A UVB light is one of the essential pieces of equipment when housing a pet turtle. A turtle enclosure without the proper lighting is incomplete and will cause health issues for your turtle. Not only do they need light, but they need the right kind of light.
Choosing the proper lighting for your new turtle tank can be confusing, but it doesn’t have to be. The most important thing to remember is that, without UVB light, your turtle will eventually die.
What Is UVB Light?
UV, or ultraviolet light, comes from the sun and is absorbed by the body. The sun produces three kinds of rays that reach the earth’s surface: UVA, UVB, and UVC.
UVA is the longest wavelength, UVC is the shortest, and UVB is in the middle. Although UVB has shorter wavelengths than UVA, they have more energy.
The skin absorbs UVB light and helps your turtle’s body produce vitamin D3, which is essential to its health.
Why Do Turtles Need UVB Lights?
Keeping a UVB turtle light is essential to your turtle’s health because it helps them to absorb vitamin D3. Vitamin D3 promotes a healthy shell, bones, and digestion. Turtles with healthy levels of vitamin D3 are also more active, friendlier, and willing to eat.
In the wild, turtles get vitamin D3 from sunlight. As pets, turtles are getting this much-needed sunlight unless you take them outside every day. Keeping your turtle tank by a window is not enough either because most windows filter out UVB light, so your turtle won’t generate vitamin D3.
A UVB turtle light mimics the sun’s rays, so your turtle still receives the light it needs.
Make Sure You Buy The Right Bulb
Be cautious of which light bulbs you choose, and pick one that emits UVB rays. Just because a bulb is labeled “full-spectrum” or “sun-spectrum” does not mean it has UVB; most don’t.
All reptiles need UVB lighting, but different species need varying degrees of light. Use a 2.5, 3, or 5% UVB lamp for turtles. These are usually labeled “tropical” UVB bulbs.
Do Turtles Need A Heat Lamp?
Besides having a UVB bulb, you’ll also need a heat lamp. Turtles are cold-blooded reptiles who cannot generate body heat, so they rely on the temperature of their surroundings to stay warm.
In the wild, it’s common to see turtles basking on logs and rocks in sunny places. Basking provides them with vitamin D3 from the sun, but it also warms them up.
Heat lamps, or daylight bulbs, provide heat and light simultaneously — position heat lamps above the basking area alongside the UVB lamp. The temperature of the basking spot varies depending on your turtle’s species.
Does UVB Produce Heat?
UVB lights produce some heat, but in most cases, it won’t be enough, and you’ll need a separate heat lamp.
Multiple bulbs can be space-consuming, so if you don’t like using numerous bulbs, consider buying a ballasted mercury vapor lamp. These lamps produce UVA and UVB rays, daylight, and heat.
While ballasted mercury vapor lamps are more convenient, they consume twice as much energy as regular basking lights.
Do You Need UVA Lights?
UVA and UVB light is necessary for your turtle’s health, but UVB bulbs are far more critical.
VCA Animal Hospitals explains why a UVA light bulb is not as crucial as a UVB bulb:
“A UV light source should emit light in the UV-B range (290-320 nanometers). UV-A light (320 – 400nm), although important in terms of behavior, does not aid in the manufacture of vitamin D3. Most bulbs sold for use in reptiles provide both UV-A and UV-B.”
Types Of UVB Bulbs
There are two different kinds of light bulbs you can choose from: tubular or compact.
Tubular bulbs are straight, like the large fluorescent bulbs you see hanging in old buildings. These bulbs often take up more space but are usually easier to install and produce light over a larger area.
Compact bulbs are twisted, like the small bulbs you place in the lamps in your house. You’ll need a dome-shaped lamp for the bulbs, and you’ll twist them into the socket.
You can hang the lamp over the turtle tank or place them on top of a mesh lid that covers your turtle’s tank. Don’t place them over glass or plastic, as those materials filter out UVB rays.
Avoid using lamps with a reflective interior, as it will increase the UVB concentration, and the UVB exposure will be too much for your turtles. Instead, choose a lamp with a white or metal interior.
Where Should You Place UVB Lighting?
Placing your turtle lights is vital to ensure your turtle is receiving the proper amount of lighting and isn’t getting burned. UVB lights that are 2.5 or 3% should hang about 12 in (30.5 cm) above their basking spot. 5% UVB lights should hang about 18 in (45.7 cm) above the basking spot.
It’s best to place lighting in the corner of your turtle’s enclosure. Having the lights in the corner gives your turtle a spot to warm up and plenty of room to get away from the light when they need to cool down.
What Happens If Your Turtle Doesn’t Have The Right Lighting?
Without the proper lighting, your turtle will quickly become ill and may die.
Cold tanks without a heat lamp are more prone to germs. Even without the added presence of germs, a cold turtle is more likely to fall ill than one maintaining a warm body temperature. Cold temperatures also hinder proper digestion, preventing your turtle from receiving the appropriate nutrition.
Vitamin D Deficiency & Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD)
Without a UVB light, your turtle won’t produce enough vitamin D3, so its shell and bones will not remain strong and healthy. Metabolic bone disease is prevalent in turtles who don’t receive proper lighting, especially young ones.
Metabolic bone disease (MBD), or fibrous osteodystrophy, is pet reptiles’ most commonly seen problem.
The Center for Avian & Exotic Medicine describes MBD as “the result of a calcium/phosphorous imbalance in the body which causes a weakening of the skeletal structure as well as the carapace and plastron of turtles and tortoises. In more advanced cases this can lead to repeated tremors, severe weakness, and bone fractures.”
The Cause Of MBD
Metabolic bone disease results from an improper balance between calcium and phosphorous. In healthy turtles, the calcium-to-phosphorous ratio should be 1.5:1 or 2:1. Phosphorous levels equal to or higher than the calcium levels cause MBD.
The leading cause of MBD is poor animal husbandry, such as not providing the proper lighting. An improper diet and a cold tank will also cause it.
The Symptoms Of MBD
Metabolic bone disease is a painful and sometimes permanent disability that leaves turtles with deformities. Arched spines, softening of the jaw and shell, bowed or swollen legs, and bumps along the bones are all common.
Individuals with severe MBD may experience twitching and tremors when still and may experience jerkiness when walking. Their muscles are weak, and they are more likely to experience bone fractures. Effected turtles may also experience lethargy and severe digestive issues like constipation and anorexia.
Turtles with the most extreme cases of MBD experience seizures and even paralysis of some parts of their body.
Is Treatment For MBD Possible?
Turtles with mild cases of MBD almost always survive and recover. The best prevention and treatment of MBD is to provide your turtle with the proper enclosure, lighting, diet, and supplements. Sometimes, turtles may need a calcium glubionate prescription or injections.
Survival is unlikely for turtles who do not receive treatment for MDB. A favorable prognosis also decreases with the severity of the disease, but mild cases may see a complete regression of the disease. More severe cases are likely to have lasting complications, although treatment improves their lives significantly.
A Lack Of Lighting Messes With Sleep
Lighting also helps your turtles to maintain a proper circadian rhythm. Turtles are diurnal like humans, awake during the day and asleep at night.
Like us, turtles need regular transitions between light and dark to simulate night and day to maintain healthy sleeping habits. Without light, a room may be too dark, which may mess with your turtle’s circadian rhythm.
Without a proper day-night cycle, your turtle will likely experience stress and a weakened immune system.
Conclusion
You need lights for turtles to maintain their health and happiness. A UVB light helps your turtle produce vitamin D3, which is necessary for the health of its shell, bones, and digestion.
Without UVB lights, your turtle will develop metabolic bone disease. A lack of UVB light for long enough will cause your turtle severe pain and eventually kill them.
Provide a UVB light and a heat lamp to keep your turtle happy and healthy for years.
FAQs
Your turtle does not require any light at night while sleeping, as they are fine sleeping in the dark as we do. But, if you want to observe your turtle at night, add a low-intensity nighttime bulb to the enclosure.
Nighttime bulbs are usually blue or red because they are easier on the eyes and won’t disturb your turtle while sleeping.
Some keepers say that night lights are good for juvenile turtles because they produce heat, so the enclosure won’t get as cold at night. Adults don’t seem to mind this temperature change.
Yes, and no. A UVB light helps create the basking spot alongside a heat lamp. A basking spot is where your turtle can warm up and get extra light. They are usually about 10 degrees hotter than the rest of the enclosure. A UVB lamp doesn’t produce much heat, so you need to combine it with a heat lamp.
Sunlight is essential to your turtle’s health as it helps them produce vitamin D3 for its shell, bone, and digestive health. Turtles develop metabolic bone disease without sunlight and rarely live longer than a year. For pet turtles, UVB bulbs act as a substitute for sunlight.
UV lights don’t last very long and need regular replacement to keep your turtle healthy. UV bulbs generally last about six months before you need to replace them. Don’t keep the bulbs longer than this, or your turtle likely isn’t receiving enough lighting to maintain its health.
