Info stolen from this site:
http://www.reptilesdownunder.com/rep.../enclosure/uv/ (please check it out for further reading if you like - it's not my site tho, just grabbed a quick summary so I wouldn't have to type it out
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UV light is required by most animals and plants, and each of the three types of UV light are used for different purposes by reptiles and amphibians:
UV-A is in the visible range, and is responsible for normal behaviors such as feeding, diurnal movement, mating and others.
UV-B is a non-visible wavelength, and allows the synthesis of vitamin D3, which helps to process calcium and prevent metabolic bone disease. Most snakes DO NOT have high UV-B requirements, as they get the vitamin D3 from the liver of their prey. Amphibians also do not seem to require UV-B lighting. Diamond pythons, lizards and turtles REQUIRE UV-B lighting, otherwise they will develop metabolic bone disease and turtles can also have soft shell problems.
UV-C is also a non-visible wavelength, and does not seem to be required by reptiles, although little is know about it at this stage. UV-C is often used as the light source for UV sterilisation for killing bacteria, and at high levels of exposure can be harmful to most animals.
UV light is usually added to the enclosure by the addition of a tube that emits either UV-A, UV-B, or both.
Tube manufacturers recommended that you replace the tube at least every 12 months (sometimes sooner), as UV output decreases with time, and after 12 months the tube is no different from a standard fluorescent tube in terms of UV output. A good way to ensure that you change your bulb regularly is to write the date it was first used on the end of the tube in a permanent marker. This way it doesn't matter if you move the tube, change setups or whatever, as you'll always know when it's time to change the tube.
UV wavelengths are filtered by glass and plastic, so it is important that you have the UV bulb within the enclosure, not shining through the top or side. 95% of UV-B light is filtered out by a sheet of glass. Aluminium fly screen filters out 30% of UV-B light, so it's also important to have wide mesh screens over the tubes if you need to protect the animal from burns. In a lizard enclosure, you might get away with not covering the bulb, especially if the lizards you're keeping aren't good climbers. If you're housing a snake, a wide mesh screen such as 'mouse wire' is best, which should allow at least 95% of the light through.
UV light levels also decrease as you move away from the bulb's surface, so it's important that you position the bulb and your cage's furnishings so that your animals can get as close as possible to the bulb - a basking spot 300mm (12") from the bulb is ideal.
I was just at my friends house and he caught a baby alligator lizard and wanted to give it to his chickens but rather gave it to me.
So, he/she is about 3 inches from head to tip of its tail. The tail is very long! I got a 30 gallon tank that is laying around... So, anyone got any info for me on keeping alligator lizards? I'm going to go to the store tomorrow and get two cheap UVB light that's about 1-2 bucks each. I got a little bowl that I can use for its water.
