The Full Spectrum Lighting Experiment

Here some cool links on UV and snakes

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18241029
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...ubmed_RVDocSum
http://jeb.biologists.org/content/202/14/1931.full.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...ubmed_RVDocSum
http://www.jneurosci.org/content/29/23/7519.full.pdf
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/skintests.htm

http://vetmed.illinois.edu/mmitch/pdf/corn%20snake.pdf

There is another study but I can no longer find reference to it.

Any update on the data, Aaron??

I keep UVB on my ATBs, and have done it on other species before as well. Ball Pythons tend to be lumps regardless... but I found my other species exhibited a wider range of behaviors (the ATBs are clearly nocturnal but their perching/basking/nighttime movements were distinctly different with a UVB light vs without), and did well with them. I like lighting cages with UVB lights, either 2.0 or 5.0 in most cases... You see a more noticeable difference in insect eating lizards, even nocturnal ones like Leopard Geckos, when they're kept with it, but I feel even though snakes don't *need* light, they at worst don't mind it, and at best do better with it.

I think we understand less about how reptiles perceive and utilize light than we think we do, and we're still scratching the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the lighting discussion. In most snakes, it is a less relevant discussion than with a majority of lizards, but it's still an interesting discussion to have. Looking forward to see what the results were like :)

-Jen

Thumbs up man. I havnt been on for a long time and this was the first thread I read.

Well here is the first update. Unfortunately there aren't any meaningful results yet. I have completed the first round of testing. I will now be switching the bulbs so that each snake has a different bulb. I will run the test 3 more times so each snake will get each bulb. This is why the current results are meaningless. I don't have anything to compare them to.

The snake that did the best was the snake without any artificial lighting. she ate the best, and subsequently grew the most (proportionally to her weight).

The runner up had the nature sun 2.0 bulb.

Third Place goes to Cage #2. This had a standard tube from AP. (Low color temperature/yellow tinted light)

Fourth place goes to Cage #3 This cage had a high color temperature bulb in it (4200K)

There wasn't a huge difference in the snakes, but The girl that was in total darkness grew a noticeable amount while the others not so much. They didn't eat as regularly as she did. But of course I don't have enough data yet to claim that her growth was due to the lack of artificial light and not something else.

The next update will be in 4 months. Then we will start to get results that might actually mean something!

interesting update....

a few small questions

Was the snake that did the best during the experiment, also your better eating/growing snake before the experiment started?

how are you measuring growth...weight and diameter/length? or just weight?

other than growth/eating habits did you observe any noticeable activity level changes?

Are growth measurements correctly adjusted for snakes varying ages and weights before the experiment started?


Thanks!!

Looking forward to the next set of results!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by OsirisRa32

interesting update....

a few small questions

Was the snake that did the best during the experiment, also your better eating/growing snake before the experiment started?

She wasn't eating as consistently, but was about on par with the other female in the test (the other female had similar eating habits before and during the first round of testing)

how are you measuring growth...weight and diameter/length? or just weight?

I am measuring growth by weight in grams, and total length

other than growth/eating habits did you observe any noticeable activity level changes?

Her habits did change some, almost all of my snakes are active between midnight, and 2:00 A.M. Once I put her in total darkness, I have noticed her out and about during the day more often. She also more readily eats at any time of the day vs before when she ate more consistently at night.

Are growth measurements correctly adjusted for snakes varying ages and weights before the experiment started?

All of the BP's in this experiment are around the same age (within 6 months. All are mid - late 2011's) I have 2 males, and 2 females in the experiment. Because of this I am leveling the playing field. I am taking the amount of weight that the snake put on and put it into proportion with the snakes starting weight. Basically I am measuring the % increase in weight. No matter what the starting weight, these numbers can be compared with each other. (I am doing the same for length) I don't measure girth, but that value could be derived by taking the total length of the snake, and dividing it by the total weight. This will tell you how much the snake weighs per inch.


Thanks!!

Looking forward to the next set of results!!

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Thanks for the additional info...glad to see your being quite thorough!

How many individuals are in each group? Unfortunately if there is a small size in each group it wont help much

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