UV Light Questions

[ay.dee.ay]

Hi, this may be a silly question but can anyone tell me if snakes can be 'sunburnt' from a UV light. Sould the light be left on for short times initially ?
Thanks

[meshe1969]

I have seen frogs "sunburnt", but that was because the person was advised from a pet shop to get one with too high a output. (A 10% rather than 2-5%)

[mcloughlin2]

First you need to tell us the following details:

- What type of snake/s do you have?
- What is the uv output of the globe ie: 2%, 5% or 10%

[ay.dee.ay]

Its a 13 W Repti Glo 10.0 UVB. The globe is in a compact shield and is placed above a screened top terrarium the dimensions are 45 x 45 square x 60 high. The cherished occupant is a carpet X jungle python just a metre long.
Thanks

[Chimera]

Probably a little high for an enclosure that small, a 5.0 would probably be better. At that distance though it shouldn't be an issue. Keep in mind that the output of mini fluros are more directed then tubes.

[ay.dee.ay]

Thanks, I have the globe at one side away from the heat lamb where he usually sleeps so that should be OK.

[meshe1969]

A lot of information I have read states that you do not need to supply u.v to pythons (maybe only Diamonds).

[Chimera]

Here's a quote from what I have said on the topic of monitors, I feel similar about pythons with respect to UV light.

Originally Posted by Chimera

Unfortunately UV light is seen as a silver bullet to prevent MBD, not enough attention is paid to temperature and diet.

Do they need it, probably not. Many keepers keep and breed monitors without UV.

Will they benefit from it, probably. There was a study done by Dr Mark Mitchell in the US that showed greater levels of Vit D3 in the skin of Red Eared Sliders and Corn Snakes when exposed to artificial UVB.

Given that they are basking diurnal reptiles I would supply them with UV as they would be exposed to large amounts of UV in their natural habitat.

Originally Posted by Chimera

here are the links to the abstracts for the papers I was referring to:

Red Eared Slider:
http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/abs...jvr.67.12.2046

Corn Snake:
http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/abs.../ajvr.69.2.294

Both demonstrate an increase in 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 in animals exposed to artificial UVB light. Given that these studies used a Colubrid and a basking turtle as test subjects, it would be a parsimonious assumption that basking monitor lizards would show a similar increase in 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 when exposed to the same artificial light.

The negative impacts of these lights have not been fully studied, although there have been reports of keratitis similar to snow blindness caused by overexposure.

The benefits of this extra D3 have also not been fully studied in reptiles, however it would stand to reason that synthesis from UVB light may help to buffer mistakes in diet. Overall I think a considered approach to providing UVB to monitor lizards is likely to be beneficial however not required.