# UV bulbs are a waste of money?



## Hybrid (Aug 12, 2012)

When I look up monitors I ALWAYS here that UV bulbs are useless and are a waste of money! I see things like, "a halogen flood light gives all the UV they need" or "there food gives them the nutrients"

Although tegus and monitors are Very distantly related, they are very similar. 
Do Tegus really need UV bulbs or are the Monitor people just dumb?


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## kim86 (Aug 12, 2012)

Tegus are basking lizards, so they DEFINITELY need UVB. UVA = helps them to see colors, UVB = helps them digest calcium from their food. If they don't get exposed to UVB, the calcium is ineffective and they develop metabolic bone disease, which painfully deforms their limbs and does bad things to their organs etc. 

Here's a good example of what happens when a tegu/basking reptile doesn't get exposed to UVB: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rxhuuIcnTA


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## james.w (Aug 12, 2012)

If you were to feed 100% whole prey (rats, mice, chicks) to a tegu than you could probably do without UVB. If you feed any fruit/vegetables, ground meats than you will need the UVB. There are plenty of monitor people who have successfully kept and bred monitors without UVB, so I wouldn't say they are dumb.


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## Skeetzy (Aug 12, 2012)

Why risk it? For what, a $30-50 lightbulb every 10-12 months.


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## Compnerd7 (Aug 13, 2012)

kim86 said:


> Tegus are basking lizards, so they DEFINITELY need UVB. UVA = helps them to see colors, UVB = helps them digest calcium from their food. If they don't get exposed to UVB, the calcium is ineffective and they develop metabolic bone disease, which painfully deforms their limbs and does bad things to their organs etc.
> 
> Here's a good example of what happens when a tegu/basking reptile doesn't get exposed to UVB: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rxhuuIcnTA



Yes and Yes and very much agree.


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## larissalurid (Aug 13, 2012)

Tegus ABSOLUTELY need a full spectrum uvb/uva bulb!! Food and D-3 Supplementation does not work as a replacement. 

Here watch this video. Someone bought a tegu as a hatchling and read somewhere that UVA/UVB lighting could be replaced with D-3. Now this tegu is EXTREMELY undersized, unhealthy, and has horrible metabolic bone disease. She can barely even walk or move her legs properly as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rxhuuIcnTA&feature=my_liked_videos&list=LL9EPHS43a_AiQ2ef47MUEug

I would never just feed rats or mice either, that is a much too fatty and unvaried diet. Not all lizards are the same so whether it works for others or it doesn't a tegu needs it. If you want to not buy one and risk your tegu becoming extremely sick and deformed, then you really shouldn't get a tegu.

EDIT: lol oh man i didn't realize that someone posted the same link earlier. well it's a perfect example though, so i will leave it.


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## james.w (Aug 13, 2012)

The video in the link proves nothing. It is Bobby assuming how the tegu was cared for. Nobody knows the diet, or any other specifics about how the tegu was provided for.


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## larissalurid (Aug 13, 2012)

james.w said:


> The video in the link proves nothing. It is Bobby assuming how the tegu was cared for. Nobody knows the diet, or any other specifics about how the tegu was provided for.



Unless he is randomly lying about the entire story he says that the guy came to his house and told him that the tegu had been "kept under a regular basking light, not uv, and had been substituting this tegu with vitamin d-3 bc he had read on a breeders website that you could substitute vitamin d-3 for uv"

So if the guy came, knocked on his door to drop of the tegu and told him that he had to move out of his house and told him how he cared for the tegu, it wasn't assuming 

Although it is true that we don't know the rest, but MBD is usually the cause of not having proper calcium and d-3 synthesizing



james.w said:


> The video in the link proves nothing. It is Bobby assuming how the tegu was cared for. Nobody knows the diet, or any other specifics about how the tegu was provided for.



Unless he is randomly lying about the entire story he says that the guy came to his house and told him that the tegu had been "kept under a regular basking light, not uv, and had been substituting this tegu with vitamin d-3 bc he had read on a breeders website that you could substitute vitamin d-3 for uv"

So if the guy came and told him that he had to move out of his house and told him how he cared for the tegu, it wasn't assuming 

Although it's true we don't know the other care but usually MBD is cause of improper calcium and d-3 synthesizing


Sorry my internet is freezing up, I don't know why that posted twice.... >.<


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## james.w (Aug 13, 2012)

Still doesn't prove they NEED uvb. If a whole prey diet is provided they can get D3 that way. Like I said I don't recommend not using uvb bulbs, but there are ways around it. I just disagree with all the definites that everyone is posting.


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## laurarfl (Aug 13, 2012)

It has been proven through scientific studies that monitors, like other carnivorous reptiles, can absorb Vit D through the diet fairly efficiently. So monitor owners can keep them without UVB. A halogen bulb is not full spectrum. If an owner chooses not to use a UVB on a monitor, that is certainly their choice and it is not too far fetched.

Herbivorous reptiles rely heavily on UVB for Vit D synthesis. Studies have also proven this fact.

No studies have been done on tegus and tegus are omnivores. So perhaps giving them a completely 100% whole vertebrate prey diet supplies Vit D, but taxes the kidneys with high protein. So a lower protein diet may be needed, but with calcium and Vit D supplementation. In the wild, the animal portion of tegu diet contains a fair portion of very large insects that feed on calcium rich greens, smaller reptiles and amphibians that are leaner than mammals, etc.


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## jamesnyborg (Aug 14, 2012)

I don't understand why people argue about this. Just buy the bulb and be happy.


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## bmx3000max (Aug 14, 2012)

jamesnyborg said:


> I don't understand why people argue about this. Just buy the bulb and be happy.



Agreed


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## Dirtydmc (Aug 14, 2012)

You will kill your tegu without a good quality UVB/UVA bulb. And it will not be a painless demise.


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## DavidRosi (Aug 14, 2012)

Surely if you own a tegu you must have the funds to be able to afford it... If you don't; let someone who will care for it, have it ! Yes, maybe studies have shown certain things, that they "can" survive without them, but it's not as of the lights cost 100's is it.


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## jwyo (Aug 14, 2012)

Dirtydmc said:


> You will kill your tegu without a good quality UVB/UVA bulb. And it will not be a painless demise.



Not a very good "blanket" statement. Simply not true or proven. Whole prey food items and natural sunlight can negate the need.


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## laurarfl (Aug 15, 2012)

Natural sunlight trumps any UVB bulb, hands down.


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## hanniebann (Aug 15, 2012)

I agree with the natural sunlight being the best thing. Why argue over where we can cut corners as tegu owners though? If you care about the health of your little 'gu, invest in a mercury vapor bulb once every year, and get him out in the sun as much as possible! Since we are taking them into our homes, it is our responsibility to do whatever it take to give them a good and healthy captive life!


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## Dubya (Aug 15, 2012)

jwyo said:


> Dirtydmc said:
> 
> 
> > You will kill your tegu without a good quality UVB/UVA bulb. And it will not be a painless demise.
> ...



Just make sure the sunlight is not filtered through glass. UV does not penetrate glass.


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## Dirtydmc (Aug 15, 2012)

Ok. You will kill your regular without regular with proper uv exposure. Happy Mr nitpicker?


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