Uvb and D3

[Diver]

That's excellent Aliza. I really hope we can keep this thread positive and open minded , too may times you come across discussions which ought to be like-minded people sharing information descend into arguments. I think egos can get bruised and this causes some people to dig their heels in to the point where they'll never alter their position for fear of appearing to 'lose an argument'.

Times change in the hobby, we learn more and more equipment becomes available the combination of which enables us to more and more closely replicate the conditions in which our exotic pets live in the wild. Some people have stated that researching and keeping up to date with the latest information is stressful and takes away from the enjoyment. For me it is the opposite, I think creating a mini version of the rainforest or wherever else to help my animals flourish and thrive IS the hobby, watching an animal suffer or become sick or live a less than perfect life because I didn't do absolutely everything in my power to provide the best possible care is what I would find stressful. These creatures live in an enclosure 100% dependent upon us after all.

To give an personal example of how quickly the hobby moves on, back in 1981 I published an article in 'The Herptile' pertaining to the maintenance of Cordylus giganteus in captivity. While at the time it was not incorrect, if you were to put it forward as a care sheet these days you would be laughed out of the room. The reason? Our knowledge and equipment has moved on vastly. Bear in mind back then the average lifespan of a chameleon (for instance) was considered 3 to 6 months and indeed I owned a Jackson's Chameleon in 1980 which did indeed only survive for 6 months. I'm sure you can guess the reason why! Today many species of chameleon are widely kept and bred in large numbers, back then captive breeding was unheard of.

So, we need to keep abreast of modern husbandry techniques and we need to share that information. With the internet all of this has become super easy. Recently I was looking for information about Phllomedusa sauvagii, I found a study in the wild online which had the GPS co-ordinates of where the study took place. From these co-ordinates I was able to find out the temperatures, UV index, humidity, rainfall and photoperiod of the area for every month of the year. This information combined with heaters, thermostats, UVB lighting, misters and timers means I recreate the conditions in the place where these animals have evolved to live in the wild. Amazing! You'd have killed for the ability to be able to do this in the late 70s/early 80s.

I haven't kept geckos for a number of years so I'm not up to date on their husbandry, I do note however from other forum discussions that UVB is mostly considered a necessity these days and a quick Google of modern care sheets seems to back that up. I can certainly understand how these ready-made foods make it much easier to provide correct doseage of nutrients (I'm assuming someone has worked out what dose they need?) so I can see how that might work well as in the thinking in 'Day Geckos in Captivity' from 2003. Of course (and anecdotally!) when I first started keeping we kept our animals with neither UVB OR D3 supplements and they fared well and bred too, but I don't think anyone would recommend that course of action these days. I wonder if you might find it interesting to use UVB with your day geckos at some point?

Lastly, before this gets too long and boring for people to bother to read , it might be a typo but I see you are planning on changing your UVB every month? Most manufacturers recommend annually, some six monthly. In practice, if you own a UVB meter, you actually find they tend to last a lot longer than either of these recommendations, but monthly is certainly not necessary.

[jasonm96]

Let me state I'm not against UVB lighting with frogs, I provide my tree frogs with a 5.0 but my horned frog and cane toad are on natural daylight lamps.

[acpart]

Yes, I should have said "every 6 months". Even changing at that rate is much cheaper than the cost of a UVB meter, which I looked into. Interestingly, I have been in recent touch with Leann who still feels that D3 supplementation for day geckos, as opposed to UVB is the way to go (not that she feels UVB is wrong, but she continues to be successful with her D3 methods). Alan Repashy states that he has done a fair amount of research into formulating his Calcium Plus (though I don't have access to his studies). I will think about the day geckos, though.

Aliza

[jasonm96]

Yes, I should have said "every 6 months". Even changing at that rate is much cheaper than the cost of a UVB meter, which I looked into. Interestingly, I have been in recent touch with Leann who still feels that D3 supplementation for day geckos, as opposed to UVB is the way to go (not that she feels UVB is wrong, but she continues to be successful with her D3 methods). Alan Repashy states that he has done a fair amount of research into formulating his Calcium Plus (though I don't have access to his studies). I will think about the day geckos, though.

Aliza

'Day' kind of gives it away to me, UVB should be provided. Although d3 supplements can work UVB is better. The only reason I rely on D3 with some frogs is that my Horned frog set up is minimal, there's not much I can do work it compared to what you could do with a geckos, so it would be pinned under the UV, where as a geckos set up could be heavily planted with live plants so there's enough shade so it could self regulate