in the shade than take a chance on over heating him and killing him.

Thank you so much for the replies fellow members it has been really helpful!

Jannb I was actually thinking of moving them to the front house since that part gets the most sunlight during the day however you make a good point about over heating and temperatures here are rising as summer reaches it's peak. So I'll keep them where they are and they should get around 3-4hours of direct sunlight as the sun is going down so it won't overheat them

 

[jajeanpierre]

Thank you so much for the replies fellow members it has been really helpful!

Jannb I was actually thinking of moving them to the front house since that part gets the most sunlight during the day however you make a good point about over heating and temperatures here are rising as summer reaches it's peak. So I'll keep them where they are and they should get around 3-4hours of direct sunlight as the sun is going down so it won't overheat them

What kind of chameleon are they? You might fry a montane species or make a veiled very happy in the same conditions.

Is there any risk of predation? Coopers hawks will go through the screen to get your chams. Raccoons and dogs will rip up a screen as well.

They are able to see UVB, so can self regulate as long as they can get away from it if they want.and need to be able to get out of it or bask in it. By the way, my shade (south central Texas) has never been anywhere near the numbers Jann was quoting you but I don't have any reflected light.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I forgot to mention that I would choose morning over afternoon simply because of the lower heat. There might be a lot of reflected light (heat) which will depend on what structures/surfaces/colors are around the cage.

 

[Forestdellic]

What kind of chameleon are they? You might fry a montane species or make a veiled very happy in the same conditions.

Is there any risk of predation? Coopers hawks will go through the screen to get your chams. Raccoons and dogs will rip up a screen as well.

They are able to see UVB, so can self regulate as long as they can get away from it if they want.and need to be able to get out of it or bask in it. By the way, my shade (south central Texas) has never been anywhere near the numbers Jann was quoting you but I don't have any reflected light.

They are veiled chameleons and we are a country very close to northern Africa such as Libya, Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia. Our temperatures are hot and are somewhat similar to these countries.

I live in an apartment and as I said we have balconies, no yards or anything like that. There is small chance of predation but that stems from our cats. If we keep the balcony door closed they will be left alone.

Predatory birds, mammals and reptiles will definitely not eat them. Our reptiles consist of small species of snakes (leopard snake, cat snake, black whip snake and algerian whip snake) and these tend to live in the country side and rarely found in the villages. The rest of our reptiles are turkish house geckos, moorish geckos, several species of wall lizard and the common chameleon.

Predatory birds do not come into the village, especially with the high amount of poachers we have here and the recent fiasco on anti-hunting. Birds of prey are a rare site and stick to the country side or the several islets that surround us.

Mammals we have rats, mice and the least weasel (which is endangered there is only a small handful left). The amount of rats and mice however is on the decline, especially when we have so many street cats so they tend to stick to pine forests. We live on the top floor so I doubt the stray cats will be a problem. Stray dogs is not very common and even so they won't come up to the top floor for sure.

The veileds cages consist of several potted ficuses and pothos plants so they have ample amount of shade.

I moved my chameleons to the front balcony so they can enjoy the morning/afternoon sun and then get shade from around 1.30pm onwards.

Our country gets ample amount of sun especially in the summer months so UVB is definitely not scarce Where i live is on a hill top so there is plenty of fresh air for them to cool down.

 

[Venutus1]

Hello there,

I have recently moved back into my parent's house for the summer and I have brought my chameleons with me.

Right now it's summer over here with average temperatures of 30C and a UV index of 8-9.

I do have my equipment with me such as basking bulbs and UVB linear tubes but I am trying not to use any electricity and take advantage of the summer weather in order to heat up my chameleons. I am currently keeping them in the balcony at the back of the house.

The front of the house get's morning direct sunlight and lasts till around 12pm-1pm and then the back of the house get's direct sun from around 4pm till 7pm.

I don't want to keep alternating between the front and the back of the house as this would surely stress out my chameleons and I am thinking of moving them to the front of the house as they would get a longer period of direct sun rather than in the back.

My main question is, would my chameleons still be getting UVB in the shade due to scattering?

Hi there Forestdellic!

I bet you will find my friend Frances's website a treasure trove of info.


About midway down they talk about UV levels in shade on this page:

http://www.uvguide.co.uk/uvinnature.htm

It is a good place to start anyway.

Cheers!
Todd

www.lightyourreptiles.com

[email protected]

 

[jajeanpierre]

They are veiled chameleons and we are a country very close to northern Africa such as Libya, Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia. Our temperatures are hot and are somewhat similar to these countries.

I live in an apartment and as I said we have balconies, no yards or anything like that. There is small chance of predation but that stems from our cats. If we keep the balcony door closed they will be left alone.

Predatory birds, mammals and reptiles will definitely not eat them. Our reptiles consist of small species of snakes (leopard snake, cat snake, black whip snake and algerian whip snake) and these tend to live in the country side and rarely found in the villages. The rest of our reptiles are turkish house geckos, moorish geckos, several species of wall lizard and the common chameleon.

Predatory birds do not come into the village, especially with the high amount of poachers we have here and the recent fiasco on anti-hunting. Birds of prey are a rare site and stick to the country side or the several islets that surround us.

Mammals we have rats, mice and the least weasel (which is endangered there is only a small handful left). The amount of rats and mice however is on the decline, especially when we have so many street cats so they tend to stick to pine forests. We live on the top floor so I doubt the stray cats will be a problem. Stray dogs is not very common and even so they won't come up to the top floor for sure.

The veileds cages consist of several potted ficuses and pothos plants so they have ample amount of shade.

I moved my chameleons to the front balcony so they can enjoy the morning/afternoon sun and then get shade from around 1.30pm onwards.

Our country gets ample amount of sun especially in the summer months so UVB is definitely not scarce Where i live is on a hill top so there is plenty of fresh air for them to cool down.

You have really piqued my interest--what country are you in? I lived for many years in Saudi Arabia and even lived in Libya for a bit. I've traveled through a lot of that area.

Just be careful that the balcony doesn't trap a lot of heat. You might be surprised at how much heat is absorbed and held by even a wooden balcony in strong sunlight.

Rats and birds like ravens could be a worry. And, make sure the cage is secure if it gets knocked over by the wind or something. If you think something like a rat will be a problem, you can always use double wire and put his cage inside another stronger cage. You can make it yourself using welded wire and J-clips.