Lighting #

TL;DR #

Use an LED grow lamp catering to what your plants need; UVB is not necessary.

UVB #

The primary known benefit of UVB in dart frogs is for synthesis of the vitamin D3, which vitamin supplements provide readily. As a result, UVB lights are rarely provided for dart frogs.

UVB is not trivial to get right and the harm to frogs from misuse is real. Especially for beginners, UVB is not recommended. The risk of overexposure and added setup complexity are not worth the very mild benefits.

Note that most dart frog vivariums use glass tops to maintain humidity levels. Since glass blocks UVB lighting entirely, the structure of the top of the vivarium will need to change to accomodate a UVB light. Frogs should never be able to be within 6" of a UVB bulb.

There is some anecdotal evidence that egg feeder froglets (eg. Oophaga) benefit more from UVB than others are fed by parents directly and do not get supplementation, but there is limited or no scientific data on this.

Day/Night cycles #

At minimum, ensure lights turn on in the morning and off in the evening to keep frogs on a regular day/night cycle. More advanced programmable dimmers allow for progressive brightening to simulate sunrise and sunset which both is less distracting for humans in the room. There is little to no scientific data on whether programmable dimmers impact stress levels in frogs relative to a simple on-off switch, but they do look cool.

Example programmable LED controllers:

Lighting #

TL;DR #

UVB #

Day/Night cycles #

Sources #