Lighting

When the animal's skin is exposed to natural sunlight, a process occurs in the body resulting in vitamin D3 production, a key ingredient in the metabolism of calcium. For the record, ultraviolet is divided in to UVA(longwave), UVB(midwave) and UVC(shortwave) and it is thought that UVB is most essential in vitamin D3 production.

For those of you fortunate enough to live in a temperate climate zone without great fluctuations in temperature and humidity, keeping your Panthers outdoors is ideal. Unfortunately, most of us who live in the USA do not live in the ideal conditions and are forced to raise the Panthers mostly indoors. Although I live in Southern California, and only about 30 miles inland from the ocean, the summer time temperatures can exceed 100 degrees at times and in winter, they can drop to near freezing temperatures with accompanying frost. These temperatures are much too extreme for Panther Chameleons to tolerate.

However, for those of us forced to raise our animals indoors, all is not lost. In some respects, I believe raising Panthers indoors can be superior to keeping them outdoors all the time. While indoors, it is much easier to control temperature and humidity to the Panther's optimal levels at all times. Of course it is essential that you use proper lighting that is capable of producing UV radiation. There are several fluorescent lights on the market that produce adequate amounts of UV A and B radiation. Do not be confused by less expensive fluorescent lights that can be purchased at the local hardware store marked as "full spectrum" or "simulates natural sunlight". Being "full spectrum" does not mean it is capable of producing UV radiation. In fact the light should be labeled with a warning cautioning its use only with reptiles (excessive exposure to UV radiation by humans can lead to skin cancer). I also use a small incandescent light bulb (40 to 60 watts) in conjunction with the fluorescent light to provide additional heat for the animals to bask because most Chameleons are heliothermic, meaning that they use the heat of the sun to regulate their body temperatures.

There is a relatively new product on the market that is called UV Heat. It is a mercury vapor light that is capable of producing high levels of UV rays as well as provide basking heat. Although these lamps produce a lot of UV radiation, they do not seem to produce a lot of visible light. Chameleons generally enjoy high amounts of visible light and without it, they usually do not show their full color potential. For this reason, we prefer using the fluorescent light/incandescent light combination over the single Mercury light bulb.

Despite having to raise your Panthers indoors due to inhospitable climates, you should still be able to let your animals enjoy natural sunlight periodically as the weather allows no matter what part of the country you are living in. It is essential to do this as much as feasible to ensure the health of your animal and any future generations if you plan to breed. During spring or fall, the climate in North America should be mild enough to allow quite a bit of time outside. We always try to leave our animals outside at least during the weekend as climate condition allows. It is generally thought that as little as 15-30 min. of natural sunlight a week is better than a week under man made UVB lighting.