length of days during the year

[coffeesnob]

with day length altering throughout the year and thinking about brumation and tempreature should i be altering my lighting times to reflect the seasons. So 14/16 hours of light in summer and 8/10 hours in the winter. and also reducing temperature to say 65 in the winter.

 

[CooperDragon]

I try to keep the temperatures consistent (which requires higher basking light distance in the summer and lower in the winter) but I do adjust the light timers according to the seasons to roughly reflect the length of the days (while still making sense with my daily schedule).

 

[Taterbug]

It's up to you. If your goal is a naturalistic approach, varying the heat and light seasonally is fine. I would base it on local conditions in their native range and plan accordingly since australia is opposite seasonally from the U.S. (assuming that's where you live). Even in the cooler weather though, wild dragons can come out to bask on nice days. So a basically unheated winter might not be so great for captives.

 

[coffeesnob]

i am in the UK. summer time light is still increasing - it is light at about 5.30 am and is dark by 9.30pm. If i followed the naturalistic approach, and reduced the heat and light over the winter period, what is the shortest light exposure for basking and the lowest ambient temperature for a winter day without affecting the health of my animals.

In Australia what would be the lowest temperature and shortest day these animals would be exposed to?