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The enclosure should be strongly lighted. Collareds are desertanimals so they need a lot of light. The lightintensity should be approx. the same throughout the enclosure.The “ cold spot” may be a little darker but certainly not much. break, they will find it between or under the hiding spots.

UVB-bulbs are a must in every terrarium. UVB is needed for the production of vitamin D3 which helps the absorption of nutrients. This certainly goes for calcium. Besides helping the digestion, UVB also helps in showing the tracks of other animals. Therefor it plays a key-roll in mating. It gives them an idea of what’s waiting

In summer-season you should provide UVB during the entire day (12-14 hours). It might be an idea to turn UVB off a little before the other lights. It will give a more natural sunset or sundown

UVB-spots from Zoo-Med have been available for awhile. They are called Powersun and come in 100 and 160 Watt. I use them myself and am very satisfied. The animals love lying under them and their colours grow brighter every day. Powersun emits approx. 5x the amount of UVB as a TL-light does at a distance of 30 to 40 cm. You don’t have to replace them as often either. TL’s have to be replaced once every year. With Powersuns this is every 2-2,5 years.

Sometimes the Osram Vitalux 300W is used. This could be a good option for larger enclosures.In smaller enclosures people tend too shorten the period, for example 2x 15 minutes a day, the light is on. This is not useful. Remember that the assimilationproces (turning UVB into vitamine D3) only takes place when the light is on. This means that the D3-production will not be enough.

A few reliable brands of UVB-spots are: Zoo-med, Arcadia and T-rex. Zoo-med and Arcadia have UVB-lights in TL, spots, flodds and Compact-D3. T-rex only produces flood and halogen.

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