Uvb lighting

[Blueboy01]

Hi there, I have heard that many bluey keepers have kept their blueys on just vitd3 supplemented calcium without a uvb light. I was wondering what your guys thoughts were. If I do need a basking light my cage will be around 12 inches tall and what uvb setup would you suggest for the cage.

[kingofnobbys]

Unless the skink is nocturnal , bluetongues , even Indonesia species are all diurnal , so daily UVA and UVB are recommended.

All bluetongue skinks require at least 5% UVB , my easterns have 26W UVB200 globes in nanohoods , this gives a nice broad beam of UVA, UVB and light and sufficient UV at 8" from globe..

Is going to pretty hard to produce a good thermal gradient and good UV gradients in a tank only 12" tall. I'd recommend at least a tank 18" tall.

[mb606587]

The topic of UVB lighting is still very controversial. You are correct, many Blue Tongue Skink keepers have kept their skinks without UVB light, some for decades, without any adverse effects. Most breeders do not use UVB lighting, if I had to assume, mainly for cost purposes. Many breeders have 25+ skinks, some with over 100+, so I think owning the sheer number of that many animals plays a factor for some not using it. Do Blue Tongue Skinks require UVB lighting to survive? No, that has been proven for all species, Indonesian and Australian alike. Should you still use it? My opinion is there's really no good reason not to if you only own one skink. But that's your choice to make. As kingofnobbys recommended, going with a bulb of at least 5% UVB is recommended. Also keep in mind that a lot of people will place the UVB hood and bulb on top of a screen lid. It's been said the screen lid filters out some of the UVB rays, almost negating a lot of the benefits of the light. It's better to mount the bulb inside the enclosure, preferably on the underside of the top, so there is no barrier between the actual light and your skink. Just make sure to follow directions on the label to keep the bulb at a safe distance. Most recommend at least 6"-8" between your skink and the light.

As far as your enclosure only being 12" tall, an appropriate temperature gradient can be achieved if done carefully. Some of my tubs are only 6" tall, but I have a custom wooden lid with steel mesh on top of those. And my heat lamps rest on top of that mesh about 7" or 8" above my skink's basking rock. With an enclosure only 12" tall, trying to mount heat bulbs INSIDE the enclosure as some people do now becomes out of the question as there is a real risk of your skink being able to come into contact with the bulb so keep that in mind.

[Blueboy01]

The topic of UVB lighting is still very controversial. You are correct, many Blue Tongue Skink keepers have kept their skinks without UVB light, some for decades, without any adverse effects. Most breeders do not use UVB lighting, if I had to assume, mainly for cost purposes. Many breeders have 25+ skinks, some with over 100+, so I think owning the sheer number of that many animals plays a factor for some not using it. Do Blue Tongue Skinks require UVB lighting to survive? No, that has been proven for all species, Indonesian and Australian alike. Should you still use it? My opinion is there's really no good reason not to if you only own one skink. But that's your choice to make. As kingofnobbys recommended, going with a bulb of at least 5% UVB is recommended. Also keep in mind that a lot of people will place the UVB hood and bulb on top of a screen lid. It's been said the screen lid filters out some of the UVB rays, almost negating a lot of the benefits of the light. It's better to mount the bulb inside the enclosure, preferably on the underside of the top, so there is no barrier between the actual light and your skink. Just make sure to follow directions on the label to keep the bulb at a safe distance. Most recommend at least 6"-8" between your skink and the light.

As far as your enclosure only being 12" tall, an appropriate temperature gradient can be achieved if done carefully. Some of my tubs are only 6" tall, but I have a custom wooden lid with steel mesh on top of those. And my heat lamps rest on top of that mesh about 7" or 8" above my skink's basking rock. With an enclosure only 12" tall, trying to mount heat bulbs INSIDE the enclosure as some people do now becomes out of the question as there is a real risk of your skink being able to come into contact with the bulb so keep that in mind.

Ok so the enclosure that I have coming is the animal plastics t8. I had the screen option so I can have lights on top of the enclosure but will I get any benefit of having a uvb on top of the screen or would the screen totally eliminate any benefits of the uvb? All I want is the best for my little guy so this is why I was wondering. If a uvb would still be helpful what brand or bulb would you recommend. Wattage and strength would be helpful too. Thank you for all the helpful replies.

[mb606587]

Won't totally filter out the uvb but if able to mount a linear bulb and hood inside that would be best. I believe I use the Reptisun 5.0 linear bulbs 18 inches. As for mounting inside, I've never worked with AP cages before but you could try to screw in a couple hook screws to the inside top and they sell mounting sets at most pet shops. Inside will be a miniature elastic cable with hooks attached on each end. Hook a cable to the hook screws on each end of the hood that holds your bulb and have the cables tie the hood down in place at the top. Sometimes takes some creativity. You can see how I secured mine in picture with wood scraps.

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[kingofnobbys]

The mesh will block up to 45% of the UV , refer to the UVGuide site.

A T8 10% UVB tube with a reflector (or reflector hood) will need to be inside 6" of the basking spot to provide sufficient UV , put it ontop the mesh lid and you need the basking spot under 3" from the lid.

If you upgrade to a T5HO 10% UVB tube , you can get away with mounted the hood ontop the mesh so long as the basking spot is no more than 6 - 8 inches from the mesh lid.

This in reference to fine mesh (like flyscreen).

Different meshes have different blocking behaviours.

[Rakeone]

since I watched TC houston video about solar meter, i went ahead and spent the 200$ on it and it's the best move I made. All my uvb were crap.

[kingofnobbys]

since I watched TC houston video about solar meter, i went ahead and spent the 200$ on it and it's the best move I made. All my uvb were crap.

I splashed out a few years ago and over the course of a year bought a model 6.5 (UVI meter) , model 6.2 (UVB microwatt meter , my favourate for source testing) and a model 4.2 (UVA microwatt meter). At the time I had 2 hatchling and 1 adult CBDs, 2 adult Eastern BTS, and an adult EWS. So was running 6 UVB globes and a spare 26W UVB mounted in a dome under a lamp stand for when the big lizards were free ranging and to provide some UV for the wild water skink was living in our loungeroom and frequently visiting.

At the very least if a keeper has 2 or more pet lizards, a model 6.2 is a must have for their kit IMO.

I prefer direct flux measurements to inferential measurements (UVI) as it tells me pretty much how good the sources are for my skinks and dragon health ( and their ability to photosynthesis VitD3 in their skin ).