Albino and uv?

[Alpinestars199]

Hello everyone! Second post here. My first was on getting some husbandry issues corrected in her new enclosure which are now good! But I had some concerns. My girl is a 5 month old albino banana ball. I’ve done my reading into some of the minor health issues that can come with albinos and had a few questions on my lighting. She’s been in her new enclosure now for about a month and seems to have taken a liking to it. My heat sources are two 50 watt halogens and a proheat rhp. Cool side ambient of 79 warm side ambient of 87 and basking spot around 92 to 94 ish. Humidity usually sits at 70%. With albinos and not having any pigmentation in their eyes I was curious if maybe I should switch my halogens to Arcadia deep heat projectors and just let the light from the 2 windows make up her day night cycle? In her old 25 gallon I used a halogen during day and deep heat projector at night. And maintained same temperature day and night. Now with my new setup I set my herpstat to turn off the halogens at night and just run the heat panel which keeps night temps at about 78 79 throughout the entire enclosure. She doesn’t seem as active at night like she was in her old enclosure. Maybe she’s still getting used to it? She sheds complete and eats every Friday like a fat kid and cake so I know she’s content. But as I said I was just curious as to everyone’s thoughts on this?

[Malum Argenteum]

Could you provide a link to the halogen lamps you're using? I presume those are the lamps that you are supposing provide the UV.

[Caitlin]

If she's a true albino with no melanin in her eyes, I'd personally go with your idea of using DHP rather than halogens - but that's a personal opinion and others may disagree!

Scaleless, albino, or leucistic (hypomelanistic) morphs are more sensitive to UV and to visible light. They do benefit from UVB and a normal day/night light cycle, but their level of exposure should be lower. For these morphs, you will want to provide extra clutter and shade options, though you'll still want a gradient from basking light down to full shade. The rule of thumb for these morphs of any species is to drop them to one lower Ferguson Zone. Royal pythons are classified as 'occasional baskers' who use 'partial sun', which means Ferguson Zone 2 if you familiar with that classification. For a scaleless, albino, or leucistic Royal Python you would aim for Ferguson Zone 1 (crepuscular or shade dwellers) rather than Zone 2.

[Homebody]

Here is some related reading for the scientifically inclined: https://www.researchgate.net/publica...rorgjzararticl.

[Homebody]

Here is some related reading for the scientifically inclined: https://www.researchgate.net/publica...rorgjzararticl.

From the article:

Hypopigmentation
Extra consideration is required when planning lighting for albino and hypomelanistic specimens of any species, regardless of the zone allocation of that species. Melanin strongly absorbs UV radiation. A lack of skin and eye pigmentation therefore increases the transmission of radiation into the body (Solano 2014). Such animals are often popularly reported to be more sensitive to UV and visible light (e.g. Dell’Amore 2007), and may be at increased risk of UV-induced skin damage and cancer (Duarte and Baines2009). They are therefore likely to need much reduced exposure levels. Fortunately adequate vitamin D3 synthesis should still be possible despite lower UV exposure, since reduced melanin pigment allows more UV-B to enter the epidermal cells.

[Alpinestars199]

The lamps I use are Arcadia brand https://www.arcadiareptile.com/halogen-heat-lamp/

[Malum Argenteum]

The lamps I use are Arcadia brand https://www.arcadiareptile.com/halogen-heat-lamp/

Contrary to Arcadia's marketing (which is not infrequently a bit far from the truth), shielded halogens emit very little UVA (they're comparable to tungsten incandescent). The UV content isn't a concern, though visible light well may be.

The main reason I asked is because there are unshielded "UVB" halogens on the market (on Amazon) that are quite dangerous, as they emit measurable UVC (and not enough UVB to be at all effective in any herp application).

[Alpinestars199]

So does everyone think I should switch out the halogens for dhp? I do have two 80w arcadia dhp that I can use instead of the halogens. Only reason I was using halogens was for the benefit of the uv and her day night cycle. the room she’s isn’t doesn’t get a whole lot of sun since there is a large tree next to it but i think it would still be quite obvious to snake that it’s daytime vs at night the room is pitch black. Thank you for all your input !

[Alpinestars199]

I just want to make sure she has a very clear day night cycle

[Caitlin]

This is a totally personal opinion but I'd go with DHPs and let dim natural light signify the day/night cycle for an albino.

Remember, even for a Royal python that is not an albino, their light preferences can be described as 'outdoor shade on a sunny day'. Now take your albino and dial that down significantly.

Again, this is just personal opinion - I only have one albino snake (a Hognose) and he most definitely shies away from any sort of direct light, but loves basking on warm rocks under a DHP.