Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I had suspicion that my new leo was sick, so I called my local pet store and the first thing they asked was if I had a UV light...I did not think I did need one, so I decided to call my vet...That was the first thing they asked too...I went out and bought one right away, So just wondering...All of you guys have UV Lights? Is it as important as it seems? Thanks.

I dont have one and i've never heard that leopard geckos need one. I could very easily be wrong though because i'm still very new to this.

No, you don't need a UV light since they are nocturnal. But if you do have one/get one, it won't hurt.

~Jenn
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Current
0.2.1 Leopard Geckos (Butch, Cassidy, Sundance)
1.1.0 Doggies (Breckin & Cashew)
0.1.0 Cat (Chloe)
1.0.0 Peach-Front Conure (Gimpy)

Missing You
0.0.1 Ribbon Snake (Vincent)
1.1.0 Cockatiels (Buddy & Cuddles)

Hmm...sounds like a typical repsonse from a vet and pet store who don't specialize in reptiles or know anything about their proper care.

When looking into a pet reptile, I was told by pet stores and read on petstore care sheets (including the Petsmart website) that leos 'require 8-10 hours of UV light per day'. Seems kind of retarded for a nocturnal animal, eh?

I think you just wasted cash that could have been better spent on a competent vet visit. If you leo is sick, ask the members of this forum for advice because most of them know a LOT more than a dog/cat vet.

How many times have you read posts on this forum that say 'man...some guy at the petstore gave me totally wrong advice today about leos...' or 'man...this vet I went to knew nothing about reptiles and told me calcisand was the best substrate ever invented for leos'.

You were right to distrust the pet store and look for a second opinion. My local pet store has their leo on bark substrate with no hides and no heat source, just a flourescent tube above.

But vets can be no better if they don't have a background in herps. Even if they know stuff about reptiles, they rarely know specifics about different species and usally just say something like 'reptiles require 8-10 hours of UV light daily to maintain proper health and process calcium' because most reptiles do. BUT it doesn't make any sense to me that a leo needs UV when it spends the daylight hours sleeping in a dark hide...that's why we give them D3 with their calcium and a multivitamin. They can't use the UV if they're sleeping in the dark.

Sorry for ranting, but I'm sick of pet stores and vets who don't know what they're talking about but try to give advice anyway.

I don't know if ANYONE here has a UV light. I'd be amazed if they did...UV is used to help dinural (active in the daytime and like to bask) reptiles process calcium.

What makes you think your leo is sick? Is it not eating? Is it losing weight? How long have you had it? Is its poop runny/discoloured/etc.? What kind of substrate are you using? How old is it? Is it eating anything?

>>I had suspicion that my new leo was sick, so I called my local pet store and the first thing they asked was if I had a UV light...I did not think I did need one, so I decided to call my vet...That was the first thing they asked too...I went out and bought one right away, So just wondering...All of you guys have UV Lights? Is it as important as it seems? Thanks.
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Blaine

0.0.1 High Yellow Juvenile Leo (Echo)

Hey

A uva and uvb light surtainly wont hurt they just help to prevent medabolic bone diesease. that is the thing were animals bones get weak and they start to walk on there elbows etc. scary stuff. I personally dont use uva uvb lights although it is good to have them. I use lots of calcium though. Calcium and lights are very directly related. The calcium that you see with d3 is avertised for having d3 cause lights help with the same thing d3 helps with building strong bones. However rarely there are such things as d3 over doses so I dust the leos food with calcium that has d3 like sticky tounges indoor ( that stuffs great) and then for the calcium bowl in the cage I use stuff like repti-cal(the kind that is non d3 it should say) well hope this helps.
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-Aaron-
1.2 rainwater albinos
0.1 hypo tang
2.4 hi yellow
1.3 tremper albinos
0.1 blizzard
0.1 leusistic
1.1 Patternless het albinos
0.1 Reverse Stripe Tangerine Albino
soon to be owner of
2 of mooses kids
1 Beautiful albino stripe adopted from Rob
E-mail me at GreatGobsOfGeckos@yahoo.com

I think he's sick because he is not eating anything. He shows no interest in crickets, and I cannot get mealies until Saturday. He is barely pooping because he isn't eating...I do not want to waste money at a vet to have him tell me nothing, I'm just not sure what to do.

While its true that leopard geckos do fine without UV lights (as long as they have calcium with D3 added), it also does seem to help pick up the appetite in some sick leos.

Awhile back I received a trio of blizzards from a well known source (broker rather than breeder). Good thing I quarantined them because within three weeks they weren't looking so good. Although two of them ended up dieing anyway, exposing them to 20 minutes of direct sunlight did pick up their eating. UV lights won't hurt and can have an effect on appetite.

Be sure to keep him hydrated as that's critical for digesting food and for assisting the immune system.

If he's losing weight, he needs to see a vet. Rather, his poop needs to see a vet ... you can call your vet and ask if he knows someone in your area that is especially knowledgeable about reptiles. Like doctors, a lot of vet focus on specific areas of vetrinary medicine and it shouldn't be taken as an insult by your vet. He'd feel worse if your leo died 'cause he didn't know enough to help. Well... ok I'm reading into the situation but you know what I mean.

Take a fresh stool sample (even if its small) into the vet to have a fecal done. You can wrap the sample in plastic wrap and refrigerate to keep it moist, but do not freeze it. Many vets will do this (especially for herps) without seeing the animal and the cost should be about $20 (U.S.).

Once you know what your leo has - some type of worms, protazoa, bacteria, etc - then you can treat it. The medicine isn't all that expensive, but you have to know what you have first. The fecal and meds probably won't cost what you spent on the UV fixture and bulb. Frankly, I'd take them backand use the money for the vet.

>>I think he's sick because he is not eating anything. He shows no interest in crickets, and I cannot get mealies until Saturday. He is barely pooping because he isn't eating...I do not want to waste money at a vet to have him tell me nothing, I'm just not sure what to do.
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Andrea A.

np
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Chris

1.2.0 Bearded Dragons
1.2.0 Green Basilisks
1.1.0 Crested Geckos
1.2.0 Veiled Chameleons
1.1.0 Corn Snakes
1.0.0 Tokay Geckos
0.0.1 California Kingsnakes
2.5.1 Leopard Geckos

I took an "anorexic" leo to the vet (herp specialists -- they don't even treat dogs and cats), and that's one of the first things they asked me also. They said they routinely recommend UV even though there is some controversy over whether it's needed. It would be good to have a fecal done just to rule out parasites, but just FYI, mine had fecal and acid stain done, both negative. They want to do some bloodwork next, but I'm not sure about it.

UV Lights basically bring out the colours in Leo's .. but they are DEFINATLY not needed. These are night animals keep in mind.. if you haven't noticed your Leo probably hides most of the day. You simply need a normal heat lamp to keep one end of the tank at a basic temp or around 80.

Don't listen to Pet Stores. I mean I drive OUT of the city 45 minutes to a Pet Store for bugs and stuff, and because ONE person there is compitent. Only because he breads, but you won't find very many people at pet stores who know much about Leo's. They can tell you how big they will get and what they eat.. but really not much else. So beware. I'd spend some cash on going to a vet to see if your Leo is ok.
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..she sees in black and white, while she dreams in color..