Iguana lighting help! i need an answer and fast.?

Question

i just recently got an iguana. and ive been reading and stuff but i had a couple questions. for one thing i have a daytime light on the top of his tank over the screen and it wasn't getting warm enough in the tank. so i put a long fish light (that would go on the top of a fish tank) on the back side of the tank on the bottom. its very bright and it is the whole length of the tank. my friend told me i should do this. is that right????

Answer 1

Iguanas need UVB light ... not sure if the daytime light that you are using is UVB or not, and I'm more then positive the fish light isn't UVB.

Along w/ the long tubed UVB light, you can go and buy an expensive basking bulb at the pet store, or use a house bulb. The house bulb will provide extra lighting and heat for your iguana. The tank if you have a young iguana you should not be using anything smaller then a 55 gallon tank (55 gallon will only hold an iguana that is 8-12 months of age). When my girl was in her 55 gallon tank, I used a 60-75w light, but the wattage will also depend on the warmth in your house. CHE (ceramic heat emitters) are best to use at night time since they produce heat only no light, you can use them also during the day if you wish too. Those night lights that you buy at the pet stores, you're lucky if you get a week usage out of them, they are a waste of money, and depending on the iguana they can also cause stress towards your iguana.

Temps:

never let drop below 70F ...

basking 92-96F if temp is too low digestion is slowed too high food digests too fast and nutrition is lost

medium/middle (overall) 88-92F

cool 75-84F

at night 73-84F ... having a temp gun works the best to know what your igs body temp truly is.

*** NO HEAT ROCKS PLEASE ... they can cause major burns on the under belly ... igs dont feel heat from below so they will sit there not knowing they are burning themselves ***

UVB: (12 hrs on during day - 12 hrs off during night no light)

US: ReptiSun 10.0 distance 8-10 inches from your igs body

Repti Glo 8.0 distance 6-8 inches from your igs body

ReptiSun 5.0 distance 6-8 inches from your igs body

UK: Arkadia distance 6-8 inches from your igs body

- You will need to adjust the distance as your ig grows

- Using a shop light from a home improvement store works the best, get one that has 2 tube plugs and using 2 UVB tubes

- The UVB listed are in tube form, using the 36-48inch tubes are the best more length for your ig

- Surface under the UVB tube lights need to be a flat surface if at an angle your igs body will not get the proper UVB threw out

- There are UVB's out there on the market now that can cause eye damange to your ig

- W/out UVB your ig may end up w/ MBD (Metabolic Bone Disease)

- UVB information that you may find interesting:

http://www.uvguide.co.uk/index.htm - http://www.uvguide.co.uk/fluorescenttube... - http://www.uvguide.co.uk/whatreptilesnee...

Sites for you to read:

http://www.greenigsociety.org/ - http://www.iguanaden.org/ - http://www.anapsid.org/iguana/index.html

A great book to read and have on hand:

Iguanas for Dummies by Melissa Kaplan

Yahoo has some great sites for Iguana owners... these groups helped me and still help w/ questions .. if you'd like to join:

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/BabyI... - http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Iguan...

Answer 2

dont put it on the bottom of the tank, just put it ontop of the screen along with the heating light, thats what i did when i had my iguana

Answer 3

if your tank isnt getting warm enough put a ceramic heater in at the top either inside with a guard or outside of the screen. dont put lights in the bottom.

where is your uv light because it must be inside the tank within 6inches from the highest basking spot. screen mesh blocks most of the UV