Natural Sunlight?

[shelbync]

My first post here. I've been trolling your site for a couple of weeks, alot of informative info., a very neat site indeed.

Anyway, my question. My wife and I have a four-year old beardie named 'Louie'. In the past few months, he has become a socialite overnight, loves to be out and explore. Recently, we had our front door open with a full glass storm door still closed. Louie now absolutely loves to sit by the storm door and look outside, while basking in the sunshine that pours in through it.

The question...is there any harm in Mr. Louie enjoying the sunlight and warmth? Can there be such a thing as too much sun for a beardie?

Thank y'all for your help and insight. Me and the Mrs. look forward to reading and learning more about beardies, etc.

 

[ErinMeetsMachine]

I've heard that they actually don't get the UV rays through glass.

 

[scion]

I dont think it would be a problem as long as he still has time in his viv to get his uv rays, and to bask after eating. My beardies love to sit on the floor and bask on sunny days, which are far and a few between here in buffalo! Also erin is right, uv gets filtered out through the glass.

 

[Poisoned1]

Just so you have a veteran poster,

Yes UV light does get blocked by the window.

So he's not getting any uv but as long as he gets about 4-5 hours of uv from his home a day he will be fine.

 

[wizbee]

My Boga gets most of her UVB from natural sunlight. I live in Florida so it is pleantiful. She has an outside cage pictured in my avatar photo and she loves it. I hardly ever have to turn on the uvb light in her cage, so it lasts longer too! She got out today for about 20 minutes!

 

[Poisoned1]

How much time does she spend outside.

20 minutes is not enough for uv light.

 

[haleygirl272]

beardies need 12 hours of UVB a day I heard.

 

[Poisoned1]

beardies need 12 hours of UVB a day I heard.

Yes and No...

12 hours of UV light from a uv bulb is 2nd best for them only beaten by 12 hours of natural sunlight.

8 hours of uv light from a uv bulb will still work.

They need about 4-6 hours of sunlight to be equal to 12 hours of uvb light.

 

[MarianaL87]

Good to know...I cant wait to bring my little guy to the beach in the summer

 

[FoodMonster]

We have only had our dragons since it cooled off in the fall. I just took them to see natural sunshine falling on them through a window for the first time a few days ago. We have solar film on the window so they get neither uv nor heat from the light. But they were fascinated by it and sat contentedly on their towel watching the sky until I got too worried they were cooling off and took them back to their habitat. Even though they were going back to their comfy home they turned their heads around and yearned back toward the window. The sunlight must have other qualities they like. I think they will love our next blast furnace Texas summer.

 

[wizbee]

Well since it is winter she only got out for 20 minutes yesterday, If it is warmer she stays out for most of the day. see outside cage in avatar pic. If she doesn't get at least an hour I turn on the uvb!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Very true, UVB will not pass through glass, but as already suggested it is fine to let him sit there & bask getting the brightness & the heating from the sunlight coming through the glass door, no problem at all.
As long as he can get his UVB's from a good source in his tank for the good portion of the day he will be fine.
Technically, they do need a 12 hour light cycle, which should give them opportunity to get UVA & UVB lighting per their choice.
As Marc mentioned they need at least 4-6 hours of UVB from the sun to equal approximately 12 hours of UVB light simulated from a lamp. It is extremely difficult to compare the two because the spectrums are so different. The closest a light comes to the sun is the Megaray. That is a pretty good ballpark figure. They may, in the wild bask for long periods of time on one day, yet on the next day it will be partly cloudy & they will not bask as much or get quite as much UVB exposure on that particular day so because of the strength of the UVB emissions from the sun they are able to hold higher bone density numbers yearly with less basking time when compared to them basking indoors under UVB lights.
I do agree, 20 minutes per day of natural sun while excellent in itself, is not long enough to give them the required UVB to keep their bones strong.
They will however, reach their required UVB exposure much more quickly in the natural sunlight than they will underneath most UVB lamps, & produce the required D3 through UVB exposure more quickly as well. They decide instinctively, how long to bask, & at what temperatures they bask at depending on what their 25 hydroxy levels are & how best to regulate them.


Tracie

 

[wizbee]

Don't get me wrong here, I know she needs more than 20 minutes a day. It's just that on that particular day she only got 20 outside minutes but I still had her inside uvb on also.