"daylight hours" or Day/Night Cycle question

Mormegil · Post by **Mormegil** » Sun Apr 02, 2006 8:43 pm

Hey Everyone,

What do you guys do to maintain a more natural day/night cycle?

I typically sleep around midnight, and the sun rises around 6am here now. That means 18 hours of daylight and 6 of night.

So I've typically put a cardboard "curtain" over the exposed parts of the tank to give them some darkness.

Any opinions? Do they do OK with extended daylight?

Note: I've got Moon Glo bulbs on 24/7 in addition.

Also, how often do they come out during the daytime? I've only got 2, and they seem to be completely inactive when I'm usually awake.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Apr 02, 2006 9:20 pm

I guess it depends on how close to the window they are. Mine are a little distance from it so they get a little exposure if the blinds are open, however I have a compact uv bulb which is one for about 10 hours a day, and the moonglow on the rest of the time.
Mine don't seem as active when the UV light is on except early morning I guess before their "bed time" (early evening). Then they all go hide for most of the day. My straw comes out occasionally earlier in the evening or earlier in the morning, but almost none of them are awake in the middle of the day. It also depends on their personality. I have one shy crab who doesn't come out at all -unless I'm not here, or out of the room with the lights off. and if I come in, he goes into hiding. The other 2 are very social and are very consistant in spending time exploring, meaning it's pretty much a daily event that I see them.
So it could be your hours, or just their personalities? or both. I don't think extended daylight hours would be that bad if its indirect sunlight they are getting (through a window). That is probably more what their light was like in the wild.

Mormegil · Post by **Mormegil** » Sun Apr 02, 2006 9:53 pm

Thanks for the response.

Let me clarify. I don't have 18 hours of natural sunlight, I mean they get light for 18 hours, because I keep the lights on in the living room.

So my question is, is this bad to have 18 hours of light? Should I keep with the "curtain"?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Apr 02, 2006 10:49 pm

oh ok! well either way, i don't think it matters. I have heard this come up before, and although there's really no research on it, if you're not using full spectrum bulbs or UV bulbs, it probably doesn't matter. Especially since we don't know how their eyes work or "see" light. Some animals just see the UV light.

Gorthaur · Post by **Gorthaur** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 7:51 pm

Mormegil wrote:Thanks for the response.

Let me clarify. I don't have 18 hours of natural sunlight, I mean they get light for 18 hours, because I keep the lights on in the living room.

So my question is, is this bad to have 18 hours of light? Should I keep with the "curtain"?

Don't worry about it. Six hours of night is enough - there would only be a problem if they got practically no darkness. I'm certain their internal clocks are completely unaffected by light, that is, if they were kept in constant darkness, they would still come out around the same time and vice versa. Your crabs are either destressing (if they're new) or lazy (try some Es).

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 9:01 pm

if you have access to a uva/uvb bulb and use this during the day and have it off at night perhaps that would simulate more of a day time cycle... animals seems to sense that these bulbs are special and maybe this would help if you are still concerned.