mali or skink?

[Pontus]

hi this is actully pontus girl friend, i was looking into getting myself a lizard, i was looking at a skink or a mali. do either of these need UVB? and which would be better to handle and stuff?
thanx

[princetenko]

BOO!!!!
(hehe)

[Linds]

You didn't state which kind of skink you were considering so I will assume you are speaking of Blue Tongues since they are the most common beginner ssp. Both species are diurnal, though with proper supplementation UV lighting can be avoided. In fact, artifical UVB lighting is hardly effective at all, definitely not worth it as you will still need to supplement even if you use it. I do however find the UVA basking spots make a difference in the animals behaviour over regular incandscent bulbs. Malis have much higher UV requirements than skinks do since they are a desert basking lizard. Both are good for handling. Either one can be a good choice, as they are both easy to maintain and are generally quite docile (though I have come to cross paths with some downright nasty Blue Tongues before). Malis require a hot basking spot of at least 120+ degrees which people often fail to provide. A bonus the malis have over skinks is that they are vegetarians, which means you don't have to worry about loose crickets in your house ;) My personal favourite are Malis, but either Blue Tongues or Malis can be a good choice :)

[silke]

I have a juvi mali and he is Extremely skittish...and Very fast LOL
as soon as I get too close to the tank he takes off and hides
he has a halogen basking bulb which takes his temp to 120F

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=2019&papass=&sort=1&thecat=500

[Pontus]

so if i got a skink and didnt have UVB how would that effect his personality? would it make him disgruntaled? i dont want an unhappy lizard)

[Linds]

No, UVB has no bearing on the animals behaviour. UVA is what stimulates the behaviour, and whether you choose to use it or not, it won't have any impact on its personality - just its activity levels. Hope this helped :)

[DBHerper]

I would like to reply to what Lindsay has been saying about UVB lighting. Saying it is not necessary and easily supplemented is a fasle statement that should be dismissed. I wonder if she has any actual experience with these lights or with the animals she speaks of. UVB is very much essential for most if not all diurnal animals and can not be totally supplemented by some powder or drops.

[Linds]

I have plenty of experience (18+ years) working with various species of reptiles. There have been studies done on the significance of artificial UVB lighting. It cannot be argued that it pales in comaparison to anything that the sun outputs. I have seen many species of diurnal lizard, both with high and low UV requirements, raised with and without lighting. I didn't draw these conculsions out of my head. They were a combination of what I have learned from older, more seasoned herpers, from what I have read, from what I have personally observed, and so forth. I have seen no ill effects on animals that have been raised without any UVB lighting, unless they haven't been provided the proper supplementation. I have however seen defects from animals with "proper lighting" and not enough supplementation. If the lights were enough, all calcium supplements wouldn't be enriched with d3. They just recently came out with a pure calcium supplement for animals that are kept under NATURAL LIGHTING CONDITIONS. Those UVB bulbs are just a waste IMHO, and the amounts required by animals comes from the sun, not a bulb. If you cannot provide natural sunlight for your animal, then you can bet your not simulating it with those costly bulbs. The only differences I have observed are with UVA in animals that have very high UV requirements. With animals with low requirements I haven't noticed any difference with activity levels between incandescent and UVA basking spots, in high requirement animals I have noticed an increase in activity. Regardless, this is about UVB. And through my years of keeping and working with various species, I have not seen any ill effects of animals being kept without UVB so long as they were properly supplemented, which without a doubt proves that it is not necessary for keeping them healthy in captivity. If this wasn't the case, these animals wouldn't be thriving, they would've been surviving at best, but more likely a lesser state - if any state - than that.

[V.aw]

I agree with the above. UVB does effect an animals personality. Personality comes with their activity, and the more activity the animal recieves the more happy it will be in the long run. Saying it doesnt effect its behaviour is invalid.

UVA/UVB bulbs (although they are not effective for very long as they run out after about 3 months of use) The digestion of food is alot more healthy as well. From my expieriance the bulbs do worlds of good for most lizard species. The bulbs are about 20% of the overall effect. You must also supplement the food with a quality supplement. (IE Repti-Cal, Repti-Vite etc)

I may also add that these bulbs also drastically aid most reptiles with their pigmentation, I find every lizard i have looks much nicer under these bulbs.

18+ years of expieriance, how old were you when you began? 5? i doubt that a 5 year old can be accountable for actually knowing the effects of uv bulbs. No offence or anything.. you keep iguanas from what ive read, you should know the positive effects of these bulbs

[Linds]

OK, I could sit and argue back and forth all day, but I would just be repeating myself. Everything I need to say I have already said. Take it for what its worth - or not. I no longer utilize UVB lights for my animals, I use regular full spectrum lighting, incadescent, or UVA basking spots. I house them outdoors during the day in the summer so they can benefit from the natural UV. I have my opinion, which I have drawn from my personal experiences as well as others - if you don't agree with it, well then that's fine, cause everyone has their own opinions, and most are very different from each others. All that matters is that my animals are healthy and happy and thriving under the conditions I choose to keep them in. Take care.

[Lisa]

I was on the understanding that diurnal lizards needed uv for bone development or they get MBD. I've got no first hand experience on this, this is from reading books and from experienced keepers. They never mentioned anything about activity.

[Alphonzo]

I would like to add something to this.

In ReptileZoo Iguana Vlissingen (http://www.iguana.nl) in the Netherlands we keep reptiles for more than 20 years. We are the largest Reptilezoo from Europe.
Yearly we breed many reptiles.
Some examples:
Chlamydosaurus kingii
Varanus albigularis
Varanus salvator
Pogona vitticeps
Uromastyx acanthinura
Iguana iguana (5th generation)
All kinds of snakes
All kinds of tortoises and turtles


We never use UV-light

All the food is supplemented with vitamins and minerals.

http://people.zeelandnet.nl/sleijpenfo/fotoos/repfotoos/kraagje02.jpg

[V.aw]

from my experience uv lightning has always been an advantage

[*cales*]

i think im more confused then when i started lol. I think i gotta bealive the reptile zoo guy though lol. im just so scared that if i dont have uvb the lizard will be unhappy, i love animals more then anything and i do not want to be responsible for one being unhappy or sick because of my stupidness. From the sounds of it UVB isnt nessary but it might help the lizard right?