UVB Light - its pros/ cons

[ecichlid]

But also more enjoyable for me. If I'm sitting at the level of the viv, the light is diffused.

[Philsuma]

UVB is becoming mainstream, or at least gaining lots of credence.

[tazman]

Found a site where the keepers at the a zoo in Scotland exposed there Azureus and tads to 15 minutes of UV light a day and it eliminated 100% of spindly leg syndrome in their frogs.

[Rusty_Shackleford]

Does anyone have any new info to add to this thread? I'm sure there is even more information out there on UVB now. This is a confusing topic. How much UVB is enough? How much is too much? What strength bulb gives you the proper amount of UVB?
For me it will be guesswork for awhile as the $240 for a solarmeter is a bit too steep right now.

[Philsuma]

I think a real quick takeaway, Jon, would be ....how I WOULD do it, anyway, would be to provide an unfiltered spot light of LOCALIZED UVB and put THAT on a timer for something in the neighbourhood of say 15 mins a day. Probably around 12 noon to 12:15 or 30. I would also position this small 'directional' bulb like a floodlight / spot light or PUCK light on one side of the vivarium so as to keep both the light and the resultant heat in a very tight corner of the enclosure. The frogs will choose how much / many minutes of exposure on their own. Make sure they have plenty of room and ability to get out of the way of the light and heat - leaf litter, plenty of large barriers and plantings ect.

Some people are using/trying to use, a single long length-wise bulb and that scares me for all the reasons above.

What's known, and I've seen it with my own eyes both in and out of situ, is that these frogs ACTUALLY will bask.

I know of a few breeders of Histos and Sylavaticas that do not use UVB but you will be hard pressed to find an experienced frogger that says UVB is bad or doesn't matter.

[Rusty_Shackleford]

Phil, I have similar but differing thoughts. My plan is to use a more traditional linear tube, probably Zoo Med 5.0 or Arcadia 6%, but only at 1/3 the length of the tank. I know the various broms, plants, landscape, wood etc, would filter out a lot of the UVB rays. Plus this is going to be a tall viv, probably around 30 inches from light source to the substrate. Frogs could ascend or descend to find a comfortable range of UV light to suit their needs. There would still be plenty of hiding spots to get out of any UV rays, and in such a tall tank, there would probably very little UV radiation at the substrate level.
I think limiting exposure plays a key role. I would guess more UV rays, and certainly more heat, are being introduced into the viv in your method. I just don't trust those halogen puck lights. I don't like the heat they bring.

[goods]

I use those puck lights for UVB source and hot spot in Phelsuma enclosure when I'm not keeping them outside, and I've seen one melt the plastic on top of an exo. No way I'd use one of those for frogs.

Most of us down here use Arcadia UVB tubes over various histrionica, sylvatica, and both silverstonei pairs. I've personally witnessed basking on woodwork up close to the tube, and then when they're tired of it, they hop down into the plants/leaf litter where exposure is minimal to nonexistent. I limit the exposed region of a tank by simply placing a glass pane over certain areas under the tube, and the UV is unable to penetrate that layer. When I supply UV, my tanks are about 1/4 UVB irradiated, giving the animals ample area to get out of it should they choose. Heat really isn't an issue with the Arcadia bulbs. They're just a T5 that can produce UV, not all too different than any other T5 people use on their tanks. To further ease the worry that these may be too hot, I'll mention another anecdote...I run the same UVB bulbs for 10-12 hours a day over Uroplatus enclosures and have my house thermostat set at 77 during the day. For those who know Uroplatus, they know that warmth isn't really their friend, but I've seen no ill effects of temperature even though a quite hot summer in south LA.

[Rusty_Shackleford]

ZG, that was my plan exactly. After researching UVB for darts I planned on using a 12" T5 Zoo Med 5.0 bulb on a 36x18x36 Exo-Terra. I plan to have the bulb on from 1 to 2 hours daily.

[Philsuma]

I'll agree with the 'regular' halogen strong bulb being hot even though Roman (mantisdragon) has quite a bit of experience with all types of herps and swears by them being ok for frogs with provisions, is ponderable.

They DO make a 'tiny' 15 watt halogen UVB pucklight...