Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone. I'm new to this and I wanted to know how much lighting I should give my 2, 4 month old res? I open up the basking light in the morning and turn it off at about 6PM and keep it out till the next day. So they are in complete darkness till the next day when of course the sun shines and I open up their light. Is this ok? I use a Zoo Med Repti Basking Spot Lamp which the package says provides heat as well as UV rays. Is this good enough? My tank is one of those 'kits' so I can't use the flourescent types like Repti Sun. Thanks in advanced.

Hi,

The photoperiods sound great as well and the UVA bulb you
are using for heat.

There is 1 huge problem though! You do not have a bulb or
tube that puts out UVB rays. That would be the fluorescent
bulb like the Reptisun 5.0. You can buy the bulbs like
an Active UVB which contains both UVA and UVB.

You do not need a UVA bulb, you can use a regular household
bulb for heat. You absolutely should have a UVB bulb especially
for young turtles. Without this they cannot utilize D3 and
calcium leading to all kinds of problems. Please redesign
your setup so that you can use a UVB source.

Hope this helps
Linda

Thank you for the prompt response. I will work to rectify this problem.

I wouldn't rush out and get a fish tank fixture just yet. You may want to consider buying a (cheaper) cermaic fixture-equipped dome lamp and investing in one of those (more expensive) mercury vapor bulbs. These produce both heat and UVB rays and seem to produce more UVB than the long tube lamps. These bulbs are more expensive but they have been out a while now and lots of people are reproting good results from them. You may also want to consider investing in a timer and another light for the room so that you can make the transition from light to dark and vice versa more gradual.

Regarding the mercury vapor bulbs, do I need the one that is specifically made for reptiles or can I just buy any mercury bulb from the hardware?

They must be specially designed for reptiles, they run about 45-75 dollars. Since UVB is harmful to humans, it is not found in any normal bulbs, only reptile ones.
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You can also get a UVB light that screws into a clamp light to go over the basking area. The only one I know of is the ESU Super UVB Coil Light (looks like a big corkscrew); you can get it at PetsMart for something like $20-$25.

Of course, you will still need to use another light as a heat source, be it a regular lightbulb or a basking light. (If you got a mercury vapor light, it would do both.)