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[mysnakesau]

Originally Posted by Sdaji

I've seen plenty of dragons with MBD and deformities which have had full access to broad spectrum UV. I'm not aware of any proper study (amateur or professional) which has shown that UV is of benefit to reptiles. I know of controlled experiments (ie, using test animals with control animals for reference) using frogs and pythons which were done by amateurs which failed to show any benefit from UV - although the samples were small and the results are far some universally relevant, for reasons which would take a page or two of text to describe). There is a lot of hearsay and vague anecdotes, but that's about it. I've bred multiple generations of some reptiles which many claim require UV (such as sun-loving skinks, monitors and geckoes) without them seeing any UV at all, and they've been perfectly healthy. The only animals I've ever had with MBD had about 12 hours of UV exposure every day, but they were not given calcium or vitamin supplements (this was in my early days, back when sourcing information about supplements etc was very difficult, and I was following what was available to me at the time). I haven't kept dragons for years now, but I'm almost tempted to get back into them again for a few years in order to test their requirement for UV. I've raised Blue-tongued Lizards from birth with no UV and they've thrived. Proper diet and temperatures are very important for them; with a poor diet you'll have a lot of trouble no matter what else you do.

I agree with this post. Talking to customers at work also, it seems many ppl know UV is good for their lizards but don't understand why. Sunlight provides Vitamin D3 which is needed to absorb calcium. But the calcium doesn't come from the sun. A healthy and balanced diet is just as important as the UV. Whether the lizards are fed on grubs or fruit and veges, their food should be dusted with calcium and/or vitamin supplement to give them that extra help along. Then the sun plays its role by taking in the calcium and sending it to where its needed.

Even if UV isn't needed, your pet would appreciate the chance to play in the sun now and then. Probably would help them keep their colours nice and strong. Works for goldfish. Notice goldfish in fish tanks often lose their colours or black goldfish end up going bronze? Panda orandas end up all white and calicos colours dull, also. Yet put them in a pond outside and they retain their colours with full brilliance - well my fish have anyway. Same would most certainly apply to our herps