Hi Hilde,
I used to go by the saying "it can't hurt". A few years back, many people were
questioning the use of UV lights with leos. Should they have them or not? I opted
to put UV lights on three of our leo colonies where I had previously only used D3
supplements and gut loaded crix. I noticed no difference, but then the leos had all
been healthy for two years already so I didn't really expect to see any difference.
The three colonies were chosen based on being "favorite" pets. Six other leo
colonies did not get the luxury of UV lights.
So did the favored leos fare better? No, worse! None of the colonies have any health
differences but one. I believe I now have anecdotal evidence that too much UV is
not so good. Three of the leos in two different colonies now have very poor
vision. I believe the eyes may be susceptible to UV damage and have as of last
October removed the UV lighting from all leos (but still keep it on R. ciliatus and
R. auriculatus). The leos see well far away and track crickets across the tank, but
once they approach the crix close up they lose track of the cricket and just stand
there. One is so bad I hand feed it at least once a week to keep her weight up.
She was the first to show signs and I thought it was just her. The sight seems to
have gotten worse and worse (although I think it has stabilized since December). No
other leos show the same "symptoms", not even daughters of the affected leos.
I think the UV lighting may be too strong a source for leos. I have seen at least
one paper that showed evidence that UV can cause cataracts in humans by
cross-linking proteins in the lens.
Bottom line is I don't have real evidence that UV damages the vision in leos, only
peripheral evidence. I do have four years of keeping identical colonies of leos
under the same conditions other than UV lighting. These leos colonies include two
daughter/son colonies and six unrelated colonies. No health differences have been
seen and egg production is identical (average of 12 eggs per female per year), hatch
rate is identical (95%) and hatchling mortality is the same (99+%). I am inclined
to go with D3 supplementation and vitamins. For the record, I supplement every
other feeding with D3 during the off season and every feeding while egg laying is on
going. Vitamins, I am more conservative, once every two weeks during breeding and
once a month in the off season. AND I gut load all crix!
Regards,
John
Hilde wrote:
> Just how do nocturnal geckos (leopards in particular) get their Vitamin D3 in
> the wild?
>
> The story behind this.....
>
> If you get told by your vet to get UV lights on your leopards so they can make
> their own D3, quit supplementing with anything that contained Vitamin D3 and use
> plain calcium (specifically said liquid), would you raise your eyebrows and
> question the advice?
>
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