Reptile & Amphibian Forums

That is the question. I have heard conflicting info on this. What does everyone here do??

It's an absolute nessescary.
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CANADIAN CHAMELEONS

I would NEVER consider keeping a diurnal reptile without a UVB light. I wish I lived somewhere where I could provide filtered, natural sunlight more often. Diane
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dianedfisher@yahoo.com

My 3 CWD-Avanyu, Tripod and Drago

There are a few people who don't use it, but they've developed a very complicated supplement regime instead. But, most keepers swear by a UV light, and as it can't hurt the cham and is a safe way to help them metabolize vitamins and calcium (supplements can be tricky), it is best. If your cham got outdoors in direct sunlight every day maybe its not needed. The light also helps the live plants in the cage too.

Carlton is 100% right. It IS benificial, in more ways than one. It
certainly can't hurt the chameleon to have moderate to low levels of
UVB, so why not provide some? The least it will do is cut the amount
of artificial supplementation you NEED to give. Reducing the amount of
artificial supplementation used ia always good - more room for error,
less chance of making a mistake.

However, don't make the "other"mistake, now becoming more and
more common: use only UVB, and NO artificial D3.

Unless they're gettign sunlight, they shoudl also get dietary D3. I like to
cut repcal with minerall, so they get the trace minerals, and a lower
concentration of D3 than with rep cal alone.

What is best to use for UVB????

Zoomed ReptiSun 5.0/10.0 florescent bulb
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1.0 Sunburst Veiled Chameleon -- Dexter
1 year old

Is there anything else?? Only because I have a hard time finding these?? If not I can just order extras online. Thanks

Well that is the brand most keepers use. It is proven and is the only thing I ever see suggested.

I've heard that the UV coil bulbs are NOT sufficient for UVB.

The only thing better than the ReptiSuns is natural sunlight

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1.0 Sunburst Veiled Chameleon -- Dexter
1 year old

whoops, didn't mean to post that second picture =P

It really stinks you can't edit/delete your posts. KS should move to another kind of message board (forgot the name right now).
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1.0 Sunburst Veiled Chameleon -- Dexter
1 year old

Thanks. It's ok, I love pics!! Anyway, if you notice a few posts down I posted some pics, and for some reason it uploaded mine without the title, so I posted so many because I didn't know which one was Nigel. Anyway, I fixed them, but I agree something where we could edit our posts would be great!!
Here is the most recent pic of Nigel. He is getting a girlfriend tomorrow.

erm.....do they have a srew in UVB bulb other than the normal fluorescent lamp ??

Not under the ReptiSun name. There are incandescent bulbs that emit UVB and A, but I have not used them. The chams I've had recently are montane and don't want the extreme heat these bulbs give off. I use ReptiSuns exclusively. They don't burn, explode, simply give out, and are generally tougher.

yes, Zoo-med (mfg. of Reptisun bulbs)DOES make a Reptisun 10.0 Compact fluorescent bulb which screws into a regular dome lamp. I use them for my chameleon set-ups. the problem with them is, unless the bulb is positioned horizontally, the UVB emission is greatly reduced. Big Apple Herp solved this problem by designing a stainless steel fixture with either 2 or 3 ceramic fittings in it. One of the fitting allows the compact fluorescent bulb to be installed horizontally and the other(s) will accomodate a ceramic emitter or incandescent basking spot. Diane
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dianedfisher@yahoo.com

My 3 CWD-Avanyu, Tripod and Drago

In most cases, I would say UVB is necessary/useful, but there have been some people that have had success with less than normally recommended or even with no UVB used. In some of the cases dusting has still been done.

Here is one site that talks about it...
http://www.chameleonnews.com/interviewfer.html
"Larry Talent at Oklahoma State University successfully raised multiple generations of panther chameleons by giving his animals carefully measured doses of vitamin D3 with no UVB and I have no doubt that other breeders have figured out effective doses with veiled and other chameleon species."

"I eventually gave them no UVB at all and got some successful reproduction of wild-caughts with low UVB and very little dusting."

"Continuous strong UVB irradiance, that a lizard cannot escape, can cause skin damage and eventually malignant tumors, so that is why a gradient is important."

After reading all of the posts, I had to get up and look! I have a repti-sun 10 UVB. It is a "screw in" type, but not coiled. Rather "looped".

Things seem fine....Squig is growing and his crest (crown, veil....) looks strong and tall.

I do know that they need to be replaced every 6 months to continue to be effective!

Kris
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2.1 Black Labs Tucker, Raider and Lacey
1.0 Lepoard Gecko Kumar (Another lost pet RIP and party on with Harold!)
3.0 Horses Smoothie, Rocky and Bogey
1.1 Ferrets Tank and Ellie (The fun fuzzies)
1.1 Veiled Chams Squiggy and Pudge (may she RIP)
0.1 Snowflake Cornsnake Lucky