Vitamine D3 Synthesis and UVB lighting

Reptiles need UVB lamps in the terrarium. The important vitamin D3 is only built up by UVB light.

Reptiles need a healthy calcium metabolism on the basis of vitamin D3 for their bones. Otherwise, deficiency symptoms and dangerous diseases such as MBD (metabolic bone disease) occur. The overriding principle is to mimic as good as possible the natural circumstances of the animal in the wild. The following rules apply:

• The correct UVB radiation: UVB light in the spectrum between 280-320 nanometers are prerequisite for the vital vitamin D3 synthesis in the body of the animal
• Adequate dietary supplementation with calcium and vitamin

Depending on their origin, reptiles need more UVB light (desert dwellers) or less (rainforest dwellers and Mediterranean species). Carnivorous species take more vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) from food than herbivores. This is because plants include the less efficient vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol). Other important factors are the temperature (heat), and a natural color temperature of the visible light.
Fast growing juveniles and females prior to oviposition have an increased need for UVB light.