how long generally can a chameleon go without uvb before its harmful???im

[azula]

Im not saying i have a chamelelon that doesn't have a light i was just honetly curious.. plus there's a lady on ksl that's selling a pygmy and she said its hasn't had a uvb for three months.

 

[DChalo]

Its a slow process that gives them MBD, you should provide it every day for them. But i guess a few days would hurt them that much, maybe affect their digestion

 

[kinyonga]

Its said that pygmyies don't need UVB...so if that's true...I guess they can go forever without it. (I always gave mine some UVB...so you need to hear it from someone who hasn't.)

As for veileds and panthers and other "sun-loving" chameleons...there's no definite length of time. It also depends on whether they are getting D3 from supplements or from something that the insects ate IMHO.

 

[farrahsc]

From what I've read it's still unsure whether pygmy's require UVB but most people including myself use a 2.0 UVB just to be safe.

 

[pssh]

Well, technically you could never give them UVB if you figured out the perfect supplement schedule for the animal, but that sounds really really really hard.

 

[Samcham1]

I dont use uvb on my pygs and they have been thriving for a year

 

[Silkyslim]

I know very little about Pygmy chameleons but I do know Steve Irwin said they live on the forest floor amongst the leaf litter.

Wouldn't it stand to reason that if such a tiny creature spent its life rustling through leaves under the cover of a lushfully large forest canopy that very little sunlight would be greeting them with a hello? I wonder how evolution has worked on their tiny little bodies to make them efficient ray catchers? Is it possible they are getting all they need from the ambient light of the forest floor?

I think this thread could be on to something but I am always a geek for science.

 

[mardithepanther]

pygmies look like dead leaves. do dead leaves absorb sunlight? how often do you go tanning on the forest floor under leaves? Ive tried. not very efficient.

 

[melric]

There is uvb even in the shade of trees so they have to get some. I have pygmy's and I don't provide uvb.

 

[jojackson]

pygmies look like dead leaves. do dead leaves absorb sunlight?.............

Dead leaves are Not pygmy chams, resemblance is irrelevant. Patches of sunlight on the forest floor would provide ample uv, living creatures move of their own volition.

Thinking is not Illegal!

 

[Pine Nut]

Well, technically you could never give them UVB if you figured out the perfect supplement schedule for the animal, but that sounds really really really hard.

That’s not true!!!!

 

[jamest0o0]

That’s not true!!!!

Yeah it is true(old thread). I wouldn't recommend it, but just for discussion's sake, it's possible.

 

[kinyonga]

Like @jamest0o0 ... said....I wouldn't recommend it but it's possible.

 

[Pine Nut]

Yeah it is true(old thread). I wouldn't recommend it, but just for discussion's sake, it's possible.

Light is necessary to live. They need light to turn D3 into calcium. Think of where the chameleon originated from - a very well light environment ! Why would anyone in their right mind choose to remove light from a innocent leaf creature.

 

[jamest0o0]

Light is necessary to live. They need light to turn D3 into calcium. Think of where the chameleon originated from - a very well light environment ! Why would anyone in their right mind choose to remove light from a innocent leaf creature.

Please tell me you're trolling.

 

[kinyonga]

Light is necessary to live. They need light to turn D3 into calcium. Think of where the chameleon originated from - a very well light environment ! Why would anyone in their right mind choose to remove light from a innocent leaf creature.

It's true that D3 is produced due to exposure to the UVB light....but D3 from supplements can also be used to absorb the calcium into the system. D3 does not turn into calcium...D3 is used to get the calcium into the chameleon's bones, muscles, etc.

 

[jamest0o0]

It's true that D3 is produced due to exposure to the UVB light....but D3 from supplements can also be used to absorb the calcium into the system. D3 does not turn into calcium...D3 is used to get the calcium into the chameleon's bones, muscles, etc.

You're a saint

 

[kinyonga]

You're a saint

Not likely! But thanks!

 

[Pine Nut]

It's true that D3 is produced due to exposure to the UVB light....but D3 from supplements can also be used to absorb the calcium into the system. D3 does not turn into calcium...D3 is used to get the calcium into the chameleon's bones, muscles, etc.

I feel like it would be cruel to keep an animal w/o lights I’m sure that would affect them behaviorally / mentally.

 

[jamest0o0]

I feel like it would be cruel to keep an animal w/o lights I’m sure that would affect them behaviorally / mentally.

Where are you getting keeping animals without lights from?