Water Droplets in the Sun?

[SoCaliSon]

I have had a thought pass through my head the last few times I have had the chams in their outdoor cages getting misted. When they are out there I spray there cages down from outside the cage, I typically spray down the top of the cage to allow water to drip down into the cage like rain, but what I was thinking is... When you do this you end up with a lot of water droplets coating the screen... In the direct sun I was wondering if all of the droplets magnifying the sun could be a bit to intense for their eyes maybe? I know how sensitive their eyes are and I was wondering if anyone else had wondered if the light magnified off of the hundreds of water droplets on the top of the cage may be too intense/maybe harmful for their eyes? I do not have a UV meter at the moment, but I would curious to know how light is affected when it passes through water droplets.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

~Joe

 

[hallenhe]

Well, it's presumably something they would encounter at least occasionally in nature (not that everything they encounter in nature is good for them)... You're probably in a warm enough climate to water them in the shade and leave them there until there's no longer an accumulation of reflective droplets if you want to be on the safe side.

 

[SoCaliSon]

This is not something that would occur in nature... unless they decided to spend a day after the rain under a spider web or something.

Here is a pic of Sgt. Peppers outdoor cage... In the state in question.

You can see how bright some of the droplets appear... and he spends 90% of his time out there 1-2" from the top of the cage soaking up sun and drinking those droplets. I started chatting with Ryan J. about this just now... and he remind me how droplets like that can actually cause burns on the leaves of plants. That brought up the thought in my mind about starting a fire with a thin sheet of ice used as a magnifying glass. Ryan said he would try to test it with his meter this weekend. Should be interesting to know.

Reason I brought this question up... Is I have caught little Sgt. Pepper with his eyes closed a couple times. I have gone over everything in his husbandry and it is all in check. I am not to worried about him as his energy is off the hook, and he eats and poops like a champion. I am sending a fecal to be done, and based on the results he may have an Appt. with Dr. Greek shortly. When I noticed his eyes closed I upped his mistings (inside) and it did start happening a little less. I would say he spends about 4 days out of the week outside... And today when I took him out there and was spraying his cage doen like I do.. the thought hit me... What if it is the way I let the water accumulate on the top of the cage that is irritating his eyes?

 

[summoner12]

Elisa's cages get this same effect when she or her misting system are misting.... I don't think its a big deal.

give her a ring, see what she says.

Most likely, like any other part of the day when the sun is high and the UVB is intense, if this were an issue for them they could detect it and shade themselves.

 

[susurrus]

The focal length of a water droplet of that size is way too small. The reason plants may get burns is because the distance from the water droplet to the leaf is very small. Your cham would need to basically be pressed up against the surface of the screen.

The photographic evidence provided is also invalid as it's from the top of the screen so it's bright because the water surface is reflecting a lot of light and not transmitting it. I would vote this is a non-issue.

 

[SoCaliSon]

The focal length of a water droplet of that size is way too small. The reason plants may get burns is because the distance from the water droplet to the leaf is very small. Your cham would need to basically be pressed up against the surface of the screen.

The photographic evidence provided is also invalid as it's from the top of the screen so it's bright because the water surface is reflecting a lot of light and not transmitting it. I would vote this is a non-issue.

Thanks for your reply... That makes a lot of sense... I was just thinking about it and thought I would put it out there.