Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay, I have an approximately 18-month-old u. ocellatus, named Vesta, which is kept in a fairly large enclosure. You can see photos and details of both the enclosure and the lizard at this address:

http://www.filecore.net/lizard
http://www.filecore.net/vestacam (user: kingsnake.com, pass: guest)

My questions are twofold. Firstly, I have a 120cm (48" Reptisun 10.0 (10% UVB) strip light along the top. When clamped directly against the roof, this light is 45cm (18" from the basking spot and 30cm (12" from the highest point on the scenery. At the moment I have it hanging lower, to within 35cm (20" of the basking spot and 18cm (7" from the highest point.

I have been trying to read about the exact UVB intake requirements of the uromastyx and the correct distance to place the light from any given point, including the basking spot, but as usual, everything I read on the internet is contradictory and chaotic. I'm after a "definitive" answer.

1) http://blogs.thatpetplace.com/thatreptileblog/2008/11/19/zoo-med-reptisun-100-high-output-uvb-lamp-and-50-uvb-lamp-product-review-part-ii/ states that a brand new Reptisun 10 puts out 75 uW/cm2 at 6", 23 uW/cm2 at 12" and 10 uW/cm2 at 18". However, other sites, incluing this one, note that there is often a minimum distance, but are unclear on what that should be (and let's not even get into the debate about UV output dropping after the first six months). Finally, although I can get the bulb's uW/cm2 output values, I can't find the recommended input levels that the uromastyx is after.

2) http://www.beardeddragon.org/bjive/viewtopic.php?p=863524 has a user asking about similar for a bearded dragon, and is told that 13" from the floor and 6" from the basking spot are good distances, for the 36" version of the Reptisun 10. Is this a reasonable guideline?

3) http://www.[url ban]/forums/showthread.php?t=15469 seems to indicate that if there is a basking spot or other favourite point that allows the lizard to get within 10" of the light at least some of the time, that is okay. Is this correct advice?

4) http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/pogona/message/84261 advises that the lizard be able to get within about 40-50cm (16-20" of the Reptisun 10 to get the benefit from it, which seems to be a lot greater distance than the other sites tend to suggest. Is this also a good distance, or is the UVB output at the base of my terrarium going to be too low?

5) As an aside, I'm planning to raise the ground level by an inch or two with additional sand, as well as adding in more hides and climbing obstacles - after my uromastyx got used to her new home, I noticed that she really enjoys climbing and scrambling over things. This should make her average distance from the light a little less.

My other question deals with her behaviour. She seems to be eating a good handful of salad per day, and is currently about 23cm (9" in length (tip of nose to tip of tail, I believe that lengths should be taken to the base of the tail, in which case she is about 12cm or 5". However, she wakes up on average around 8am and goes to sleep around 4pm. Some days she has been up before her lights are on, and today she was awake more than an hour after the lights came on, but generally she's up and about for 8 hours a day and then back into her hidey-hole.

Is this normal behaviour, to sleep for 16 hours per day? As far as I can tell, she is perfectly healthy and eating well, and I'm measuring her temperatures closely. Before you ask, my temperatures are ~55-60'C (~120'F) at the basking spot, ~28'C (~84'F) in the coolest shelter furthest from the basking spot, and ambient air temperatures ranging from 35'C (95'F) at the hot end to 30'C (85'F) at the cool end.

Any and all advice is welcome!

Ummm I can't seem to find any way of editing my message, and it's mangled every instance of " ) into a winking smiley - all I wanted to do was put my inch measurements into brackets! Aargh, stupid forum.

Hmm, I see the link in point 3 was banned, I don't know why. It should point to www. reptileforums. com /forums /showthread.php?t=15469

The book I have ("Uromastyx plus other common agamids", Jerry G. Wallis, published by The Herpetocultural Library) notes that "UVB light does not penetrate very far, so the tubes should be as close to the lizard as possible - 30 inches (76cm) or less, never father than that. In deep vivaria, provide the lizard with a raised platform that allows it to get closer to the light." (p.24)

This was my initial resource when building my terrarium, and I followed these guidelines. When mounted directly on the underside of the roof, the lizard is 50cm (about 19" from the light, and its highest platform puts it 34cm (about 13.5" from the light. This is without lowering the light at all. I thought this information would be relevant, as it was the guidance I followed originally... is it good advice?

Personally, I used a tube UVB for a VERY short period of time. I found that they are a bit unreliable, and after some research found that they degrade quickly and need replacement approx. every 6 months. For that cost, I went with a MVB (such as a Mega-Ray or T-Rex or Powersun). If you have not heard of these, they produce both UVB and heat. I use the 160w self-ballasted bulbs, directly over the basking spot. Be sure to follow the mfg. guidelines with these bulbs, as they can produce too much UVB at close distances. I have the face of the bulb approx 16" from the basking surface. This single bulb gets the basking rocks up to 110F by itself, and allows the Uro to absorb the necessary UVB and heat simultaneously. They also are supposed to last MUCH MUCH longer then tube UVB bulbs do. Although I do not personally have a UVB meter (yet) several other people I have spoken to say they get enough UVB out of their bulbs even after 15 months of use.

Hope that helps a bit

and btw I have used the Mega-Ray and T-Rex bulbs and I recommend both brands.

Thanks for that. I've considered it, but she tends to bounce from her 'lookout' spots to her basking spot to other areas, she likes to roam around and therefore isn't in one place long enough that I don't think she would get much use out of a light which is only in one place. I'll have a think about it. Thanks for the recommendations though.

Personally, I use MVBs as well. The tubes just don't put out enough usable UVB for a desert basking species IMO. I use Mega Rays on almost all my cages.

The "IMO" part is important. Unfortunately there aren't any definitive answers. There are some pretty good guidelines, though. For the best information about reptile lighting, visit The UV Guide UK. It's an incredible website with tons of info, including independent testing of various brands and styles of lamps and links to various other resources.

Another really good place to ask questions like these is the UVB Meter Owners' group on Yahooo. You don't need to own a meter to join it (though it's an incredibly useful tool that I'd highly recommend). I learned a lot from them.
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Torey
Eugene, Oregon, USA
1.1.5 Saharan Uros (Joe, Arthur, Waddles, Stilts, Hitch, Lefty, and Skywalker)
3.0 Mali Uros (Spike, Turtle, and Tank)
1.1 Ornate Uros (Scuttlebutt and Shazzbot)
1.3 Collared Lizards (Ripcord, Thiamine, Riboflavin, and Niacin)
2.0 Green Anoles (Bowser and Sprocket)
1.1 Chubby Housecats (Roscolux and Jenny)

I should probably mention that the cameras are on from 7am-7pm my time, which is GMT 2. So they're on from 5am-5pm GMT, you can work out other timezones based on that. I wish there were an easy way to edit messages here.