Setting up UVB questions

[Malum Argenteum]

Thank you for the citations. It might be a valuable project to start a listing somewhere here (new thread?) of public access studies on UVB -- would help those of us without access to do some reading as time permits.

My question wasn't so much focused on D3 levels as it was your claim that "The science is crystal clear that offering UVB as an option to our snakes has real benefits." (I took the original post, which used "snake" in the singular, very literally to refer to the species at hand; I think "crystal clarity" needs to be species-specific). There aren't crystal clear findings on ball pythons; there aren't any findings, it seems. We can assume they're similar to all the rest, but that's assumption that while however reasonable, is not clarity and not empirical conclusion. That's my main point here.

We might further disagree on what constitutes "benefit" -- that is, not isolated numerical increases in D3 levels, or even behavior changes (e.g. changes in movement patterns over and above basic phototaxis may indicate discomfort rather than benefit, and novice hobbyists are not well-placed to see the difference), but rather benefit considered overall including a cost-benefit analysis of equipment cost (is one snake going to benefit enough to offset a $150 meter, or would that cash be better spent on a larger enclosure, or on naturalistic decor, or a just-in-case vet fund?), the associated complexity of housing ("I don't want to cut my new enclosure"), possible temperature issues for low-temp species, raising the bar too high for new keepers who often have serious trouble simply maintaining temps and moisture levels, and so on. But it sounds as if you'd be game for such nuanced discussions, so thank you.