lighting/heat

angelrose · Moderator Joined: Jan 05, 2008 Posts: 1467

How important is UVB ?

striggs · Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 3:58 pm Post subject:

It means life or death. They need uvb all their life.
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0.1.0 arg b&w tegu-chubbs
1.0.0 ball python-debo
0.1.0 colombian red tail boa-sheba
0.1.0 blood python-phatty red

EricIvins · Member Joined: Dec 08, 2007 Posts: 38

This might turn into an all out war, but I don't believe in any kind of UV, and havn't used anything that produces it for years. I've grown up Chameleons, Monitors, all types of Iguanas, some Tegus, Bearded Dragons etc. and never had any problems. Giving the animal the Temperatures it needs to metabolize what it takes in, and proper diet are essential in the care of any captive Reptile. You do realize most tubes only produce the eqivalent of 15 minutes of sunlight in a 24 hour period right? There are very few bulbs on the market now that actually produce a decent amount of UVB. I'm biding my time to see what kind of new technology we see with the phasing out of Incandescent bulbs by 2014

angelrose · Moderator Joined: Jan 05, 2008 Posts: 1467

ericivans hi, with your experience what do you use for lighting and what temperature do you maintain day as well as night ? pet stores I have known always tell me the UVA is important for the behavior and digestion. the newer pet stores I go to tell me about lizards that were in poor health have come to life with the use of UVB.

angelrose · Moderator Joined: Jan 05, 2008 Posts: 1467

striggs, you got my attention with that. I have always used UVA on my iguannas,savanah,nile,pythons and now tegu. only lately I have been hearing alot about UVB.

EricIvins · Member Joined: Dec 08, 2007 Posts: 38

I'm different in the fact that I keep my lights on 24/7, and I give all my animals a basking spot with a target basking temperature of around 135-140 degrees. My ambient runs between 78-82 degrees during spring and summer. Winter swings between 50-75. I know some of the Monitors and Iguanas I've shot with a temp gun are all running at 105-115 degrees while not basking. I lost my temp gun when I moved, so I don't have anything concrete on what temperature a Tegu will bask up to, or stay at. Give me 6-8 months once I decide to buy a new one, and I'll put up whatever it averages out to be. I use either 30 or 50W indoor Floods, depending on the setup, with banks of 3 or 4 lamps for the adult animals. This works for anything between 2-4 Ft. in length; Anything larger, you'd have to go with 5 or 6. Snakes have the ability to use one part of their body to bask and raise their temperatures, these big lizards don't seem to have the same ability, if they try, they usually burn themselves. Another thing I've noticed with the stuff I've kept outside Vs. inside is when they shed, the animals outside shed thicker, and sometimes the color of the shed is different, almost like a natural sunblock?

angelrose · Moderator Joined: Jan 05, 2008 Posts: 1467

I have read and everybody told me the same as you, thank you. anything over 95 temp and she does have a cooling area she will get extemely jumpy and leave her house the same with the monitor