UV LIGHTING....AND SUBSTRATE FOR HATCHLING TEGUS!

[KSTAR]

How often does everyone change they're uv lights? I have mine for a few months but its been sitting I haven't used it or turned it on but I will be using it in a few days...I did use it before Aswell...should I buy a new one? Ill say its about 5 months old..and also what does everyone use as they're bedding/substrate for they're hatchling tegus? I was thinking about using Eco-Earth That comes in the brick form that I can just break up in some hot water and put in the enclosure and when he gets a little bigger ill switch over to mulch..

 

[chitodadon]

I heard peat moss dirt mix is better or 100% coco husk

from Samsung Galaxy S3

 

[KSTAR]

I don't know bro...I'm not too fond of cocoa husk...and peat moss I don't like much either it's smelly after a while...lol

 

[jtrux]

Change the UV lights once a year.

 

[chitodadon]

I'm going to cypress again

from Samsung Galaxy S3

 

[jtrux]

I'm going to cypress again

from Samsung Galaxy S3

I found some near me that is ground up really small, gonna buy a few bags this weekend. Much better than those big a$$ chunks I have now.

 

[jtrux]

Mulch is super cheap, 3 cubic feet for 6 bucks if I'm not mistaken.

 

[aambumann]

I choose to change mine every 6 months even though they say the lights are good for 1 year. I prefer to section off the enclosure with a section for cypress mulch and a hide, for the tegu to dig, burrow, and get away to relax and the other section, the warm side, I use a non-porous material, like ceramic or slate tile, concrete board, melamine, etc. This makes daily spot cleaning easier as my tegu chooses to go to the bathroom on the non porous surface. I also feed out of the enclosure so there is no chance of impaction.

 

[jtrux]

For a couple bucks you can buy a UV detector and see how much UV your light is putting out so y0u know exactly when to change it.