Completeleopard
New member
Creatures of Dusk and Dawn
Crepuscular lizards (active at dusk and dawn) such as leopard geckos and house geckos are traditionally considered to require no ultraviolet lighting in the vivarium. In the wild, however, there is no doubt that they do receive small amounts of ultraviolet radiation from the dusk and dawn skies and possibly also a little diffused UV penetrating between rocks and bark above their daytime retreats. A recent report described a wild Texas Banded gecko (Coleonyx variegatus) thought to be basking in evening light when the ambient UVB level was at least 33uW/cm².11 Leopard geckos in captivity may be observed basking occasionally (Fig. 10) and one of the authors of UV Guide UK provides UVB fluorescent tubes as daytime background lighting for all her geckos, with observed improvements in fertility and health.
Recent research has discovered that the skin of house geckos (Hemidactylus turcicus) is extra-ordinarily sensitive to UVB light; very low levels can enable large quantities of vitamin D3 to be produced in their skin.9 In captivity, this would suggest that although their diet can normally provide all the D3 they need, very brief daily exposure to low levels of UVB might be beneficial, especially if the diet was lacking in vitamin D3. If they were already receiving maximum safe levels of vitamin D3 in dietary supplements, however, there might be a risk of vitamin D overdosage from the supplements.
More information regarding UV Lighting is here, they cover most lizards!
UV Lighting for Reptiles: How much UVB do reptiles need?
Crepuscular lizards (active at dusk and dawn) such as leopard geckos and house geckos are traditionally considered to require no ultraviolet lighting in the vivarium. In the wild, however, there is no doubt that they do receive small amounts of ultraviolet radiation from the dusk and dawn skies and possibly also a little diffused UV penetrating between rocks and bark above their daytime retreats. A recent report described a wild Texas Banded gecko (Coleonyx variegatus) thought to be basking in evening light when the ambient UVB level was at least 33uW/cm².11 Leopard geckos in captivity may be observed basking occasionally (Fig. 10) and one of the authors of UV Guide UK provides UVB fluorescent tubes as daytime background lighting for all her geckos, with observed improvements in fertility and health.
Recent research has discovered that the skin of house geckos (Hemidactylus turcicus) is extra-ordinarily sensitive to UVB light; very low levels can enable large quantities of vitamin D3 to be produced in their skin.9 In captivity, this would suggest that although their diet can normally provide all the D3 they need, very brief daily exposure to low levels of UVB might be beneficial, especially if the diet was lacking in vitamin D3. If they were already receiving maximum safe levels of vitamin D3 in dietary supplements, however, there might be a risk of vitamin D overdosage from the supplements.
More information regarding UV Lighting is here, they cover most lizards!
UV Lighting for Reptiles: How much UVB do reptiles need?
