Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just curious how these two differ in personality? Are the tristis more shy? I know it can vary between individual animals, but just in general? Another thing, use of UVB? Is there a valid argument to use uvb with monitors? I know some do and some don't both with success. Your thoughts?
Thanks
Eric

I keep both species and in my experience ackies are far more outgoing. Tristis tend to run and hide at least my females did the male would stay out as long as you didn't open the cage from above. I like tristis more due to their more arboreal nature but thats just personal preference. Just my two cents. As far as uv I dont waste my money on it. Ian

don't know about the tristis vs ackie, but my two cents on UVB -

I use it at home, use it on baby monitors at my work, everything does better than without it. Like to send new owners home with mercury vapor bulbs - hot, bright, lots of uvb. Have not had a single person call back with an animal issue in the year I've started recommending that (in a large enough cage, though).
Do get a few folks who try without UVB, fail miserably, and end up having to see a vet and swap around lights, change diet, and have a huge, complicated mess that could have been avoided by an appropriate setup to start.

I prefer UVB, but I'm a minority, at least here. In my experience, the average beginner doesn't have the know-how to pull off an appropriate diet and appropriate temperatures to raise a monitor up from a baby without UVB. People who do a great setup with a nice range of temperatures and lots of whole prey items can pull off no UVB.

I've never had something do worse under UVB than it was without it, and most people I send home with mercury vapor bulbs (my personal favorite) come back and exclaim over the difference it makes in their animal(s). With some I know that difference can probably be attributed to an increase in temperature, but in others that were kept at correct temps before, there is still a difference in behavior, including increased appetite, better color, faster growth and a wider range of foraging and basking behaviors.

All that said, I don't think the long fluorescent tubes are much use, especially compared to what I've seen with the mercury vapor bulbs. I've measured PowerSun light bulbs (the zoomed brand of mercury vapor bulbs) and Reptisun bulbs (the fluorescent tubes) with a UVB meter - the powersun put off over 3 times as much UVB at 12", and it took much longer for the UVB to drop to "ineffective" levels compared to the Reptisun. The TRex brand bulb puts off even more UVB, and decays less over time.

So tubes are better than nothing for most animals, but from what I've seen, with monitors the biggest benefit seems to be from mercury vapor bulbs and/or keeping them outdoors.

~jen
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"We call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words."
- Anna Sewell (1820-1878)

Thanks jen, that was what I was looking for. I've been skeptical of the merc vapor bulbs but now will give them a go when I get my monitors. How long, aprox, do the ESU/ t-rex bulbs last? Any other info is welcome as well.
Eric

Just keep in mind, she gave only one side of an argument. For objectivities sake, if you can meet minimum requirements of diet (rodents/bugs), tempers (a range) and humidity (a range), UV in an form is not required. FR has proven this many many many times over.

Can they do better or worse lacking basic needs, who knows, but with basic needs met, any monitor can thrive, irregardless of the type of lighting used, in fact Frank tested his theory with no light at all if I am not mistaken, and had no issues.

Cheers,
Mike.

Heh, replied earlier but didn't seem to post.

Mercury vapor bulbs should be replaced yearly, like a traditional UV light. They'll still light up but there'll be a distinct yellow hue that indicates the light is decaying, or putting off UVC instead of UVB.

The biggest thing with the mercury vapor bulbs is ensuring that you have a large enough cage to allow the heat to dissipate. Also, check to make sure that while the monitor can get close to the light, it doesn't get too close. It's a big, hot, bright bulb and it's possible for the lizard to burn itself.

To clarify what Spyder said - my argument is that the average beginner tends to have more success using UVB than without. And, that a tube light is the same as no light (in the case of monitors) because the relative amounts of UV are so different.

Frank's a pro, and illustrates very well that great care and husbandry leads to minimal problems. I stress that most people aren't Frank, and the easiest route to success for the beginner, especially with babies, seems to be with good lights in addition to a good diet.
Animals I've seen housed under merc vapor bulbs or outdoors in natural sunlight seem to have better color, stronger feeding response, and grow quicker and thicker than others from the same batch that are not housed in that fashion. Imports appear to acclimate quicker as well.

Like Spyder said though, Frank has had a lot of success without UVB. And like I said, I'm a minority by remaining in favor of UV.

~jen
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"We call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words."
- Anna Sewell (1820-1878)