Variegata UVB

[Dendroman]

what UVB intensities, 2.0, 5.0 or 10.0 would i need for these toads as i know how important it is for these toads any help on this would be great

Matt

[knighty]

not sure on which species you are wanting it for but with a toad i would say a 5% as the light i not as bright. personally i stay away from 10% as i find it to strong for an average sized enclosure.

[Dendroman]

Bombina Variegata (yellow bellied toad) i can never get my head round lighting

[knighty]

being quiet an aquatic species i would suggest either a 2% or 5% tube. the other option is to run the lighting how i do on my hylidae vivs. Use an exo terra canopie and have a 2% and a 5% compact bulb, one in each side. the advantage of this is that they can decide on how much light the wish to be exposed to. i would also suggest that you have some hides or logs for them to go under so they then have the option of compleetly avoiding the light if they wish to. Also just watch the algee bloom as uv will make it grow rapidly, a goo filter and a bit of elbow greese will soon keep it down. avoid any chemicals to get rid of the algee.

hope this helps

[Dendroman]

Thats great cheers i need to get reading on lighting issues lol

[Alex M]

Originally Posted by Dendroman

what UVB intensities, 2.0, 5.0 or 10.0 would i need for these toads as i know how important it is for these toads any help on this would be great

Matt

10.0 no question. These guys live for the sun, and Mediterranean sunshine is pretty intense stuff. But not all frogs do (Bombina are technically a frog)... I trialled some CB Polypedates leucomystax under 10.0 and they hated it, but were comfortable under 5.0. Anyway, my 27 strong breeding colony of B.v.variegata that originated from S.France love the heat at the height of our summer and bask in the shallows even during midday. This is when they call constantly and also on warm summer evenings. I've reared young variegata without UVB, with 5.0 and with 10.0. My conclusion is they do best under 10.0 as do some other European species i keep - Hyla arborea, Rana lessonae, and Bufo v.viridis (amongst others). I have raised young Alytes obstetricans without UVB with good results, although they favour stony south facing areas i have never witnessed adults or juveniles active during the day unless disturbed, but then this is no shock to me or anyone else as they're very much a crepuscular/nocturnal species. But the previous species are even bigger fans of the sun than the Conservative party . Next year i intend to record water temperatures that the bombina and Rana barely cover themselves in, as their pools are made of butyl liner i know one thing... it's hot!. The Hyla will sit in over 100f sunshine midday, and the Bufo will dig little depressions in the gravelly sand and bask... i'm yet to record temperatures for this but what staggered me when i first witnessed this behaviour some years ago was that the substrate was SO HOT that it was a job for me to touch it without it scorching my hands. The Bufo (as do all the other species) had plenty of shady cover available but it was clear that this was very much intentional and that it would be part of their routine. Some studies should really be done on this....

Cheers
Al

[Dendroman]

Cheers Alex will i need to provide 10% uvb all year round or just the warmer months

[Alex M]

Originally Posted by Dendroman

Cheers Alex will i need to provide 10% uvb all year round or just the warmer months

Just the warmer months, and then hibernate them winter time. You do not have to hibernate them of course but then i firmly believe they won't hit the 20+ years lifespan they can achieve when cycled naturally. As a rule any European species i breed i will take x amount indoors and raise artificially until around January. This gives them a good head start. I then stop feeding the animals for around 10days or so to clear themselves of their last meal. I then stack the rearing boxes up in a very cool area of the house for about 2 weeks, and finally they go into a controlled refridgerator at 3C which is opened very briefly on a daily basis for exchange of fresh air. Around April or so, the dry oak leave filled hibernation tubs are brought out and the youngsters are put into various rearing vats etc in my garden. Most of the males of the species such as the variegata/arborea/obstetricans will be of breeding size by their first summer given the methods i have described so far. But the vast majority of my captive breedings are left to their own devices over winter, coming out of hibernation the same size they were 5 months previously and the males will not breed until their second summer or so, female obstetricans tend to take even longer (For the record, midwife toads/obstetricans spend their first winter as a tadpole, and in some cases 2 winters as a tadpole!).

Cheers
Al

[Dendroman]

Alex thanks for your reply so lets say you didnt let the frogs hibernate what lighting would need to be used

[Alex M]

Originally Posted by Dendroman

Alex thanks for your reply so lets say you didnt let the frogs hibernate what lighting would need to be used

That's a good question, it's not personally the way i've ever kept them though to be honest, thanks to my father who drummed into me the importance of hibernation and with his help (till i was older) i always followed his advice. I think you'd find that they'd be fine under a 10% year round, but if it was me and i didn't have the option of hibernating them, i'd keep them under a 5% or (Arcadia) 6% for around 4 months of the year and a 10% for the other 8 months. Bareing in mind that variegata have a wide distribution throughout Europe, it'd be a good idea to find out whereabouts yours are from or descended from, that way you can work out when to alternate the lighting etc for your given subspecies. More northern forms such as v.variegata will have a longer winter dormancy than say scabra, pachypus will be somewhere inbetween and then there's a few other subspecies too to contend with. Why don't you post a couple of pics of yours so we can get an idea of what you've got (please post a dorsal and ventral shot, this should make the subspecies identifiable).

God, i'm so anal about yellow bellied toads haha!

Cheers
Al