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Thread: Lighting and heating for RETF

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    Default Lighting and heating for RETF

    I have been doing research like crazy on red eyes and basically have almost everything figured out like the enclosure and plants and all of that stuff, but lighting and heating has been a major issue. I would like LED's but that really does not help with heating. Also the whole UVB debate is an issue as LED's do not give off any. However I am a major frog guy and have kept a few types of frogs in the past especially Pacific tree frogs and personally I really don't thing nocturnal creatures benefit from it. Some people do.
    I am either going with the exo terra 24" x 18" x 24" or the 24" x 18" 36". Probably the taller one so I know that affects what lighting I need also. As for plants it will be the usual things like pothos for sure, maybe a snake plant or broms. I am just so confused on what I should get for lighting and heat. I have an extra ultratherm uth that I could use on the back for some heat if needed. Would something like a Beamswork evo quad or jungle dawn's work with a ceramic heat emitter work or should I go with the exo terra hood and like day glow bulbs?

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    Default Re: Lighting and heating for RETF

    I am just going to go with the Beamswork evo quad for lighting. It seems like people like them and I have seen a few people that use them on a 36" tall viv with no issues.

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    Default Re: Lighting and heating for RETF

    You do need to provide UVB for RETFs, without it they can't produce vitamin d3 and will unable to absorb calcium (aside from the other benefits). A 6% T5 tube would be suitable for the size of your enclosures.
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    Default Re: Lighting and heating for RETF

    I think it has been shown that they can absorb calcium through vitamin D3 supplements but it's very risky. I had a few when I was a kid, no UVB and they did not develop MBD. Sometimes this is the case and sometimes not. It was standard back then not to provide UVB, it was thought they didn't need it or use it. There's better understanding now that UVB is more natural and safer for insectivores. Some books have stressed that tree frogs are particularly sensitive and could be easily overdosed on vitamin D3 supplements.

    We know now that being nocturnal does not mean animals wouldn't be exposed to UVB or if they only receive little UVB, then they'd develop skin thin to allow low UVB to utilised (leopard geckos have thinner skin than a bearded dragon for instance, which allows more UVB to them at lower light levels). If no UVB, they'd find dietary D3 (nocturnal burrowing frogs such as pacman frogs are barely exposed to it and would probably get theirs in fish, frogs, snakes, rodents etc). The leaves red eyes sleep on would certainly get UVB and you gotta look at their diet as well, insects don't provide vitamin D3 and there's no vitamin dust in the wild, only vitamin D3 from the sun and inside whole vertebrates.

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    Default Re: Lighting and heating for RETF

    As I've said in other similar discussions, I don't find that the frogs eat the crickets right away so the crickets have time to groom the D3 off. Also, the frogs do tend to spend some of the day asleep in the open. I do maintain some day gecko populations with D3 supplementation only, but I provide UVB to my RETF trio for the reasons listed above.

    Aliza

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    Default Re: Lighting and heating for RETF

    Why not provide UVB for the Day Geckos too Aliza? It's a far, far better way to correctly meet the D3 requirement in all animals.
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    Default Re: Lighting and heating for RETF

    I am actually doing that with my current pair of female gold dust day geckos. I had originally taken the advise of Leann and Greg Christensen (www.daygecko.com) when I got my first day gecko about 12 years ago. At that time I was new to planted vivs and didn't want to have to worry about changing out the florescent tube every 6 months (they had gone to great lengths in their book to recommend a specific type of light that would show the gecko's colors the best and I didn't want to have to try to find one every 6 months). I did keep that day gecko for 11 years. Now I have other reptiles that need UVB so I have a regular 6 month light change and the new day geckos are included.

    Aliza

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