Blue-Tongued Skink lighting?

Question

I purchased a 35 gallon tank for my baby BTS, he'll be arriving in a few hours(it's 3am, I can't sleep, too excited!). Anyway, I'm unsure of what these bulbs are, as I bought a used cage and they came with. One is a deep red light and seems to heat up a little more then the other.

The plain white bulb says "FLUKER's Laboratories 40W 120V". Should they both be on all day? Or should the white light be on during the day, and the red one at night?

Answer 1

the red one is probably a night heat bulb.also find out what the watt of the red heat is and make sure it is 75 watts or higher. If the other bulb says 40 w it is probably a day basking bulb, but 40w is a very low wattage for a Blue tougne skink your going to want to replace that with a 75 or 100 watt bulb depending on your house temp. But in addition to those you need a UVA/UVB if not the animal can a disease called metabolic bone disease. You want to get a 5.0 or higher (10.0 is probably better) UVA/UVB florescent strip bulb. the red one should be on at night and the white one on during the day. I would go get your new bulbs first thing in the morning it is not good for them to go to long on low heat. Good luck and don`t forget to up grade to a 55 gallon tank in the year or so, blue tounge skinks get big.

Answer 2

The white would be your day cycle and the red is more of your night, however with the "white" being 40W and you having a 35 gal tank I would use both during the day and then turn off the white at night leaving the red on. I would put them both on the same end of the tank so you can keep the heat towards one end and allow the other side to be the cool side. Make sure you that you keep an eye on temps, you want a basking spot of near 100 and the rest of the tank no lower than 80 during the day and 70 at night. I don't think that you  will need to upgrade tank size later since I have a an adult blue tongue in either a 30 or 40 gallon tnak and he is happy and healthy.  You will need to make sure that you feed greens, crickets,  superworms, cooked eggs, canned cat food (as per vet cat NOT dog food), other meats, when big enough a pinkie mouse once a week.  Mine had vitamin A & C defiencies and change in diet is how we corrected it. I would also put a hide in the tank made out of tupperware that has a top, cut a hole in it big enough for the lizard to get in and put some spagum moss dampened in it.  Dampen the moss every couple of days as needed.  Ths provides a humid spot that helps with the sheds.  Good luck.

Answer 3

red at night and white in the day and if you have them next to the window they love fresh sunlight