emerald swifts

akane · 03-29-17, 09:12 PM

Does anyone have info on emerald swifts? My sources for good reptile info are lacking. They look like a good pair or trio to put in my 29gallon display. I have to convert the tank from desert which I already switched the uv bulb and I might want to go to a CHE instead of a typical infrared incandescent to reduce how drying it is. I got exo terra plantation soil in bulk and was thinking of just capping the sand heavy mix off and leaving the layers underneath as is for drainage. Then I can increase the bioactive cleanup crew since there are more options for higher humidity and richer soil than a desert tank and add plants. Visually the sand scoured wood doesn't match but that's not a husbandry issue.

dannybgoode · 03-29-17, 10:59 PM

Nice little lizards these-saw a pair yesterday. Can't help with specific care I'm afraid.

With regards to basking - a full spectrum basking light is most preferable. Near visible IR-A penetrates deeper in to muscle tissue than far IR-B and thus is more effective at warming true basking reptiles such as dinural lizards.

I swapped my CHE out on my T lepidus for a basking bulb.

Most lizards can do just fine without heat at night so the bulb just turns off at night.

akane · 03-29-17, 11:47 PM

It's 68F in here at night. That's about 10 degrees below the lowest quoted temperature from anywhere and possibly 20 degrees below the quoted ideal temperature for majority of the tank.

akane · 03-30-17, 12:53 AM

Temperatures are all over the place the more sites I look at. "Keep them warm in the 80s at all times" "Let them cool to 75f" "They are cool weather down to 60-75F at night" The 90F basking spot is about the only agreeance with one exception of 100F and over but that article is covering the genus more broadly.

Current daylight bulb is an exo terra repti-glo uvb 5 which would be full spectrum. It had a repti-glo 10 in it but I do not know the age of that bulb and I prefer the CRI and kelvin of the 5. Not sure exactly what the spectrum of that k rating looks like. The number appears to be one of those that doesn't follow the usual comparison so the listed k rating is relatively useless.

Quote:

Repti Glo 5.0
The Exo Terra 5.0 comes in a variety of watts ranging from 14 Watts to 40 Watts.

Ideal for all tropical and sub-tropical reptiles
High UVB output
Effective up to 12 inches
Provides necessary UVB rays for optimal calcium metabolism
Stimulates appetite, activity and reproductive behavior through UVA radiation
Recommended in combination with Repti Glo 2.0 for a higher visual light output

The distance is the questionable part for the repti-glo with a 29g being 30" high but with branches up to within 6" of the mesh. The current large basking log is more like 12" down. I had a halogen uv spotlight but it was a small one to test out and it blew in less than a week. I need to swap the 75w infrared back to the 100w infrared because the warm side is too cool for the test subject feeder lizards that will probably serve their name when I make other decisions for the tank.

dannybgoode · 03-30-17, 12:53 AM

I'll check this specific species but as I say most lizard species cope very well with big drops. I know dragon keepers who happily let the night temp drop to 16c (sorry don't work in f).

dannybgoode · 03-30-17, 12:55 AM

Do you get Arcadia products in the States - far superior to Repti-glo under testing. Actually output the spectrum they claim and for longer.

Can try and obtain the test data for you...

Zoo-med are also good.

TRD · 03-30-17, 01:20 AM

Arcadia has great lights, I don't have good experience with ExoTerra stuff tbh. Zoomed is good too yes, but for the price not worth it. And yea, since Arcadia is made in the US, I suppose they have it in the US

Zoomed made is EU (Germany I believe) they are good quality too but expensive. ExoTerra is made in China, their manufacturing methods are not too precise and light coatings are sometimes just off (more coating on side of the light, or generally bad. Also they don't last so long like Philips, Zoomed, or Arcadia.

For basking lights without UVB, just get Philips lights. Lasts way longer and cost just a fraction of the "reptile brands"

akane · 03-30-17, 02:08 AM

The reviews on zoomed were much worse and it already had an exo terra bulb so it was easy to find the exact same size for it with only a change in lighting style. If you don't need it to run at night or put out uv there are cheap options for heat. I'm not entirely sure how easy those cheap options are when I get past the sizes needed for my 10 or 20g tanks. The attempt to apply requirements to efficiency of light bulbs has led a complicated path in the US for cheap, higher wattage incandescents and similar bulbs like halogens. I'm not sure what you can actually get for standard household use and what the heat output for that size even is anymore as they temporarily tried to meet guidelines to increase light output instead of heat output for the amount of electricity used. The guidelines were not enforced for awhile and then another law was passed on freedom of choice but people were moving on to other options already and... I don't really care to follow the politics behind such things.... Bulbs for specialty purposes were always exempt and online purchase from other countries is allowed. Reason I order off amazon and my new 5' bull snake enclosure has a 175w chicken brooder bulb from the feed store across half of it. I turn it off at night despite the fact I leave the windows cracked in that room for ventilation and humidity from our coming spring rain storms so it probably gets in the lower 60s F (15-18C). Browsers have a great function where you just type the temp (or other item) with the word "to" and it displays the conversion without having to submit it anywhere unless you are looking for something uncommon. I have a red chicken brooder bulb meant for night but I found they are still very bright compared to reptile bulbs of any type so it was pointless to try to use 24hrs straight on the hardy snake at this time of year.

akane · 03-30-17, 03:42 AM

I'm trying to find some other Sceloporus species that are interesting and hardier to start with since they are common across north america but as an article pointed out few seem to be sold. Those that have them just collect their own. Being all wild caught from farther away than some US natives emerald swifts apparently go through a bit of hell to get to you and may fail to recover. Even east coast green anoles were darn sad looking when I got them and I couldn't save 2. Not sure why they are all wild caught since the Sceloporus overall are known to be easy to breed. I wouldn't mind providing some cb offspring of not just the emerald swift if I could get some breeding pairs.