Reptile & Amphibian Forums

im working on care sheets for the pet store i work at.. and it has occured to me to print one out that explains WHY reptiles need uva and uvb lighting... so i am looking for a website that has a good, easy to understand explanation of what the lighting does and why its important for reptiles... ive searched google, but i keep coming up with pages that are selling a specific brand of lighting.. if anyone can direct me to one that is accurate and easy to comprehend (keep in mind, this is usually for someone who has never had a reptile).. i would be much obliged...

thanks in advance!
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my pets: clown treefrogs, reed frogs, big eyed treefrogs, tiger leg monkey frogs, gray treefrogs, milk frogs, cuban treefrogs, whites tree frog, green treefrogs, squirrel treefrogs, blue webbed gliding treefrog, chameleon treefrogs?, mossy treefrogs, dusky salamanders, tiger salamander, veiled chameleon, box turtles, mud turtle, map turtle, yellowbelly slider, florida softshell, two saltwater tanks, four cats, two chinchillas, and a boyfriend.

you know how there is vitamin D in milk? well vitamin d is required for cells to uptake calcium. vitamin d can be "made" by your body when you are exposed to sunlight (aka UVB). so the REQUIREMENT of a UVB emitting light source for bearded dragons is so they can sufficiently have available calcium...and they need quite a bit of calcium.

so, they sell calcium suppliment with vitamin D...but i guess that UVB light is better than the vitamin D in the suppliment...and probably the same with the milk thing..
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a free range dragon is a happy dragon

Most diurnal reptiles (ie active during daylight) require UVB in order for their bodies to naturally produce vitamine D3. This vitamin is needed by the body to use calcium from the diet. UVB also plays some role in showing up colors in bearded dragons, hence why some dragons look much brighter when in direct sunlight then they do indoors.

There is still alot of research being done in this area but so far, it has been proven that without UVB lighting of any kind and no vitamine d3 supplimented into the diet, most reptiles will suffer Metabolic Bone Disease and other ailments from the bodies inability to absorb calcium from the diet, even if plenty of calcium is consumed. As the body needs calcium both to form bones and for various other reasons in the body, without it, bones become leached of their calcium, causing bones to become soft and 'rubbery'. Also, twitching is observed as the animal closes motor control. Death will result fairly quickly if nothing is done.

Some good detailed articles below explain more about the importance of UVB lighting.

www.anapsid.org/mbd2.html

www.hagen.com/usa/birds/info_sheet.cfm?CAT=8&INFO=16

www.martinsreptiles.co.uk/ukchams/uvlightingresearch.htm

russiantortoise.org/uvb.htm

www.reptilerooms.com/Sections+index-req-viewarticle-artid-55.html

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PHLdyPayne