Reptile & Amphibian Forums

went to the pet store to purchase a tank for my new leo and they said it was better to have an overhead heatsource rather than anu UTH
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1.2 veiled chameleons(Rocket, Jenevive, and Sally)
1.0 pacific tree frog(Kermit)
want to get a diego suarez( which I would name Tommy)

I think they were wrong. It is better and easier to have a UTH. Leos do not need over tank lights, As they are nocturnal. They do not need UV lights as long as you dust there food with calcium WITH vitamin D3, But the dish in the cage that has calcium powder in it should NOT contain D3.
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This is a common mistake made by most pet shops for Leos. As stated in the post before mine Leos are a nocturnal lizard so their bodies do not need UV light to be healthy. The most important thing when keeping leos is to keep the substrate temp warm enough to allow for proper digestion. Because of this the standard UTH normally works best.

do I need a red light though. every pic of a cage I have seen has a red light. whats up with that.
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1.2 veiled chameleons(Rocket, Jenevive, and Sally)
1.0 pacific tree frog(Kermit)
want to get a diego suarez( which I would name Tommy)

Red light is another way of heating the cage, During night or day. Leos cannot see the light colors red, black and blue. The higher the wattage of the bulb, The more heat is made for the cage. You DO NOT need a red bulb, But it is nice so you can see your leos in there most active time, At night.
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so is it to make them think it is night time. would a black light do the same.
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1.2 veiled chameleons(Rocket, Jenevive, and Sally)
1.0 pacific tree frog(Kermit)
want to get a diego suarez( which I would name Tommy)

A red light is not needed but you can get a "nocturnal" buld from any pet store and use it for viewing at nihgt. This way your leos are not bothered by the light and go about their normal business.

Nocturnal bulbs come ing red, blue and black. Standard black lights are a bit to bright in my opinion so I tend to go with low watt (15-40 watt) dark bulbs.