UVA/UVB lighting

so, the basking light for my anole says i's UVA and the person at the pet shop told me it was the same as UVB, bt i need 2 be sure cause i know he needs his calcium from the light. Also, is a 60 watt bulb for him in a 10 G tank 2 much? because he turns green when i turn off the light to feed him more then when its on and i guess when he's green he's better than when he's brown?

 

Unfortunately, pet store employees are often misinformed and not adequately trained in reptile and amphibian care. Pet stores often do only as necessary to keep the animal alive until it is sold, taking hits in proper care to advertise expensive products in their enclosure and feeding improperly. It's always best to take everything they say with a grain of salt... some are great resources, but a vast majority don't know the difference between a garter snake and a cobra.

UVA and UVB are two entirely different wavelengths of light. UVA are a longer wavelength and can actually fall within the visible spectrum (you can actually 'see' UVA). While these rays are imporant, they are associated with just about any type of bulb on the market that produces light, both for reptiles and in your home.

UVB is required by reptiles to synthesis vitamin D3 in their skin, which in turn aids in calcium absorbtion. These are the same rays that give us sunburn, etc but sun loving and diurnal reptiles REQUIRE the UVB rays to thrive properly. Only certain bulbs can produce UVB. I would recommend the Repti-Sun bulbs by Zoomed and the Repti-Glows by Exo-terra. For your anole, you'd probably want the 5.0's of either of these brands, and make sure he can get within 12" of the bulb (preferably closer).

It's hard to say if a 60 watt bulb will be okay, this will require trial and error on your part. You should consider purchasing a digital thermometer with a probe or tempgun (the little aquarium and "stick on the side of the glass" ones are NOT accurate). Measure the temperature in the enclosure and at the basking site until you have attained the desired temperature by either swapping out different wattages of bulbs, or raising/lower the bulb so that it is closer to the basking area. It's very important to get a thermometer for your little guy, as in a 10 gallon aquarium he could easily overheat and die if it gets too hot.

Were you wanting to use a single bulb that doubles up as both a heat source and for UVB? Or did you want to use two light source: one for heat, and one for UVB?

If using a single bulb that does both, you need to get a special Mercury Vapor Bulb (MVB) from the pet store that produces UVB. Typically a bulb called "Powersun" is available and this bulb performed very well on UVB tests. These bulbs produce both heat and UVB.

If you want to use two light source, the heat bulb can be a basic household incandescent bulb. Then you will need a UVB producing bulb that will either be a flourescent or compact flourescent (These are the reptisun's and reptiglo's). The Flourescent bulbs produce very little heat, but a lot of light and UVB.

 

Jeff, you jerk. Well, I've already typed this all up so I'm posting it anyways. D=<

Hello!

There seems to be some confusion about the lighting here on the pet store worker's part. Even if a bulb says "full spectrum" or "UV light," that does not mean it emits UVB. If the package does not explicitly state that it is a UVB bulb, then it does not produce UVB light.

There are two types of bulbs that produce UVB: mercury vapor bulbs (MVBs) and fluorescents. In a small tank like yours, I would not recommend an MVB, though. Look for a long tube light and fixture that specifically produces UVB. Make sure you don't buy the compact or coiled UVB fluorescents. These have been known to cause damage to the skin and eyes of reptiles, and they deteriorate and lose their effect way too quickly. When you set up the light, make sure the anole can come within 6-10" of the bulb.

The wattage of bulb needed for your tank will depend on your house temperatures, so I can't tell you if a 60w is enough or too much. It all depends on the temperatures in the tank. What are your basking and ambient temperatures, and what are you using to read them? It's important that you have at least one digital thermometer with probe or a temp gun so that you can get an accurate surface temperature reading for the different areas. Mercury and stick on thermometers only give a vague idea of the air temperature, and round thermometers are virtually useless as far as accuracy goes.

His color changing may not be indicative of his mood. I've noticed our green anoles are very bright when they sleep, when they have just been shipped to us, or when they are alarmed because someone is trying to catch them. There seems to be a misconception that the greener the anole the happier it is. This isn't always true. I've seen dying anoles that are the brightest of green, and perfectly healthy, robust, and stress-free anoles that remain a drab brown. Like I said, almost all of our anoles turn green at night or when they sleep during the day while basking. I don't think it's necessarily any indication that the temps are off. You'll have to defer to your thermometers to see if that's the case.

 

thanks both of u! I saw a uvb at the pet store the was long, but I didn't have the money at the time, so now I can get it and thanks cause I know what 2 get now!

 

I think the exo-terra ones will work the best 2, they r also more in my proce range and i already have the fixture 2 fit one. thx

 

i recommend UVB, and I think you should get a digital thermometer w/ a probe, the kind that you stick on the glass only tell the temperature of the glass, not the inside of the terrarium.(that is why they are used in aquariums)