Which UVB light bulb?

[ChamMom3]

Hello all.


I have a question regarding the UVB bulbs and husbandry.

I currently have 3 chameleons, 1 adult veiled and 1 adult panther, plus one baby panther. I live in west central Florida. Both adults are housed outside on the porch now, and it gets up to 100 degrees there during the day (veiled chameleons became invasive in south Florida, so I know that they can take this heat).. None of them are exposed to a direct sunlight. Both are housed in 2x2x4 Mesh enclosures, with live hibiscus plants and tons of perches. They both have fountains and get misted daily. They eat like champs, knock on wood. Panther has an infected toe that is being treated ( I discovered it after buying him, but I loved him and wouldn’t bring him back). I have these Zoomed reptisun T5 bulbs with hoods on each enclosure, that I got recently. No heat bulbs for now, since it is already very hot there. My worry is that they do not spend much time under the bulbs, because they prefer to stay in the plants and hide in the leaves, so I was wondering if I should get them UVB bulbs with more penetration. I was looking at these T8 bulbs they sell at petco, made by Zilla: https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/zilla-tropical-25-uvb-fluorescent-t8-bulb

What do you guys think, should I get worried about them not getting enough uvb, or will they be ok? or better find a bulb with more penetration? Once it gets cooler, I will get them heat bulbs too, so I assume they will spend more time under the bulbs then.

Thank you all in advance anyway, I am so glad that there is a forum devoted exclusively to the chameleons!

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi and welcome! The T5 is the current standard for uvb with either ReptiSun 5.0 or Arcadia 6% bulbs. Then basking area should be about 8-9” below the light which will give a uv index of around 3.0 (which is ideal). The T8 is older technology and doesn’t penetrate as well.
I too am in central Florida (Brevard county) and my main concerns for keeping your chams outside would be do they have adequate air flow and is one of your chams a female? It’s very humid and if you aren’t having good enough air flow where your chams are, they would be at risk for respiratory infections. The difference between our wild population and our captive chams is the wild ones can go where ever they please for heat/humidity to their liking.
What type of fountains do you have? Generally fountains are frowned upon as they tend to be bacterial havens…even when kept clean.

 

[Tkrd69]

If you can post a pic of enclosures include lights in the pic so the family can see how your setup looks. I live near Lake Okeechobee hot and humid here too.

 

[Tkrd69]

If you can post a pic of enclosures include lights in the pic so the family can see how your setup looks. I live near Lake Okeechobee hot and humid here too. Also would like to welcome you to a great place to ask questions and get the answers you need from knowledgeable people

 

[Beman]

So the issue with this is they are going to hide down in the plants to try to stay cool... So with the UVB lighting this will be very important since they do not get real sun. Depending on how far away from the fixtures they are and what bulb strength your using for your T5 fixtures they may not be getting any UVB exposure. Only way to know for sure is with a solarmeter 6.5R to test your levels. You can buy one new or look in the forum classifieds for used ones. But for both species you really want a 2-3 UVI level for exposure during the day.

100 in the shade? What temps are you actually getting in your cages? Because none should have anything hotter than 80-85 max at basking. And then they have to be able to get out of the heat to cool down which means daytime ambient should be low 70's. The "they can take the heat" well I do disagree with that. Invasive chams in FL are often found underweight and have major health issues. It is simply not their natural environment and they decline due to it. Veiled chameleons do not live in extremely hot environments. In Yemen they are in the mountains where it stays cooler. My concern would be that heat issues are very real in chameleons. Too intense and this can kill them. Especially babies because they dehydrate extremely quickly.