too much light??

[stephen]

Howdy y'all. i was wondering if there could be too much light(uvb) on a gravid panther. In a 30"x18x30 screen "condo" i placed a 100 watt m.v. It is 14" away from her favourite basking area. I leave the repti 5.0 on her all day as well. She travels around the perimeter of where she used to "tan", yet rarely directly under it. She seems very content with this arrangement,and is eating like a crazy gravid gal should. Also is d3 really necessary with all this?
Steaks and sails
Stephen
p.s. she is in a canadian basement in the winter so overheating is definitely not going to be a concern.

 

[Matt s]

You can over do vitamin d3 supplements but not lighting. I think that is fine.

 

[judeszoo]

So can you omit the D3 supplementation and just supplement with Calcium?(and Multivitamins of course)

 

[Justin Carl]

i rotate my calcium with D3 and w/o D3 weekly. i also supply herptivite and T-Rex formula

 

[Chris Anderson]

You can over do vitamin d3 supplements but not lighting. I think that is fine.

Sorry, that is just not true. Yes, you can over do D3 supplementation but you absolutely can over do UVB as well. On your size enclosure, I think a MV bulb is far too much and would recommend only a reptisun 5.0 and a normal incandescent basking bulb. I use a 100 Watt MV bulb only on my largest enclosures (6'x3'x3' minimum).

Chris

 

[judeszoo]

Thanx for that word of advice Chris. Do you really think that a 100w M.V. is detrimental in that configuration?

 

[Justin Carl]

well, i used MV on my cage about the same size. i had no negative results.

 

[kinyonga]

"However, the use of high UVB-generating fluorescent tubes can be harmful to the lizards"...
http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cach...diol+AND+chameleons&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=54&gl=ca

 

[Chris Anderson]

well, i used MV on my cage about the same size. i had no negative results.

You're quite fortunate. How long have you been doing so?

Regardless, the radiance levels and radiance distances put out by these bulbs are not conducive to optimal, effective use in cages of this size in my opinion. There is a considerable amount of evidence of detrimental effects on chameleons as a result of too much UV. The problem is, with a bulb like that in a cage that size, the chameleon is not able to regulate their UV exposure effectively, which there is evidence that they do. Further, since there is evidence that chameleons are able to regulate both their UV and heat exposure independently, you should provide the two independently which you can't do very well in cages of that size with MV bulbs.

Chris

 

[Justin Carl]

i have had him on MV for 1 year now. plus my female veiled she is 3 months old for about 1 month with MV. i bought my male a new one and my female got the old one.

 

[KevinA]

I'm not understanding the rational behind being able to independently regulate basking for heat and basking for UVA/B. In nature does the sun not provide both?

 

[Justin Carl]

i use a 100 watt MV and a regular 75 watt bulb on the same side of the cage. that way they get both at the same time, and can still be at the top of the cage w/o being baked. yes, the sun does supply both

 

[Chris Anderson]

There are a couple ways for a chameleon's body temperature to change: 1) Radiant heat via basking in the sun's rays and 2) Ambient temperature. A chameleon can have a proper body temperature when the environmental temperatures are optimum or they can bask to increase their body temperature. When they bask, they will gather UV radiation, when their body temperature is maintained by the ambient temp, they won't get nearly as much. They can regulate the ambient temperature by moving through the microclimates found in forests. Further, on cloudy days, UV rays still can cause a sun burn. Similarly, even if the sun isn't out for basking, a chameleon can regulate is UV exposure. So, in effect, there are a number of means a chameleon can attain heat and UV separately and in small artificial enclosures, combining the source of both eliminates their ability to do this.

Chris