24 hour lighting?

AJS · #1 (**permalink**) 04-28-2006, 03:16 PM

In order to further enhance the level of choice in my varanids environments, I was thinking about switching them all to constant lighting. It makes sense to me because the lizard understands its own needs better than its keepers. Rather than having us force our own interpretation of a natural environment on it 24 hour lighting would allow the monitor to select the conditions it needs when it needs them. Also I am uncomfortable with the idea of "natural" conditions in the home; no matter how conscientious the keeper, whatever we do cannot compare to mother nature; it is far more likely that we will end up harming our charges because we misinterpret "natural" conditions and then misapply them in the vivarium.
Conversely, a 24 hour light cycle is about as far away from "natural" as you can get ( I'm fairly certain there aren't any monitors in the Arctic circle!) and I would worry about stressing out the more sensitive animals in my collection.
So, does anyone have any experience with this type of lighting setup? Has anyone ever actually compared animals kept under 24hr lighting with those kept under a conventional day/night cycle? Anyone with any opinion on the benefits/disadvantages of this type of lighting setup?
Regards, AJS

unluckyseventeen · #2 (**permalink**) 04-28-2006, 04:06 PM

The night/day cycle is the one thing you SHOULD mimic from nature, as it will make almost any type of reptile extremely stressed, especially Boas, Pythons, and other mainly nocturnal reptile.

I've known several people that had bearded dragons, boas, monitors... almost every kind of reptile that didn't have any idea what they were doing, except what to feed, and what to keep it in. Everybody that I saw didn't think about having a day/night cycle, so the poor reptile was constantly in light. It screws up their biological clock very badly, and rarely will they ever eat or exhibit natural behavior. As soon as I told them to switch it, they did, and bought a black or red night light, and their reptiles perked up instantly.

In my opinion, there is absolutely no benefit to exposing any animal to 24 hour light, especially reptiles, as I have seen first-hand. Infact, if anything, it's detremental to a reptile's health, and the saying "nothing in the wild should be exhibited" should not be carried so far. That would be like saying "well, they burrow in the wild, so I will not let them do that!" or "I will feed them table scraps instead of rats, because that's what they eat in the wild".

My opinion is: There is no benefit to 24 hour light, and in my experiences, it has been detrimental to all types of reptiles.

amercnwmn · #3 (**permalink**) 04-28-2006, 05:17 PM

I got dogged for havign constant light on my large boas..I had them together when they came in (both were housed together previously, and both had the same health problems, so it made sense at the time to do this)
I had a large UTH under a 1/3 of tank, and 2 red lamps 100W at first, I could NOT for the life of me get the heat up to 90-92 for the RI. So I got out a basking lamp, one lamp and they were good to go temp wise, they had a cooler end and large enough hides for both of them. I keep my house temps at arctic, so I have to use more heating than some people and cover the tops of my cages.
Anyways they were like this for a LONG time, and I had no problems with them eating, drinking, sheds were good (except the malnourished one, she FINALLY shed right jsut before she was adopted out) when I got them healthy enough I could move them..I kept their cages warm with a CHE in their tanks and UTH and they stayed fairly warm, still had to cover the top
of the cage though, and i had a basking lamp as well.
This was for about a year and not really a long term thing, but I would think having day/night cycles would be better to the animal.

NicoleRussell · #4 (**permalink**) 04-28-2006, 05:26 PM

Many monitor enthusiasts kep the 24/7 lighting on. Robin from PE's believes in this approach and I respect him tremendously.
Read more:
proexotics.com

nomadbean · #5 (**permalink**) 04-28-2006, 07:21 PM

I keep a HUGE dark hidebox in my monitors cage and they are on 18 hours of light, just because we cannot keep their 11'x6'x4' cage warm with out lights any other way. I was told their eyes can get damaged on 24 hour light and upset their behavior.. others said bupkus on that. So, they have a short night, except during "winter" for breeding. If you do constant light, have a place they can go and relax in like a cave..and if they start acting "kooky" give them a nighttime. Good luck.
Trina
OMNIherp, LLC

Dachande · #6 (**permalink**) 05-02-2006, 01:41 AM

many do it. many don't. i try to rationalize it. for one, does the animal have a burrow or hide that shuts out the light? my argus is one to fit this genre becaus it has bout 2ft of dirt to burrow in. so the lights run 24/7.
the acanthurus and tristis i set to on/off for certian hours depending on time of year. anything nocturnal gets a night time as well.
i only do this with my monitors if they have the opportunity and exercise the option ot burrow. the ackies and tristis don't burrow as much and use the stacks more often.
i also choose to do it with one because it's worked so far and i would like to see if there are any differences in them. shy monitors would come out when everyone's asleep and take advantage of the 24/7 lights. other than that i see no differences so far. Mudd doesn't fit this group, as she comes out often and does go into her burrow late at night and usually arises about noon.
(kinda like me when i was a teen)

Advertisement