Keeper timer setting
T5 UVB: one hour later on, one hour earlier off
ON: 1 hour after the daylight lights come on.
OFF: 1 hour before the daylight lights go off.
October: daylight 11 h 45 m; T5 UVB 9 h 45 m per day.
The T5 runs for two hours less than the total photoperiod. Example: daylight 08:00-20:00 means UVB 09:00-19:00. Keep the monthly UVI strength as listed beneath the tube. Existing care values are preserved.
UVI beneath the optional T5 tube
Working exposure targetOctober target at normal back height
UVI 3-4directly under the tube when it is on
The retained range remains a provisional captive working target. No new species-specific result was found that clearly requires a numerical change. Retaining it is not certification of an experimentally established optimum.
Your measuring point
Measure at the animal's normal back height directly beneath the brightest accessible part of the T5 strip, positioned toward the middle/back. The animal can enter and leave this area freely.
Keep a lower-UVI gradient and fully covered refuges near UVI 0. This is the optional exposure area, not the average across the cage.
Use a UV Index meter, such as a Solarmeter 6.5/6.5R. Warm the tube for about 30 minutes; keep reflector, guards and mesh in place. Raise or lower the fixture within its manufacturer's minimum-distance guidance, then recheck the reading and every higher accessible surface.
Evidence level: Provisional retention. These are working recommendations, often inferred; exact species optima and seasonal UV dose usually have not been measured. Log lamp-on time and animal behaviour as well as UVI.
Baines et al. (2016), UV-Tool ยท Muryn, Baines and Dishman (2026), Reptile Lighting Guide V10
October management
Selected automatically using the Netherlands date
Heavy rain season
Humid mangrove forest and mangrove-edge habitat with warm sandy coastal nesting sites - Utila Island, Honduras
27-30 CDay ambient
23-25 CNight
39-41 CBasking
3-4T5 UVI*
11 h 45 mPhotoperiod
9 h 45 mT5 UVB duration
74-84 / 84-92%RH day / night*
Rain/mist 5x/wkSpray / rain
4Food offers*
Annual schedule
Scroll sideways on smaller screens
| Month | Day ambient | Night | Basking | T5 UVI* | Photoperiod | T5 UVB duration | RH day / night* | Spray / rain | Food offers* | Status / breeding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25-28 C | 21-23 C | 38-40 C | 3 | 11 h 15 m | 9 h 15 m | 70-80 / 80-90% | Light rain/mist 3-4x/wk | 4 | Courtship / mating |
| February | 25-28 C | 21-23 C | 38-40 C | 3 | 11 h 35 m | 9 h 35 m | 70-80 / 80-90% | Light rain/mist 3-4x/wk | 4 | Mating / early nesting |
| March | 26-29 C | 22-24 C | 39-41 C | 3-4 | 12 h | 10 h | 68-78 / 78-88% | Rain/mist 3-4x/wk | 4 | Gravid / nesting |
| April | 27-30 C | 22-24 C | 39-41 C | 3-4 | 12 h 25 m | 10 h 25 m | 68-78 / 78-88% | Rain/mist 3-4x/wk | 4-5 | Nesting / first hatching |
| May | 28-30 C | 23-25 C | 39-41 C | 3-4 | 12 h 45 m | 10 h 45 m | 70-80 / 80-90% | Rain/mist 4x/wk | 4-5 | Nesting / hatchlings |
| June | 28-31 C | 23-25 C | 39-42 C | 4 | 13 h | 11 h | 72-82 / 82-92% | Rain/mist 4-5x/wk | 4-5 | Wet-season activity / hatch |
| July | 28-31 C | 23-25 C | 39-42 C | 4 | 12 h 55 m | 10 h 55 m | 72-82 / 82-92% | Rain/mist 4-5x/wk | 4-5 | Peak nesting / hatch |
| August | 28-31 C | 23-25 C | 39-42 C | 4 | 12 h 35 m | 10 h 35 m | 72-82 / 82-92% | Rain/mist 4-5x/wk | 4-5 | Late nesting / hatch |
| September | 28-31 C | 23-25 C | 39-41 C | 3-4 | 12 h 10 m | 10 h 10 m | 72-82 / 82-92% | Rain/mist 4-5x/wk | 4-5 | Wet-season maintenance |
| October | 27-30 C | 23-25 C | 39-41 C | 3-4 | 11 h 45 m | 9 h 45 m | 74-84 / 84-92% | Rain/mist 5x/wk | 4 | Heavy rain season |
| November | 26-29 C | 22-24 C | 38-40 C | 3 | 11 h 25 m | 9 h 25 m | 74-84 / 84-92% | Rain/mist 5x/wk | 3-4 | Heavy rain / recovery |
| December | 25-28 C | 21-23 C | 38-40 C | 3 | 11 h 15 m | 9 h 15 m | 72-82 / 82-90% | Rain/mist 4x/wk | 3-4 | Conditioning / courtship begins |
Keeper notes
Use measured gradients and animal behaviour, not single thermostat readings
T5 UVI measurement
Measure UVI at normal back height directly beneath the brightest accessible part of the optional T5 strip. Place the strip toward the middle/back with free access to and away from it; preserve a gradient into fully covered refuges near UVI 0. These numbers describe the exposure area, not the whole enclosure or a daily average.
UVI review
The retained range remains a provisional captive working target. No new species-specific result was found that clearly requires a numerical change. Retaining it is not certification of an experimentally established optimum.
Identity and habitat
Ctenosaura bakeri is endemic to Utila Island, Honduras, and is strongly associated with mangrove and mangrove-edge habitat. Adults are mainly arboreal and use hollow mangrove branches/trunks as retreats.
Humidity and climate
Utila is humid year-round, with average RH generally in the upper 70s to low 80s and rain in every month. Maintain humid moving air rather than stagnant wet conditions; bark and foliage can dry superficially between rain events.
Thermal management
Use moderate tropical ambient temperatures and a local basking surface around 38-42 C. Provide abundant shade and a cooler zone around 25-27 C. Do not copy the hotter, drier protocol used for C. similis or C. pectinata.
Diet
Adults primarily consume mangrove leaves, flowers and other vegetation, but also take fiddler crabs, arthropods and occasional vertebrate prey. Juveniles are more insect-oriented. Shift progressively toward plant-dominant feeding with age.
Reproduction
Nesting occurs from February-August; typical clutches are about 11-16 eggs. Some females double-clutch. Incubation is about 85 days and hatching occurs April-October. A classic captive-breeding report achieved hatching after 89-92 days at 29.5 C.
Nest-zone warning
Gravid females leave humid mangrove habitat to lay in warm sandy coastal sites. Always provide a deep sandy nesting zone with a moisture gradient; a permanently wet mangrove-style substrate is inappropriate for egg laying.
Conservation warning
Keep breeding stock isolated from Ctenosaura similis and other Ctenosaura. Hybridization is a documented conservation issue on Utila.