Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I live in Arizona and I have a Veiled Chameleon! Being that it stays light out for so long in the summer here, can I leave my lights on for 14 hours during the day? Would 12 hours be okay in the winter here? What are the side effects of having the lights on for 14 hours versus 12 hours? Is it just recommended to have them on for 12 hours in the summer and 10 hours in the winter no matter where you live? Confused help please...

hey! i live in AZ as well. i run my lights from 8AM to 8PM currently. don't worry about the excess light that they get before and after that time, it's not enough light or heat for them to be very active. what part of AZ? i am in Chandler.

What about having the actual uva/uvb light and the incandescent light on for 14 hours? And all lights off for 10 hours at night? I currently have my lights on from 5:30 A.M. to 7:30 P.M. Being I work pretty early and I usually get home at 5:30 P.M. Do you think having them on for that long will have any negative effects? I have had my Veiled for about a week now and he is about 3 months old. He seems to being doing well so far! I am in Glendale. How long have you lived in AZ? I have been here my whole life, a real native zoner!

the only problem with keeping the lights on that long is that you may eventually wear him down. staying up too long catches up with even us after a while. my chams start to become active aroun 6-7AM when the light starts coming in the window, and they are still a little active when the light goes off at night. my chams are in my living room, so they get a lot of natural light. i was born here, i used to live in Glendale, actually around 43RD and Glendale, right across from the school, Barcelona. I unfortunately moved to washington for a 8 years when i was 15, but i moved back here last year. you may be able to get away with the lights on like that, just make sure that you give him a shorter time in the winter.

Hey, that's what I am thinking too... It might shorten his lifespan some and I don't want that! I guess I could have his lights come on at 6 in the morning and off at 6 at night. I get home around 5:30 P.M. so my only concern with this schedule is that I will only have a 1/2 hour to monitor him before his lights go off. It might not be wise to mist the foliage in his cage 1/2 hour before lights go out??? I have a dripper set up that runs throughout the day and I mist his plants in the morning. I feed him in the morning so he has food throughout the day. Humidity and temps. and everything else is a o.k. I guess I could try this new schedule being that it seems to be the preferred method of having the lights on for 12 hrs. vs. 14 hrs. Thanks for all your help and it is neat to know that there is another chameleon keeper in the Valley of the Sun!!!

actually, i am currently breeding veileds! you may want to consider a misting system, i got mine from bigappleherp.com, for 99, and now i don't have to worry about misting my 4 chams off unless i feel so inclined.

if you have any q's about anything at all, you can email me at jcunitz@msn.com