How to identify the seasonal light cycles for your pet reptile

As the seasons change and the days get shorter or longer, you might think to yourself “Should I be adjusting my reptile’s day/night cycle as well?” If your reptiles come from an area outside the tropics, you should! Here is a guide to understanding seasonal light cycles for your pet reptile. 

The Importance of Light Cycles for Reptiles 

Day and night cycles are important for regulating the circadian rhythms of most animals, including reptiles. The further an animal’s habitat is from the equator, the more their day/night cycle changes with the season. These seasonal changes often result in hormonal and behavioral changes. This seasonal change is crucial to the well-being and development of many reptiles. To replicate your reptile’s natural environment, and facilitate natural behavior, you should adjust their light timing to replicate their natural habitat’s seasons. 

When to Change the Light Cycle  

We recommend adjusting quarterly to fit general seasonal changes. Quarterly adjustments are simplest to make every three months. We recommend changing times on the first of February (Spring), May (Summer) August (Fall), and November (Winter). These dates stay ahead of seasonal changes, and result in more accurate day/night cycles compared to changing times on the first day of each season. 

The Northern Hemisphere has seasons opposite to the Southern Hemisphere. If your pet’s native habitat is from a different hemisphere than where you keep it now, we recommend synchronizing their seasons to coincide with your local seasons. By synchronizing seasons, the light of your pets’ enclosure will coincide with the changes in natural light of your local seasons. If you live in an area that observes daylight saving time, do not adjust your reptile’s timers to match DST changes. Wild animals don’t observe daylight saving time, and your pet doesn’t need to either. 

This article refers to seasonal light change, or astrological seasons, rather than meteorological seasons which refer to the in-atmosphere weather systems that occur worldwide. Meteorological seasons are more complicated and diverse than astrological seasons. You should take care to learn your pets’ natural habitats’ seasonal weather patterns for temperatureand humidity regulation. 

Here are some seasonal light cycles for commonly kept reptiles in the US. If your pet is not on the list continue to our method for finding your pets’ seasonal light cycle. 

Common Species Light Cycles Simplified 

                                           

How to find your reptile’s Day/Night cycles: 

Step 1: Determine your reptile’s native range. 

Google can be a valuable resource here if you use trustworthy sources; typically, the Wikipedia.org article for your reptile will be correct.

If a trustworthy source cannot be found, the map for your reptile on iNaturalist.org can tell you where they have been spotted in the wild, though some areas of the world do not have access to this site. 

Step 2: Use Google Maps to find the coordinates of a centralized area of your reptile’s range.

On your computer, open Google Maps. 

• Right-click an area in the center of your pets’ native range on the map. 
• Click the coordinates at the top of the resulting pop-up menu to copy them to your clipboard. 

OR on your phone, open Google Maps.  

• Click an area in the center of your pets’ native range on the map. 
• This will open a pop-up window. Scroll down to find the coordinates and click them. This will copy them to your clipboard. 

Step 3: Determine your reptile's Day/Night Cycle 

The times you find for your pet’s Day/Night cycle can be recorded on our printable Day/Night cycle chart! Download this chart for free here and print one for your pet! 

While we recommend changing your reptile’s light timing at least four times per year, there is no reason you can’t do more! You can choose how much you want to refine your settings and adjustments by deciding how often you plan to change the light cycle. For more advanced husbandry and precision you could refine your adjustments to monthly, weekly, or even daily intervals but keep in mind the differences in hemispheres when interpreting the times and dates.  

However often you change it, your pet will benefit from a natural day and night cycle that resembles their native range. Your pet will be more likely to have the hormonal and behavioral changes that its species is accustomed to each season with these changes. This naturalistic approach will improve your reptiles’ health, well-being, and longevity.