Parietal eye

[ChristianH26]

Good evening/morning from Liverpool. I’ve kept myself awake for a while with this thought. Recently I read an article written about lizards- particularly BTS’s- parietal eye. It said that under no circumstances should any light be present after the skink’s main light has been switched off as this can disrupt their circadian rythym. This was a surprise as I’m one to have a lamp and tv on until I decide to sleep but I’m okay with sacrificing that for stevie’s sake of a better sleep. The article also said that even nightlights are unacceptable. This is what confused me as I thought to myself, what about the incredibly bright moonlight, stars and light pollution that skinks would experience in the wild. Surely if absolutely any light disrupted their circadian rythyms then they would’ve died out millions of years ago because they wouldn’t have been able to evade predators because they were so tired. Forgive me if I’m completely missing the point but what are all your thoughts on this ?

[Manny]

There is some interesting research going on in reference to Artificial lights at night (ALAN) and it's affect on insects, animals including humans. For lizards I believe the study was or is being done on Anoles, maybe because of their shorter life span am not sure. The little I remember is the researchers saw an increase in egg size and lowered glucose. Wish I could remember the article I read. I'm sure if you do a search for ALAN effects on diurnal lizards something should pop up.

I have also read that reptiles can see light from red lights, that it just looks dimmer and that blue lights can damage reptile eyes. You would have to confirm those two as I am not sure those were reputable sources.

There are a a lot of knowledgeable folks in these forums. I'm sure they'll help out or point you in the right direction for more information. I am quite new here.

My two cents worth. If you keep to a 12/14 hour schedule with your terrarium lights. You should in my opinion be fine. If anything your external lights as long as they aren't office or laboratory bright would most likely simulate moonlight. Same as long as your Tv isn''t set to maximum volume it shouldn't be a problem. Something we tend to forget at times is these enclosures we keep our animals in mute or silence sounds and that in itself isn't natural and it removes stimulation/enrichment from them. Just my opinion of course.

[brokenheel]

I do the same as you, and I just cover the glass of the enclosure at night with a folded sheet.

[ChristianH26]

That’s interesting I’ll have a look through google about this. Yes that’s a good point they can be quite deprived of stimulation sometimes.

I’ve been thinking about placing a dark sheet over the enclosure if the tv and lamp was a problem for him.