Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey all, i have a full spectrum fluorescent bulb (timed for 12hrs a day) over my Pacman. i read somewhere, however, that this may not be good for frogs due to them being too bright and hard on their eyes? do you suggest leaving the UV light (and if so, for how many hours a day) or having no separate lighting above the tank? the tank is in my animal room in the basement so it doesnt really get to much natural light. thanks~

They don't need the light.. . . .just a bit of heat to make sure they don't get to cold. Mine do well at low 80ish. Remember they like it damp and too hot will dry them out. But no don't worry about lighting. I don't know one way or the other about hurting their eyes but most will hide in the durt during the day anyway.

yup... they don't need the light. but if u remove the light, do remember to supplement them with vitamin D3.

There are records of animals receiving "sun burns" from UV lighting. However these were all recorded occuring from blacklights and not the current bulbs made for herps (although I have not seen anything on the mercury vapor bulbs). For UVB (not all full spectrum bulbs produce UVB) to be effective the bulb needs to be within 12-18 inches of the animal and cannot pass through glass or plastic as this will absorb all of the UVB).
The use of the bulb may not be necessary if you supplement properly but is a good safety net if you are unsure if you are supplementing properly as the frog will not synthesize any excess D3 if there is sufficient D3 in the diet. Exposure time with the bulbs made to be used with herps is 8-12 hours/day and the bulbs need to be replaced every six to eight months as they will no longer produce sufficient UVB (even if the bulb looks fine) as the phosphor compounds in the bulb begin to degrade.
Temperature should be between low 70s F to 80 F as the ideal range although they will tolerate higher and lower temps.

Ed

yea, i use multiple UVB bulbs on my chameleons and a UVa bulb over my aquarium so i was thinking that most herps would need this sort of lighting. i supplement with calcium D3 anyway so i guess i'll just take the bulb away. thanks everyone~

They don't need it. I have a lot of pacmans that I raised since they were babies. Some of them are 4.5 to 5 inches now. All I used for lighting was indirect light from my lizard tanks, and I also kept my room light on. I did however supplement them with some vitamins once in awhile. I did use a full spectrum light for a day or two to see what they would do, but they seem to want to jump out of their terrarium all the time.

If you have observed their behavior in a well set up terrarium you will notice that they burrow into the moss or other substrate you might use. They try to get away and cover themselves away from the light. Keeping out of sight and in a dim lit place also helps them get food because they are ambush predators. The only time that I see them come out into the open is at night, and boy do the males start croaking then.
Hope that helps with your lighting question. If you have anymore questions feel free to post again, I'd be happy to share my experiences about keeping pacmans.

Joel