Tampa Bay/St. Pete owners...

[fox3060]

Hey guys, and gals

How many of you are keeping your chams outside, and what type of cham.
I live in Sout St. Pete and have 2 calyptratus, Male/Female. Currently separated, and I have them on my back patio, They are exposed to natural sunlight from sun up till about 10:30 or so. They are heavily misted morning, afternoon, and evening, also when ever I'm out back running around.
Both seem to really enjoy being out side as they follow the sun and bask continuously.
Thoughts, other types kept outside, Too much sun, not enough, too hot??? I'd like to see how others are working with their chams outdoors.

 

[lbesok]

Natural sun is the best! We have keept our male panthers on the porch for the past two years and don't have much problem with it. Our porch stays shaded most of the day. It's just very important to mist them (like you are doing) at least 2-3X a day to lower the temps and increase humidity so they don't get too hot. For us any reading above 95*F and they come inside. We like to keep our females a little cooler in the summer and bring everyone in for the winter. It's important for the females to cool down all the way down to inhibit egg production and increase longevity.
On the other side of the state my parents successfully keep their Veild on their porch most of the year (they bring him inside when it gets cold. UVB tubes and heat lights are also still used on all the cages.
I have had to treat a couple URI's last summer that may or may not be interrelated to them staying on the porch.
Good luck keeping them!

 

[JoshCrane1]

LOL, sounds familiar. i just had this problem, live in stuart, just north of palm beach. and was keeping my female in the back porch with almost the same light schedule. chamys need more sunlight/artificial light than just a couple hours a day. i was using a hid light but my temps were still too high (90+) so instead of going through cooling my porch and what not i just moved her inside.

 

[Justin Carl]

I live in Melbourne!
I have been keeping my Vieled outside for a while now, but everything else stays inside.

 

[sharkey]

all of mine live indoors year round. however i rotate them thru an outside cage w/a dripper. when they are outside is it for up to 14 hours so they get good uv light and lots of water.

i wouldn't risk keeping them outside on a permanent basis. the fl heat is too much, even in the shade. plus there are predators out there that can eat thru porch screen.

 

[Julirs]

I have mine outside on a rotating basis. The concensus from some long term keepers is that West Coastal Flordia gets too hot AND humid to keep Veileds outside in the dead of summer. URI is definitley a concern. I am experimenting with the Oustalets as they are found coastally and may be better off than the Veileds with the humidity, but when I say experimenting, I mean lightly experimenting as no one here has permanent outdoor enclosures.

 

[jwthought]

I live in the Keys and Ive been keeping my male panther outside exclusively for the last 8 months except for when it gets into the 50s at times during the winter. I think the key to successfully keeping them outside is plenty of shade ( or in my case, total shade during the hottest parts of the day) and frequent long mistings. My guy gets misted 4 times a day for 30 minutes, sometimes more on the really hot days. I also hoave a dripper going all day. No problems yet ( famous last words) and I feel that it actually makes him hardier as he is exposed to the elements and other stimuli that he wouldn't experience otherwise.

My misting system is the same as the pic posted above.

That being said, the heat from the outdoors can quickly dehydrate and kill an animal, especially in veileds. I agree with the above comment that coastal chams may be better suited to Floridian heat than veiled. I once lost a veiled to hydration when she was kept outdoors. I was new to the hobby, admittedly and didnt take the neccesary precautions. She looked fine for a while, then one day she was sunken in and saggy. The following day she was dead. So if any of your chams are looking at all sunken or you feel like it's not a good situation for them to be outdoors, address the problem immediately because dehydration problems can arise suddenly, out of nowhere

Interestingly enough, though, I have read of some feral veiled populations in South West Florida.

Anyway, if you can do it safely, I highly recommend keeping them outside.

Josh

 

[fox3060]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and advice. I think I'm gonna keep on my current status with close tabs em.