Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just curious as to what bulbs everybody uses i think imma use a reptisun 5.0 on the new cage im bulbing . Id try the powersuns but they are $$$ over here. So what kinda bulb everyone else use?

i use the desert bulb 7% UVB and soon will be getting 1 or 2 mercury vapor bulbs for christmas.
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1.3 Leopard Gecko's
1.0 mali uromastyx
0.0.3 tokay's(adults unsexed)

I don't use any UV bulbs. My uros get there d3 by dietary means. I have raised dragons for years this way, and my uros are doing fine so far. I know at Deerfern farms, they also have Uros kept without UV with no problems.
I'm not suggesting that you should not use these bulbs, just stating that there or other ways of achieving the same goal.
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Bill DiFabio
Azteclizard.com
Email Me

I use a reptisun 5.0. One thing that I'm sure you are aware of Bill is that there is much debate on whether or not d3 supplements are digestable or not. The general consensus seems to be a resounding "no". I'm brand new to uro's, and pretty new to the herp world in general - so I'm just going by what I have read. I DO know that many herps can be deprived of something that they would be healthier with yet still appear healthy.

No pennies were harmed in the making of this oppinion,
Curtis :-p

azteclizard wrote:
I don't use any UV bulbs. My uros get there d3 by dietary means. I have raised dragons for years this way, and my uros are doing fine so far. I know at Deerfern farms, they also have Uros kept without UV with no problems.
I'm not suggesting that you should not use these bulbs, just stating that there or other ways of achieving the same goal.
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Bill DiFabio
Azteclizard.com

I value you opinion or anyone elses. I can tell you that my opinions come from 13 years experience keeping and breeding lizards. I have never used a UVB emiting bulb on any of my dragons. I have hatched and raised 1000's in this time, this alone tells me that dietary d3 is very bioavailably to dragons, and quite frankly many other lizards. I am new to Uros, but I am applying my experiences to their husbandry as well.
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Bill DiFabio
Azteclizard.com
Email Me

we don't use any full spectrum lighting on any of our lizards, including the Uros. we do use a good supplement though.

we have also hatched out 1000 baby lizards, and we have achieved all life events without UVB. i cannot say from experience that the Uros definitely don't need it, but like Bill said, apply apply apply. at this point, i have seen no indications to the contrary...
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

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Bill DiFabio
Azteclizard.com
Email Me

I read an interesting point somewhere out there that could help explain why Bearded Dragons seem to do okay with little or no UVB while Iguanas most definitely need it. Someone with a UVB meter in arizona observed his dragons in their permanent outdoor enclosure and noticed that they really only basked early morning and afternoon when the natural UVB was fairly low. Bearded Dragons in the wild also will eat small rodents which are a good source of calcium/D3. Because of this, Bearded Dragons may have developed the ability to use ingested D3 better than herbiverous lizards. Iguanas spend time in the sun during prime UVB producing periods and do not ingest foods that have a high amount of D3 naturally. They most likely evolved to get more D3 from the sun than many other lizards. Monitors eat fully developed vertebrates which contain good amounts of D3 explaining their ease of living with D3 only through dietary supplementation. Uromastyx are somewhere in between. I would assume a UVB bulb would be more important in Uromastyx than for Bearded Dragons but less important than for Iguanas. They do show a higher tolerance for heat than Bearded Dragons however so it is possible they bask during times of higher UVB intensity and therefore naturally get more D3 from the sun than BD's. They also eat a primarily herbiverous diet which contains very little D3. With the phonemonal growth Robyn is seeing in his Uromastyx due to their excellent setup and high temperatures (what are your nighttime temperatures Robyn? Are you doing a 24 hour heating schedule like you do with many Monitors?) I would be a little worried about poor bone density. Personally, I think diurnal lizards who do not naturally eat vertebrates should receive UVB to be in utmost health even though it has been shown that they can live their lives without it. Just my thoughts.

Peter

Another thought on the subject. Vegetation is a good source of vit. D2. Who's to say that they have not evolved to use this provitamin for bone growth? All UVB light is doing is triggering chemical reactions in the skin, that create d3. I don't see why the body would not recognize and use the same molecule that is recieved through dietary means.
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Bill DiFabio
Azteclizard.com
Email Me

all of the Uro cages are on timers, so the lights do go out at night. on some monitor setups, lights are on 24/7...

our nighttime drops vary a bit, depending on where the cages are, as we are trying a couple of different spots right now. some cages drop to the low 70's, and others very high 70's.

a tangent note to UVB/calcium/supplementation (love those tangents!)...

certainly egg production is very calcium demanding. consider that with some of our monitor species, you have females producing 6-7 clutches of eggs a year (6-20 eggs per clutch), and this is year after year after year, and we have seen no calcium problems with them, even though we use no full spectrum lighting (or even any "reptile bulb" lighting at all.

our goal is definitely to breed the Uros, but it is also to breed them like we do the monitors, with multiple clutches a year. and no cooling period. i am quite anxious to see if this is possible...
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

ZooMed Iguana Light 5.0 fluorescent and a mercury vapour PowerSun.He's grown lots (no official growth since i didn't weigh or measure him when i got him) and seems quite happy and acts as normal as i'd expect.

I use Exo-Terra's Repti-Glo 8.0
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1 Mali Uromastyx named Ra

We use both Reptisun 5.0 and Powersuns. Not in conjunction, but some uro's have Powersuns, come have basking bulbs with the Reptisun 5.0's. They both seem to work just fine.
Scales Premium Exotic Reptiles

i was wondering what ur "good supplements" are because ive always been speculative about using UVB. I currently do a 2:1 mix of calcium powder with Repcal w/D3 cuz i heard its very high in d3

I use the t-rex uromastyx formula. It was formulated by Allen Rapeshy of Sandfire Dragon Ranch, and is distributed by t-rex. It is actually a complete food in powder form, so naturally you have to dust your veggies with it. It has all the macro and micro nutrients that your Uro needs. It has a level of 4000 I.U./ kg of d3. This seems to be a good level for daily use and does the job well. Miner-all I also has about the same levels. I prefer these products over others.
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Bill DiFabio
Azteclizard.com
Email Me

yep.
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

I was very interested to discover in my large cage, where I put in both a Mercury Vapor UVB 160 watt bulb, and a regular 150 watt ZooMed basking bulb, that my Mali's prefer to bask under the basking bulb, and only occasionally under the MVB! What does that mean?
Beth

I have a large cage 7' by 4' with two mercury vapor bulbs and a heat lamp and my two adults bask under the mercury vapor the most.
Rick