Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was just setting up the timers on the Mali tank, how long do most people keep the basking light and UV bulbs on for?

I change mine to go with the seasons. Every few weeks, I bump the timer up or down a half hour. Longest days are about 14 hours, shortest days are about 10. They're at about 13 now, give or take.
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Torey
Salem, Oregon, USA
1.1 Uromastyx Geyri (Joe and Arthur)
1.1 Uromastyx Maliensis (Tank and Turtle)
1.1 Anolis Carolinensis (Bowser and Leeloo)
1.1 African Dwarf Frogs (Bruce and Sheila)
1.0 Betta Splendens (Mr. Miagi)
1.0 Sunset Dwarf Gourami (Sideshow)
0.0.1 False Spotted Corydoras (Spot)
0.0.2 Metae Corydoras (Frank and Jesse)
0.0.2 Dwarf Sucking Oto (Tootsie and Dum-Dum)
1.1 Felis Domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)

Keep it on as long as they'll stay awake. Mine refuse to ever be awake for more than 11 hours, so that's how long I leave it on. I am unaware of the benefits of leaving it on while they are asleep (in the summer).

If you have a UV bulb that's at least an 8.0, like me (which you should), then it's strong enough not to leave on every day. I only turn mine on every other day for four hours. Those bulbs are expensive and I can't afford to replace one every six months because the UV runs out. Watch out for MBD. If they don't have it, they are probably getting enough UV.
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Mark Martinez
University of Florida

technically, no flourescent tube is considered to put out "strong" amounts of UV, but as long as you use calcium supplements that contain vitamin d3, you shouldn't run into any problems. I like to have mine on everyday just because then my reptiles always have access to it. Also, UV tubes lose their effectiveness once the animal is 18" away from them. Good amounts of UV only reach down about 6-12", and even then it would take a few days underneath those lights to get as much UVB as something like an hour under real, unfiltered sunlight. You also shouldn't really pay attention to the numbers like 7.0 or 8.0. Studies have shown that as far as flourescent tubes go, nothing really beats a zoomed reptisun 5.0. Also, I have noticed that my uromastyx is only really active in the morning, and sometimes in the afternoon, and occasionally the evening (unless I wake her up and take her out to do work on the tank or something, in which case she'll run around and explore for a while). It seems sort of like I would imagine life in the wild would be. She comes out once it's heated up to eat and bask, then retreats to a safe hiding spot (her little sort of burrow I made her) to spend most of the rest of the day, coming out again if she feels the need to bask or run around again. I would think different uros would have different tendancies though.

For my Mali, I usually leave it on 12 hours a day. If I'm not mistaken, there's not much of a seasonal change in Mali so I don't vary it with the seasons.
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Kane