Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, i've read a ton of sites saying that UV lighting is not needed for amphibians at all. But I have also seen on a few sites and in some posts here that people do use the floresent tubes with there frogs. What do you guys think? Is the UV needed?
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1.0.0 Pixie Frog
0.0.1 African Dwarf Frog
0.0.1 Ornate Horned Frog
0.0.1 Firebelly Toad
0.0.1 Firebelly Newt
1.0.0 Fire Salamander
2.0.3 Florida Bark Scorpions
0.0.1 Emperor Scorpion
1.0.0 Flatrock Scorpion
1.2.0 African Giant Millipedes
2.0.0 Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches
0.0.1 Chilean Rosehair Tarantula
1.0.0 Hamster!
1.0.0 Ugly Cat
1 Small freshwater aquarium
Grunngg@yahoo.com

i use UVA/UVB flourscent bulbs in all of my amphibian tanks, but it is primarily for the well being of the live plants that are in them. a large majority of treefrogs are primarily nocturnal, so i don't imagine that the UV lights are necessary.

Whether a frog is nocturnal, diurnal or crepuscular does not necessarily indicate whether it requires UVB or not for vitamin D3 synthesis. More and more studies are documenting that nocturnal and crepuscular species are very efficient at synthesizing D3 when exposed to sunlight as they need to accomplish the synthesis in a brief period of time.

Whether or not you need to supply UVB will depend on the supplementation of the diet of D3, at worst it is needed and at best it is an unused safety net.
There is some indication that exposure to UVA may (and I stress may) enhance feeding responses due to the UV reflective patterns on the insects.

Ed

under full spectrum lighting most amphibians, nocturnal or the few that are diurnal, tend to have better coloration as well.