Jackson Chameleon Lighting

[thejackal87]

Hello-

I am a new Jackson owner. I currently live on the Island of Oahu. I have a large screened cage with a umbrella plant and pothos plant inside of it. I also put some heat treated perches and a couple 6ft vines in the cage.

I have both a UVA and UVB bulb - but I was wondering if I need to use these even... Since I live in Hawaii the coldest it gets at night is 65 and the hottest is 90. Since purchasing him I have placed him outside on our covered porch everyday while going to work and brining him in at night - will this suffice for the amount of light an heat they need or should I just keep him inside and run the bulbs for 10-12 hours during the day?

I just figured since I am on the Island that these guys survive in the wild on, that he would be fine in the beautiful weather here since it is sunny and 80+ everyday here.

Please let me know what I should do, and if possible a lighting schedule if what I am doing right now is not enough.

Thanks for your time!

 

[GrimsbyPatchwork]

You are lucky to have the adequate climate for a Jacksons so I would keep him out day and night..now since, compared to the wild, your cham is restricted to his enclosure..you must make sure to provide all the necessities in there.

You say there is no sun hitting the cage, still he will get uvb rays that bounce off from further out so he does not need UV lamp outside. He does need a basking lamp though on one side of his enclosure so that he can choose between shady and cool or warm.

Do you have a thermometer? See that basking area is not higher than 85f .

If you can find positioning of the enclosure in a manner that a portion of the cage gets sunlight / rain it would be even better..Jackson's like water and humidy too so there you go..try and provide a choice in his enclosure, and you can leave him out 24\7.

P.s. love to see some pics!

 

[Devokid]

You should leave him outside 24/7 without any lights. You should also set the cage so that half of it is in the sun so that it can bask in direct sun light. The only thing that I would make sure your cage has is a dripper to ensure that he is getting enough water. If you are on the Kaneohe side, you might not even need that. I would also use screen that is big enough that bugs can get.

 

[junglefries]

Morning sun. Morning sun. Morning sun. Set up to avoid late day sun, when it is the warmest. So he doesn't overheat. If he is outside, then no he won't need additional uvb.