UV requirements for Strophurus williamsi?

[fenrisswolf]

I getting a male this Tuesday, and have most of his terrarium setup done, so while I impatiently wait for his arrival, I was browsing through some of the older Strophurus posts. Doing so, I came across a lone comment mentioning they need some UV lighting.

I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere else, but they do seem to love basking, so it would seem to make some sense. I was wondering if this is just one of those things that seem so obvious that mentioning it gets overlooked by most, or if it is just a nice extra thing to do when possible, but not critical to their healthy husbandry and upkeep.

I ask since my collection consists of primarily nocturnal geckos at the moment, and thus I have no UV bulbs at hand. If I need to, I can run off to the local pet store and get one for this particular terrarium, but if it's not needed, I might as well just use a regular bulb as a heat & light source, and put the difference away towards money for a female williamsi.

(I'll probably try to get one as soon as I find one, regardless. Given their relative rarity, this should give me enough time to be confident this male is doing well where he is.)

 

[oli]

from what I have experienced/heard through discussions, the gravid females do well with UV supplementation. I had a UV light over my williamsi, but have also been told that a vit. d supplement is just as adequate as supplying a daytime UV light. It's kinda like, if you want to supply them with it, I'm sure they'll appreciate it and it will be more natural for them, but in honesty I do not deem it necessary if they are being supplemented with properly dusted minerals as my strophurus do well without the light. A lot of people recommend a lot of excessive things, I even got into a big argument with a local vet who was trying to tell me that my n. amyae needed UV light and that didn't slide proper with me.