Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i was woundering if anyone knew how natural sunlight compares to uv bulbs, on chams. which is more effiecet? how many hours of uv are equilvent to a day of sunlight. does anyone also have any personal expereince with using natural sunlight as well as any other uv bulbs. thanks

Sunlight is better hands down.
Some say they notice their chameleons have better colors.
To be honest we really don't know if UVB lights do any good. We have been told they do but the average keeper doesn't run tests on these lights to test output just the word of the compnay (hmmm)..

I have read from so many sources that natural sunlight is a hundred times better than artificial sunlight. If you can keep your cham outside, it won't do him any bad, except for the risk of overheating (just keep an eye on the temp). If it is too hot where you live then just take the cham out for 15 or 20 minutes a few times a week while you handle him (if you do). You can also make a mini-sized enclosure for keeping the cham outside for as long as the temperature permits. Remember: if you are using a lot of real sunlight on your cham(s), then cut down on the D3 supplements ( you can get calcium powder without the D3 in it), because they can overdose on it and die from kidney failure and other blood diseases.

Basically, real sunlight is a whole lot better!! I live in eastern canada and it is impossible to keep a cham outside. Even in the summer, hot days are limited here.

how many hours of natural sunlight is enough for a cham per a day?
if my cham had 12 hours of uv per a day how many hours os sunlight is that?
thaNKS

The live in trees in the wild and are exposed to it during daylight hours.
Just have a part of the cage shaded so he/she can determine how much is to much..

The average kereper has not done the tests but scientists like Gary Ferguson at Texas Christian Univ. have!!! UVB is very necessary. As for bulb vs sunlight: Nothing is better than sunlight but lots of shade should be provided so the cham can self select. And bulbs vary dramatically: the so-called "full spectrum" bulbs are useless for UVB. The Reptisun 5.0 UVb is pretty much the industry standard but they lose potency fast after 6 months of use. MV bulbs put out a MUCH higher UVB level. Some say it's too much for 12 hours/day. I use the MVs but I make sure they only provide UVB to a small basking area by providing LOTS of shade as well as taking other precautions. Remember that while chams spend all day out doors in the wild, they do NOT spend all day in the sun. Most of the time they're in the shade.

As for natural sunlight: the amount of UVB varies depending on elevation and latitude. And there are big species differences in tolerance for high UVB. But you CAN over do UVB as was recently de,monstrated by Ferguson in a recent article in Zoo Biology.
Ed

If you were refering to my comments i think you misread what i said.
I said i was refering to testing of the output of the Murcury vapor lights not the sun.
I said while they spend their lifes outside leave an area of shade so they can determine how much is enough. I didn't say they sit in the sun all day. If that's what was taken from my repsonse my bad ..

Sorry, I wasn't criticizing your post...... I just wanted clarify it. People tend to misconstrue stuff and I wanted to make sure that didn't happen. As a college professor I sometimes get to see the notes that students take in class. Too often I sit there scratching my head wondering how they could have gotten that message from anything I said!
Ed

n/p

if i have a uvb on my cham and then its off for a few hours during the day is that ok? or should it be on all day.
and what about the basking bulb can i turn that off during the day at all or should it be on for all the 12 hours?
and what about if you use both uvb and sunlight in 1 day?
thanks

It depends on the kind of bulb. If you're using a mercury vapor (MV) such as an ActiveHeat bulb it can be off part of the day..... and maybe it should be. But if you're using a fluorescent such as the Rerptison 5.0 it should be on all day. As for the basking light: it should be on all. Of course, this assumes that's you've got a proper screen or mesh cage. If you're using a glass aquarium, that's very bad for many reasons and all bets are off.
And if you're using an MV bulb, you have to make sure there's plenty of foliage/shade.
Ed