All Turtles Message Board

kx125rider · Level 2 Joined: 16 Jun 2007 Posts: 94 Location: louisiana

WHTS THE DIFFERENCE
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turtles rock

Rachel16 · Level 3 Joined: 18 Jul 2007 Posts: 351

all i know is that uvb lights r wat u should have for turtles. no idea about uvas'
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Tara Dakota

In memory of Tara who died unexpectedly 4Pm on January 14, 2007

Storm_Rider · Level 2 Joined: 28 Oct 2006 Posts: 99

just a pointless fact but UV is short for UltraViolet.

UVA has a long wavelength while UVB has a shorter one. UVB is required for chemical production of vitamin D3 as most should be aware.

UVA to humans is still sub visible light, close to the actinic 420nm blue color you see on reef tanks, and thus are like black lights. if you ever watch animal planet or discovery channel, sometimes you see them put a light filter on the camera to show you what reptiles and bugs see. UVA effects how our turtles are SEEING the world. we may see a frog with some red spots, but our turtles may be seeing the same frog with intense neon red spots. while another frog might be seeing that first frog with neon WHITE spots instead of red at all. kind of get what i'm saying?

in short, uvb for health, uva for visual sight. that's why you should use a full spectrum light along with your uvb basking lamp. tanks with only basking lamps for light may be impairing the turtles vision, but i don't think it's that important since the turtle is the king of it's tank and nothing is there to threaten it.

oh and don't get me wrong, uvb bulbs product uva too, it says on the packaging. but i still recommend a full spectrum light.