Reptile & Amphibian Forums

In Squishy's cage I have his heat lamp set up about 2 feet away from his fluorescent UV lamp. I find that he will warm up under his heat lamp and then go bask under his UV lamp for awhile. Do you all think that they can "feel" the UV rays? There is really no other reason for him to lay under the fluorescent tube as it doesn't give any heat and is not situated over a heating pad. Just wondering if anyone had noticed anything similar with their animals.

Billy

I have a columbian B&W that will do that she will actually warm up under the heat lamp and then retreat to the uv light. Now my Bluw and my bigger B&W (also columbian) do not do that I wonder if they are trying to tell us something. I started her on the liquid d3 vitamin you add to thier food or water to see if that helps if the behavior does not stop I will have to re think why she is under there. Good luck and if you come up with any reasons let me know.
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Beau W.

Hey, I used to use that liquid D3 stuff and was told by some people that the liquid was not good for their kidneys. I can't remember but I think my vet may have said that - anyhow, I would switch to the powdered D3/calcium - I use Flukers Calcium/D3 2:0 (Fluker Labs is based in Baton Rouge, kind of cool).
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-reptilian9

thank you for the heads up I will get the powder tonight and switch her over.
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Beau W.

I don't know if you have a Temp Gun, but if you do, take some readings around where your Tegu is going, starting with the temperature of its burrow, to the basking lights and then onto the UVB bulbs.
With knowing these surface temperatures you may see exactly how and maybe even why your Tegu is choosing these specific spots to thermoregulate in.
Even an increase of a couple of degrees can be of some importance to your Tegu.

Take Care,

Kit

I've already done that and that's why I was wondering about whether or not they can feel the UV - if their bodies react internally to it somehow since there is no heat generated. I have every inch of his enclosure mapped out as far as temps go and there are roughly 3 daytime temp zones:
1. directly under the spot lamp - approaching 120
2. directly over the tile-covered heating pad - around 100
3. under the mulch in his burrowing area - lower to mid 80's

The daytime ambients range from mid 80's - mid 90's depending on the time of day (cage is in a florida room with no a/c) and this includes the frontal area of the enclosure where the UV bulb is mounted. He uses all these zones at different times, but when he sits under the UV bulb, it's in an obvious basking position and not just a resting position which he will use when curled up in or on top of his burrowing area, which is just a big pile of cypress mulch kept moist. And just to clarify for everyone, he's doing awesome but I just wanted to know if anyone had any similar experiences or observations. Below is a picture of his current enclosure - as you look at the pic, to the right is the heating pad, center rear is the spot lamp/hot spot, center front is UV area and to the left is where he burrows.

>>I don't know if you have a Temp Gun, but if you do, take some readings around where your Tegu is going, starting with the temperature of its burrow, to the basking lights and then onto the UVB bulbs.
>>With knowing these surface temperatures you may see exactly how and maybe even why your Tegu is choosing these specific spots to thermoregulate in.
>>Even an increase of a couple of degrees can be of some importance to your Tegu.
>>
>>Take Care,
>>
>>Kit

Since I had to talk to my Exotic Animal Vet this morning about other things, I went ahead and asked about your question.
Her answer surprised me, but according to her the Jacobson's Organ not only assists all lizards in determining smells but does help them sense infrared radiation.
It stands to reason that if they can percieve one spectrum of radiation they can sense others as well.

I hope this gives you some insights,

Take Care,

Kit

I would be surprised if they seek out UV separately from basking. In nature they receive plenty of UV when ever they bask so I don't see how they would see basking/UV as different needs. They might very well see or detect some UV but I don't think they feel a desire for it. BTW infrared radiation is on the opposite side of the visible spectrum as ultraviolet radiation is.
http://imagers.gsfc.nasa.gov/ems/visible.html

Just thought I'd add that my tegus sometimes will go sit up on top of their hide box after they get warm enough from basking. Maybe he just "likes" that place and the light just happens to be there. You could try turning the light off and see if he still goes there or switching the light if your curious enough. Whatever the reason it seems like a good thing to me!

I was thinking of switching the light out for a regular fluorescent bulb for a few weeks and see what happens. Maybe I'll do that this weekend and try it out.

Billy

>>Just thought I'd add that my tegus sometimes will go sit up on top of their hide box after they get warm enough from basking. Maybe he just "likes" that place and the light just happens to be there. You could try turning the light off and see if he still goes there or switching the light if your curious enough. Whatever the reason it seems like a good thing to me!

Hi Rollin. I was surprised to notice this behavior for the exact reasons you stated, but he has been doing it for quite some time now and I just can't figure it out. To be honest, whenever I've kept lizards, the heat and UV have always been right next to each other (most common way to do it) so I've never given my animals the opportunity to seek each kind of light separately. The cage Squishy is in right now was originally built for a pair of blood pythons and the basking light area was cut into the top of the cage when the Tegu moved in. The fluorescent fixture was already mounted inside the cage so that's why the lights are separated from each other otherwise, I probably would have made provisions to keep them side-by-side. I guess I'm wondering if he CAN feel a "need" for the UV since he doesn't get it with his heat. And by the way, Kit's post stated that since they can sense the IR with their Jacobson's, it would make sense that they can possibly detect other wavelengths as well.

Billy

>>I would be surprised if they seek out UV separately from basking. In nature they receive plenty of UV when ever they bask so I don't see how they would see basking/UV as different needs. They might very well see or detect some UV but I don't think they feel a desire for it. BTW infrared radiation is on the opposite side of the visible spectrum as ultraviolet radiation is.
>>http://imagers.gsfc.nasa.gov/ems/visible.html

Great topic, I hope I can learn something from all this. I've started searching on the net for info on the "Jacobson's organ" and IR sensing. I'm having a hard time finding any information on lizards sensing infrared, the sites keep referring to the pit viper family with that search term. I'll keep looking though.
I have found a ton of sites that talk about lizards seeing into the ultraviolet spectrum! They seem to be mostly referring to anoles. The reason they usually give is something to do with their patterns. Are they closely related to tegus? Maybe your tegu likes the way things look under ultraviolet and that attracts him to it. It's hard to imagine what deeper then purple would look like.

"UV vision is becoming increasingly apparent in many vertebrate groups (1–3, 9, 10) including lizards (4–8) and it may be that UV vision is conservative in some lizards and occurs even when UV markings do not"
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=31156

Very interesting. It just puzzled me how the animal knew (it seems to me he knows and that it's not just random behavior) to "bask" under the UV with no other (obvious) cues, most notably the heat typically associated with UV radiation. Lots of mysteries with these guys...but that's half the fun, isn't it? Thanks for the insight Kit.

Billy