uva and uvb

[SULEMA2221]

im building a outdoor setup for my chameleons and i want to leave them outside all the time unless its too cold so i want to know what type of plastic can i cover the top of my greenhouse with that will still make uvb and uva go threw ..

ps im in florida so it rains every hour when it wants to so thats why i need a cover for the roof

 

[camimom]

None. UVB rays cant pass through plastic.

 

[lindawaz]

as far as I know none

They need to be direct nothing between. Even a screen blocks some.

Hopefully another Floridian can help you out with this

 

[SULEMA2221]

None. UVB rays cant pass through plastic.

there is a special type of plastic that lets through uv but cant remember the name and i will only be putting it on top the sides will be open

 

[Olimpia]

I can't help you with the plastic, but an alternative would be to cover up some of the roof of the cage with something solid, so that you still get sunshine coming in through most of the cage but there's an area with cover that they can choose to get under when it rains. That way they can pick if they want to drink the rainwater or not. Just an idea! I've had my chams living outside full time this past summer and they loved the rainstorms.

 

[fluxlizard]

Are you covering for some protection from cold or only for rain? Rain is no big deal- mine are out in rain all summer.

If it is just for heat protection and the UVB will only be blocked by the plastic for a few weeks here and there during the winter, I'd say don't worry much about it. Uncover when day temps are up over 50 and they will store up what they need for a while. A few weeks without UVB will not hurt a healthy chameleon. The problem comes when they go months or when they are growing rapidly and go for weeks without the UVB.

 

[SULEMA2221]

just need it to block rain for the heavy storms

 

[fluxlizard]

Even if you cover the entire roof, you should still get plenty of sunshine through the south side of the enclosure. If you give them a solid peaked roof they can crawl up into the peak and stay dry during rain if they want. They probably won't care about rain though. Mine don't seem to- they just tend to hunker down where they are if it gets windy.

 

[SULEMA2221]

Are you covering for some protection from cold or only for rain? Rain is no big deal- mine are out in rain all summer.

If it is just for heat protection and the UVB will only be blocked by the plastic for a few weeks here and there during the winter, I'd say don't worry much about it. Uncover when day temps are up over 50 and they will store up what they need for a while. A few weeks without UVB will not hurt a healthy chameleon. The problem comes when they go months or when they are growing rapidly and go for weeks without the UVB.

i use to keep mines in rain but some of them got rip
so i bought all of them in since that happened

 

[SULEMA2221]

Even if you cover the entire roof, you should still get plenty of sunshine through the south side of the enclosure. If you give them a solid peaked roof they can crawl up into the peak and stay dry during rain if they want. They probably won't care about rain though. Mine don't seem to- they just tend to hunker down where they are if it gets windy.

yes u are right i just wanted something that let somr type of uv though but i guess i have to just do that

 

[Venutus1]

there is a special type of plastic that lets through uv but cant remember the name and i will only be putting it on top the sides will be open

Solacryl.

That is like the plastic they use in tanning beds.

 

[SULEMA2221]

thanks where can i get it