UVB and Albinos

[dkatz4]

Seems to be a lot of mixed info out there on the interwebs, so i wanted to put to you good folks. I know UVB is not strictly necessary but I've read some compelling arguments in favor of it and at the very least it cant hurt and i need a some new lights anyway. I'm optimistic to see if my boas respond in any way (i've heard activity level can go up somewhat) but then there's Dr. Waffles the green albino Burm. Can the light do more harm than good (if they do any good at all)? I was planning on something like the zilla slimline tropical, it would be mounted about 18" to 2' overhead. What do y'all think??

[Starscream]

I don't know anything about how UVB affects albinos, but I would like to note that the Zilla UVB bulbs are notoriously bad and can contain UVC. If you want a good bulb, Arcadia (2% for an albino probably) or Reptisun (5.0's the lowest they go) are good in the U.S. Reptiglow is okay, but they haven't been tested as heavily as the Reptisuns or Arcadia. The fixture would probably work just fine, though.

[Sauzo]

Actually they all are ok now. Back in the day, yes there were some that were using thin coatings on the glass which allowed low spectrum UVC to leak through. Even Zoo Med was guilty of this on their coil UVB. But since then, it has been resolved.

With that said, i do use a Fluker 5.0 UVB coil on Pat. I dont use it on the other snakes just because i havent found a way to rig a tube inside the cages without the snakes getting to them.

It wont hurt to use UVB. Just make sure you are using something like a 5.0 and give the snake the option to get away from it if wanted.

It's just like i use live potted plants in the snake cages now as it seems to clean the air, keep humidity up and eliminate any 'funky' odors in cages which i attribute to them cleaning the air. The snakes also seem to like the plants to a certain degree. Rosey seems to love them the most as she is almost always next to her plant now lol.

I think low UVB levels are fine for albinos. They just dont like really bright lights for their eyes.

[dkatz4]

problem solved

[Starscream]

They did fix those bulbs, yes, but the problem with that brand is that a lot of the old stock is still out there. Any bulbs with the newer packaging and design are safe, and if you're buying in person you can check that yourself. But if you're ordering online from a third party you won't know until it arrives at your door.

[viper69]

UV has stronger effects on albinos than normally pigmented animals (including human animals), snakes are no exception, from their skin to their retina may be an issue. I wouldn't risk it.

[Sauzo]

They did fix those bulbs, yes, but the problem with that brand is that a lot of the old stock is still out there. Any bulbs with the newer packaging and design are safe, and if you're buying in person you can check that yourself. But if you're ordering online from a third party you won't know until it arrives at your door.

Possibly. I would imagine that if the company's reputation is on the line, they would pull all the old stock and eat it. I mean like i said, Zoo Med UVB coils had the issue of going cheap with a thin coating on their glass so they leaked out UVC but from what i heard, they pulled the old stock not to mention this was probably 5+ years ago so I'm sure any old surplus that didnt get pulled got sold.

With that said, i really only trust Zoo Med or Fluker for my lighting except MVBs. I think they are junk regardless of who makes them lol.