Full Guide To Blue Tongue Skink Lighting and Heating Setup

Heating and lighting are two of the main setups in your blue tongue skink’s tank that you have to setup and test before your blue tongue skink arrives. In this complete guide to blue tongue skink lighting and heating setup, you will find everything that you need to know about setting up lights, reaching correct temperatures, gradients, choosing light bulbs, correct wattage and distances, UVB lights and more.

Why is lighting and heating important in a blue tongue skink’s tank?

Lighting and heating are important because blue tongue skinks are cold blooded lizards and rely on outside heat to stay warm. They also need high basking temperatures to stay active and digest their food.

UVB lighting is also crucial to produce vitamin D3 in the skin and utilize calcium from the diet. Without UVB, your blue tongue skink will become weak and calcium deficient. With high output UVB light, your blue tongue skink won’t need additional vitamin D supplement.

Blue tongue skink lighting and heating requirements

• Heat bulbs for heat and light during the day
• Another heat bulb to use at night (if temperatures drop)
• UVB tube for producing vitamin D3 in the skin

Number 1: Blue tongue skink UVB lighting

UVB lighting is a MUST in a blue tongue skink tank. Blue tongue skinks bask a lot in the wild, and need UVB light spectrum to produce vitamin D3 in their skin. Vitamin D3 is crucial for absorption of calcium, so without it, your skink will become deficient and sick.

Your blue tongue skink will need a high output 10-12% UVB tube light. Tube light is superior to a light bulb, so please choose a long tube that will run 50-70% of the tank’s length. One of the best UVB tubes that you can get for your blue tongue skink’s cage are:

• This high output HO 10.0 T5 ReptiSun UVB tube
• T5 10.0 UVB tube like this
• T8 UVB tube – will need a hood with a reflector
• Arcadia 10.0-12.0 UVB tube
• Mercury vapor lamps emit both heat and UVB light, but can get hot and won’t allow bigger coverage – can only be used in tanks larger than 40 gallons, but still not recommended over a UVB tube

T5 is definitely recommended over T8 – as T5 produces higher intensity light. Keep UVB light on for 8-12 hours a day (you can automate it to turn on and off with other light bulbs).

Bad UVB light choices:

• Compact UVB bulbs
• Coiled UVB bulb
• UV lights or full-spectrum lights not intended for reptiles, such as plant lights – avoid

Installing UVB tube light in a blue tongue’s tank

Please get a UVB tube that will cover 50-70% of the tank’s length. This is ideal to help the light disperse evenly, wherever your blue tongue is sitting.

For example, if you have a 36x18x18 tank (36 inches long), please get a 22-24 inch long tube. This will mean that you cover 61-67% of the tank’s length with UVB light. Make sure to remove all the stickers and packaging from the tube, or it will block UVB light.

After you get a UVB tube light, you will need to house it in a hood (you can’t hang a bare tube in or over the tank). Please note the size of your tube and get a suitable hood for it.

Hoods with reflectors are definitely superior as will enable light to disperse better and improve its efficiency. Both T5 and T8 can go in a hood with a reflector, but for T8, it’s a must.

• This 36 inch hood will house a 34″ T5 HO ReptiSun UVB tube
• This 24 inch hood will house a 22″ T5 HO ReptiSun UVB tube

To hang the hood inside the tank, you will can use heavy duty Velcro tape or command strips, or any other way. But always note the maximum weight, so that it doesn’t fall down.

In smaller than 40 gallon tanks, you won’t be able to use a tube UVB. In this case, use a T5 10.0 ReptiSun compact bulb like this. When switching to a larger tank, get a tube instead.

The distance from UVB light to a blue tongue skink

T5 UVB tube light or even T8 in a hood reflector can cause eye damage or irritation if you place it too close to your blue tongue. But if you place it too far away, there will be no benefit from the light.

• First of all, all lights UVB and basking lights – must be mounted from above on the tank ceiling or on top of air screen, and not on the side or at angle, to prevent eye damage.
• Position UVB tube light behind the basking bulb ideally, to prevent any eye damage.
• Make sure basking bulb is positioned near a UVB tube, to benefit from UVB while basking.

Number 2: Blue tongue heating and lighting

Light bulbs for blue tongue skink tank

For your blue tongue skink, you will need light bulbs for light and heat during the day. However, you will need to turn lights off at night. Blue tongue skinks are diurnal, and sleep at night, so having any light will disturb sleep.

BEST light bulbs to use during the day for blue tongue skink are:

• Halogen flood lights like this
• Household bulbs
• Reptile basking bulbs
• Incandescent or other reptile white light – can however burn out quickly

During the day, you must use a bright white lights (avoid ‘soft white’), because it will stimulate appetite and activity. You cannot simply heat the tank without a bright lamp during the day. At night, turn the lights off and use a CHE or UTH.

At night, only use a ceramic heat emitting bulb like this. Don’t use any colored bulbs such as blue or red, as they will disturb your blue tongue’s sleep cycle. Ceramic heat emitters produce no light, just heat.

Also, for night time, an under tank heating pad can be used, however a low wattage ceramic heat emitter is better. UTH has to go under the tank, and not inside, and has to cover only a small part of a tank’s surface to avoid overheating the whole tank.

BAD basking light or heating options:

• Light bulbs that produce color – blue, red, black etc.
• Spotlight or other bulbs that burn out quickly
• Heat rocks – they can quickly overheat and burn your skink

What are ideal temperature ranges in a blue tongue skink tank?

• The hot spot just under the heat lamp should reach 95-105 degrees Fahrenheit (35-40.5 Celsius).
• Daytime background temperature should reach 85-95 degrees Fahrenheit (29.5-35 Celsius).
• Temperature on the cool side of the tank should reach 70-80 degrees Fahrenheit (21.1-26.6 Celsius).
• At night, temperatures can drop to 70-75 Fahrenheit (21-24 Celsius), and up to 80 (26.6 C) right under the ceramic bulb if you have it.
• Substrate temperature during the day should reach 95 F (35 C) under the hot spot, and around 85 F (29.5 C) in the cool spot.

If at night temperature drops just under 65-70 degrees Fahrenheit (18.3-21.1 Celsius), get a mini low wattage 20-25 watt ceramic heat emitter bulb like this to slightly raise temperatures in the tank. Don’t get a strong 50-100 watt bulb, as it will produce too much heat.

Make sure to create a temperature gradient in your blue tongue skink’s tank. Temperature gradient is when there is a hot and cool side, where your blue tongue skink can cool down if it’s too hot. Having a large tank (40-50 gallons minimum) is crucial for creating a gradient, otherwise it might be impossible.

Housing light bulbs in a blue tongue skink tank

What is more, you will need to house light bulb(s) in a dome fixture like this. This will protect the bulb and will help to hang it on top of the tank’s screen cover.

You can use various bulbs in a dome fixture, but make sure not to exceed allowed bulb wattage. If you are going to use two bulbs, you can get a dual dome fixture to accommodate two bulbs.

To help hang the dome fixture, you can get lamp clamps or a lamp stand like this.

The distance from heat bulbs to your blue tongue skink will depend greatly on the size of the tank, bulb wattage and type and more.

You will need to experiment with distance to get ideal temperatures – there is a lot of trial and error. In general, in a 55 gallon tank, a 60watt halogen flood lamp, or a 100-150watt reptile basking bulb should help reach ideal temperatures.

Blue tongue skink – how many hours of light vs. night (photoperiod)?

You will need to have the light on during the day, and turn them off at night, to let your blue tongue sleep.

The optimal photoperiod (hours of day light vs. night) for blue tongue skinks is 11-12 hours of light vs. 12-13 hours of darkness. During winter, you can reduce to 10 hours on and 14 hours off.

The schedule can look like this: 12pm-12am on, and 12am-12pm off. Or, 10am-10pm on, and 10pm-10am off. You can slightly change the schedule to meet your own needs, as well.

How to regulate and automate lighting and heating in a blue tongue skink tank?

• Power center or a timer
• Thermostat to control temperatures in the tank and turn off heating devices such as a heating mat or a ceramic heat emitter lamp if they overheat the tank

Of course you can turn the light on and off manually, but this can get tiring and you might miss the exact times. Exact timings are important to create a schedule.

To automate the lights and other devices, you can get a timer or a power center like this. It will allow to have few devices on for constant use, and other for controlled periods of time. A power center has a 24/7 timer and 8 outlets – 4 for constant use, and 4 for use with a timer.

On top of that, you will need to get a thermostat like this, that will control temperatures and not let the tank overheat. In case the temperatures get too high, a thermostat will turn off the devices such as a heat mat or lamp that is connected to it.

You will need to put the probe it has in the tank, and plug one of the heating devices that you have to a thermostat. When the probe detects higher temperatures, it will turn off a heating device so that you don’t cook your blue tongue skink alive.

Measuring temperatures in a blue tongue skink tank

To reach ideal temperatures in a blue tongue skink’s tank, you will need to get devices that will help you monitor them.

First of all, you will need to get at least 2 digital thermometers like this. Choose digital ones over analog, for more accurate readings. Simple stick on thermometers tend to be inaccurate, so get a digital one with a probe. A probe will be placed in a specific spot of a tank.

Place one thermometer (its probe) in a hot spot, under the lamp where your blue tongue will bask. And then, place another thermometer in a cool spot, near the ground. Optional is to get another one, to measure temperatures in the middle of the tank. This will give you a better picture of background temperatures.

What is more, getting a handheld infrared thermometer like this will allow you to measure temperatures in any specific spot of the tank and be more confident in overall readings. To measure a temperature in any spot, you will need to hold the thermometer around 1.5-2 inches (3.8-5cm) away from the spot, not further or closer.

Replacing lights in a blue tongue skink’s tank

Please remember that UVB lights must be replaced every 5-12 months (depends on lights). UVB lights after this time will stop emitting any UVB, without being visible to a naked eye. Small bulbs need replacing every 5-6 months, while higher output longer tubes can last up to 10-12 months.

If you don’t replace the UVB tube on time, your blue tongue skink will stop getting crucial UVB light and will develop deficiencies.

Normal light bulbs will need replacing only when they burn out, so it might be wise to have few spare bulbs at home in case this happens suddenly.

After you set up lights and heating in your blue tongue skink tank, you will need to control humidity. You can read all about setting and controlling humidity in a blue tongue’s cage in this post.