Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A friend of mine almost started a fist fight with a employee at the local reptile store, all because the guy said that uvb was essential for the monitors tho live let alone thrive, I just got a ornate nile, and have a 8.0 on him, is it true that you need uvb that much.
any info welcome

Thank you
Tony Butler

I'll keep this simple before the arguments start.
With proper husbandry it is not needed. It will not hurt them either.

Scott
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Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

I have always used uvb on all my lizards just wanted to see if my dumbass friend was right, he has a problem with half learning

thanks again
tony

We all have friends like that. I wonder if that is why so many people let me be their friend. Hahahahaha

Scott
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Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

n/p
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pale reason hides the infinite from us

The need for UV is one of them. But thats not the concern with, me or with the petshop. They(the monitors) do not need UV bulbs, any litebulb can be used successfully for heat. Some of course are better and safter then others, and UV bulbs are not them. The petshop, needs them because, they do not profit from monitors, they make their profit from hardgoods, like the UV bulbs.

I feel the need to ask this, did the petshop have UV emitting reptile bulbs on the animal in question. The reason I ask is, many shops tell customers these bulbs are needed, but do not use them on their animals. Thanks FR

But indeed, if you want to and you like them, they will not harm the monitor, as long as they can get completely away for the lite from the bulb. Good Luck FR

well we always go in and the guys know us by name except for some new guy, and we were buying crickets, so there really wasnt any animal in question, but I also went to see if they had any books specific to nile monitors, and thats when the guy said they need uvb just to live(but he made himself sound smarter) all of the animals have uvb including a huge colombian red tail boa, which makes absolutly no sense to me.

thanks
tony

UV light is emitted by regular lightbulbs, by the sun etc. Reptiles do not need UV lights, they need proper temperatures, proper nutrients, proper living space, a proper immune system, and the ability to secrete away from light, prying eys, and any percieved source of stress, in short proper husbandry. UV lighting is a money maker for the pet industry after all they tell you to buy $20-$60 plus lightbulbs to keep your reptile alive, healthy etc, and to replace them every 3-6 months, what they dont tell you is in reality they buy those bulbs for $2-$7 each and mark them up big time, they also as FR said dont use them on their own reptiles (sometimes on their store animals, but not on their personal animals).
In short they sell you a $5 lizard for $25, they dont make much on it, but they make alot on the aquarium they sell you, the UV bulb they sell you, and other supplies. The pets draw you into the store, then its their job to sell the bank to you while your there.
I use 45 watt outdoor halogen flood lamps, and 50watt indoor floodlamps only, no "magic UV bulbs". I used to help run a petstore and help a reptile related business now, neither of us use UV bulbs or sell them.

wow you learn something new every day, even if it starts with a fight, so I guess i will start properly supplementing my monitors diet. Is there a special blend of supplements I should use? Or should I keep using the uvb bulbs

Thanks

Tony Butler

The UV bulbs are not needed, proper husbandry is. I use Miner-all (I) only on feeder insects, its a calcium Vit D3 supplement with a bunch of extra natural elements, not a vitamin supplement. All vitamins and minerals my albigs get come from whole rats, chicken peeps, and mice. My ackie and my beardies get miner-all on feeder insects and on the beardies veggies, nothing special nothing extra. I used many different magic lightbulbs over the years with no difference in results from just flood lights.

You said above that reptiles do not need UV light. Did you mean they do not need UV light BULBS, or are you saying it is your oppinion they do not need any UV light.

It reads kinda strange at first glance...

UV lights are not needed, one states UV light is provided by regular lightbulbs. But UV bulbs are not needed, you may choose to use them as you see fit though. If indeed it is needed its an amount that regular lightbulbs produce plenty of.

I keep seeing these posts about UVB. I am going to have to believe that my Kimberlys need it. I have three pairs, in one of the cages I removed the UV bulb and replaced with a similar wattage heat lamp, I also have a double 24in fluorescent in the cage. About two months ago I noticed she was not coming out to eat for a couple of days I could only see her tail sticking out, I finally reached into her log to see if she was OK and she didn't squirm much like she usually did, then I noticed she was going into serious spasms and could hardly move, very similar to what my baby frillies or Beaded dragons do without UVB. What I did then was replace the bulbs and give her some neocalglutonate that was very difficult but I got her to take some. After a few days she started to look better and a little over a week later she laid eight eggs, six were tight and looked fertile and four now have veins at this point. She is back to her fine health too. I know the eggs were a calcium drain, also I only feed the dusted insects. KB

Temps are affected by any lightbulbs or light assemblies, example I had a flourescent assembly in Sobeks one cage that was a small assembly on a timer for ambient light in the cage other than basking light, she used to sleep as a hatchling on that light assembly, I took a guess and measured the surface temp of that light it was 122f, that tells me it was a heat source on the surface and common sense a heat source for the air (ambient), if removed it would affect the ambient temps. My ackie has one light inside of his cage period and an 11 watt twist tube flourescent bulb hanging over the cage for ambient light, no heat to affect it, he does great in the cage in fact eats a few hundred crickets a week not including lobster roaches. I dont know what temps your cage has but my ackies cage has a 188-200f basking spot, depends how much digging he does under it.