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玉米蛇宠物饲养询证指南

上一章节

《空间需求和栖地布置总则》

光照与加热

【】【很好的网站:https://www.licht-im-terrarium.de/】【】

【】【被爬行动物利用的太阳光谱波段.png】【】 from mader's 3rd edition book

【】【Benefits and Risks of Sun Exposure to Maintain Adequate Vitamin D Levels】【】

目前的认识中,自然光仍然是最好的光源。所以我们目前提供光照的标准就是尽可能模仿动物在自然生境下所接受的自然光。

不过我们所说的模仿阳光只是模仿光谱的横坐标(即波长分布),在纵坐标方向(即功率)离阳光还是很远。目前在爬箱里模拟阳光功率不现实。

介绍本节知识的优秀视频:(Griffiths, 2023  III 

待看: 很好的视频,已转录,未整理:【】【(Baines, 2022 III 】【】

【】【瓦泥小守宫的文章:https://www.bilibili.com/read/cv4980090/?spm_id_from=333.999.0.0】【】

【】【Doneley,Reptile medicine and surgery in clinical practice:Lighting】【】

【】【https://reptilesmagazine.com/uvb-lighting-for-your-reptiles/】【】

【】【https://reptilesmagazine.com/an-in-depth-look-at-uv-light-and-its-proper-use-with-reptiles/】【】

【】【https://reptilesmagazine.com/reptile-lighting-information/】【】

光的物理

(本节知识曾与本人专业有密切关系,属基础知识,不再列出参考资料。许多光物理或光化学教科书上会有这些知识。)

光是电磁波,由光子构成。

描述一束光有两个指标:波长和强度。光的波长决定了每个光子的能量,波长越短功率越高;光强决定了有多少光子,光强越强功率越高。光的功率由二者同时决定。

波长

不同波长的光可以引发不同的生化过程。阳光中的可见光、紫外光、红外光各有其生理作用。

单个光子的能量与波长呈反比(E = h c / λ),波长的单位是 nm,一个400 nm的紫色光光子能量是200 nm UVC光子能量的一半;800 nm IRA 红外光光子的能量是400 nm光子的一半。

波长和强度这两个能量指标不能相互弥补。以慢跑速度撞墙100次会肿、以100 km/h撞墙一次肯定会死。类似的,一个150 nm远紫外线光子的能量是一个1000 nm近红外线光子的7倍,但是不能说一束150 nm的远紫外线与7倍光强的1000 nm近红外线效果一致:后者会让你感觉有点热,前者会让你得癌症。

在爬宠光源设计时要仔细考虑光源的波长分布,了解物质对不同波长光的不同响应。

越短的光单个光子的能量越高,通常来说,所能引发的物理过程就越猛烈、越高能:

  • 紫外光、尤其是较为短波的紫外光可以通过导致电子跃迁引发光反应,如维生素D的合成中需要UVB引发的逆6π电环化反应。短波紫外光也可以通过引发光照[2+2]反应破坏皮肤的DNA。
  • 可见光可以导致较大共轭体系的电子跃迁,如可见光的视觉是因为可见光可以诱发视黄醛的电子跃迁导致的Z/E互变,进而产生神经信号。
  • 红外光基本不能导致生物体中分子的电子跃迁,但可以通过导致振动能级跃迁产生热量。较短波的IRA能引发一些特定生理过程。

我们称向短波长移动称为“蓝移”,向长波长移动称为“红移”。

下面实际设计光源的章节会分紫外、可见光、红外来解释。我们关心的波长分区自短到长是:

  • UV(紫外)
    • UVC (100 – 280 nm)
    • UVB (280 – 320 nm)
    • UVA (320 – 400 nm)
  • Vis(可见光)
    • 紫 (380 – 450 nm)
    • 蓝 (450 – 495 nm)
    • 青 (495 – 520 nm)
    • 绿 (520 – 565 nm)
    • 黄 (565 – 590 nm)
    • 橙 (590 – 625 nm)
    • 赤 (625 – 750 nm)
  • IR(红外)
    • IRA (700 – 1400 nm)
    • IRB (1400 – 3000 nm)
    • IRC (3000 nm – 1000000 nm)

光强的表述

光的强度有许多描述单位,在科学讨论和购买商品时经常用到,区分清楚很有益处。虽然一开始看上去眼花缭乱,但其实了解各单位的用途就很好理解:

  • 【辐射通量】(Radiant flux,Φe):某个光源单位时间发出的所有波长的电磁波的能量总和。单位瓦。与人眼特性无关,与光束粗细无关,与成像距离无关。
  • 【光通量】(Luminous flux,Φv):人眼对不同波长的光有不同的敏感成度,比如对红外、紫外完全看不见,看同样功率的绿色光比对红色光要觉得量。所以人们测量了很多正常人对光源亮度的响应,搞出来一个响应函数,把辐射功率和响应强度乘起来就得到了“假设一个光源的光都收集到人眼里,人眼看起来有多亮”。单位是流明(lm)。与人眼特性有关,与光束粗细无关,与成像距离无关。买投影仪和灯泡的时候包装上印的都是这个数值。下方图中蓝色曲线显示了人眼响应函数的定义,后面的背景曲线是海平面的太阳光谱,可见绿色部分最高,与人眼对绿色光最敏感匹配。

  • 【辐射发光效率】(Luminous efficacy of radiation,K):不同光源的光谱不同,如果我要买灯来看书,搞一个纯红外灯,辐射功率是10 kW我也还是啥都看不见;搞一个辐射功率是10 W的LED可见光灯就够用了。所以要需要定义一个【辐射发光效率】用于回答一束特定功率的光人觉得会有多亮。单位lm/W。与人眼特性有关,与光束粗细无关,与成像距离无关。
  • 【电源发光效率】(Luminous efficacy of power source,η):【辐射发光效率】是【光通量】与总【辐射功率】的比值,实际上灯的耗能不止用来发光,还有部分能量被发热浪费掉了,因此电源发光效率是光通量和所用总功率的比值。其比辐射发光效率低,单位lm/W。与人眼特性有关,与光束粗细无关,与成像距离无关。
  • 【光强】(Luminous intensity,Iv):光通量衡量光源的总发射功率,但同样发射功率,光束狭窄的灯显然更强。光强是单位角度(立体角)内的【光通量】。单位坎德拉(cd = lm / sr,sr是球面度)。与人眼特性有关,与光束粗细无关,与成像距离无关。
  • 【照度】(Illuminance,Ev):前面仨都是衡量光源的。但从用光的角度,我不管你是2000 lm的灯泡吊在头顶,还是4*1028 lm的太阳吊在一个天文单位之外,只要我的桌面接收到的光线一样亮就行。所以定义照度衡量单位面积接受到的【光通量】,单位勒克斯(lux或lx = lm / m2)。与人眼特性有关,与成像距离有关,和光束粗细间接相关。
  • 【辐照度】(Irradiance,Ee):和【照度】类似,但和人眼无关,是单位面积接收到的辐射功率。单位W/m2。与人眼特性无关,与成像距离有关,和光束粗细间接相关。
  • 【光谱辐照度】(Spectral irradiance,Ee,λ):是光谱的纵坐标,指的是一束光中,每个特定波长的光有多少【辐照度】。单位W/m3。与人眼特性无关,与成像距离有关,和光束粗细间接相关。

另有一些物理量专用于描述特定波长分布的紫外光的强度,详见紫外光强度的衡量

使用这些物理量的例子

【计算是不是有问题?】

设想我要决定在栖地中模拟适当强度的阳光,我们要做如下的推算(这不是用光的指导,只是用于解释概念,具体灯具的布置请见下面各章节):

因为我们关心单位受光面积的强度,所以我们需要的物理量是其栖息地日照的【照度】(当然也可以查阅别人测的值,注意如果所需查找的动物生活在树荫下、或者是晨昏动物傍晚才出来,那就不应该以大白天空地上正午的阳光强度来测量),照度可以用照度计测量*。

*用照度计测量其实有它自己的问题,因为照度计是对人的视觉校准的,爬宠的视觉响应曲线与人不同。

假设对某林荫动物,我们希望模拟500 lux的【照度】。

为了在栖地中模拟这样的【照度】,我们选择使用一个光照角度为180度LED灯泡,悬吊在栖地地面以上高90 cm的地方,此时可计算出灯正下方的【光强】是(灯正下方是光强最高的地方,这里略低估了所需的功率,最终结果可以适当提高。):

Iv = r2 Ev = (0.9 m)2 * 500 lm/m2 = 405 cd

假设LED灯泡在其180°发光角度内的发光是均匀的,其【光通量】需有:

Φv = Iv * 2πr2 / r2 = 2500 lm

查到LED灯的【电源发光效率】大约是80 lm/W,因此如果需要2500 lm的【光通量】,应该购买大约32 W的LED灯。

注意这只是一个例子,请不要直接使用最下方的结论。很多LED灯并不是在半球内均匀发光的。

光谱

发射光谱

发射光谱体现的是一束光的物理组成,即一束光中各波长的光分别有多高强度。

因为不同波长光衍射能力有差异,可以令光束通过合适大小的狭缝,把一束复合光拆为组成它的单色光。记录每个波长单色光的强度就得到了这束光的(发射)光谱。

横坐标是波长,纵坐标是强度(准确的说是多高的【光谱辐照度】)。以下面的太阳黑体辐射谱为例,能看出太阳光中主要以可见光强度最高,但红外和紫外区也有分布。最强的地方(也称λmax)是绿色。

吸收光谱

吸收光谱体现的是一个物体对不同波长的光过滤能力如何。

吸收光谱的横坐标是波长,纵坐标的物理量是吸光度(Absorbance)是用一束特定波长的光照射物体时、入射光和出射光辐照度之比的对数。例如纵坐标为1,就表示穿透这个物体时,光的强度降为原来的10^(-1) = 10%(或者说反射+吸收了90%);如果纵坐标为2,就表示强度降为穿过前的10^(-2) = 1%。

黑体辐射

黑体辐射听起来很物理,但其实对爬宠光源的讨论极有实用价值。

我们都知道把一个东西烧到“红热”的时候会发光,烧的越热光越亮,而且光的颜色会由红、变黄、到白色(再热到显著超过太阳温度还会变成蓝色)。这就是黑体辐射。

黑体辐射是非常“基础”的物理学规律,这种热物体的发光特性和物体本身的材料没什么关系。3000 °C的钢水、3000 °C的钨丝和3000 °C的氢氦气体恒星发射的光谱大致都一样。

理想黑体指的是不反射、不透射电磁辐射的物体。为建立对黑体辐射近似的概念,下表中列出了一些材料的发射率(Emissivity),理想黑体的发射率是1,越偏离1越不能近似为黑体辐射。

Material Emissivity
氮气、氧气(除去水、二氧化碳等的空气) 0
铝箔 0.03
铝(磨光) 0.04
铜(磨光) 0.04
铁(磨光) 0.06
铝(粗糙、表面氧化) 0.2
雪地 0.8–0.9
聚四氟乙烯(特氟龙) 0.85
铜(表面氧化) 0.87
沥青 0.88
白纸 0.88–0.86
大理石(光滑) 0.89–0.92
石膏(粗糙) 0.89
砖墙 0.9
颜料(包括白色颜料) 0.9
铝(阳极氧化) 0.9
混凝土(粗糙) 0.91
植被 0.92-0.96
石灰石 0.92
0.97-0.99
玻璃(光滑) 0.95
纯水 0.96
人的皮肤 0.97–0.999

从上面可以看出,常见材料中不能被近似为黑体辐射的几乎只有两类,光滑的金属和空气。这个知识对于后面介绍用红外温枪测量温度时有用。

注意黑体近似不一定必须是肉眼看上去为黑色,也不是“(可见光)看起来越黑就越接近黑体”。黑体“黑”的含义是物理定义上的,不是视觉上的。

打磨光滑的固体相对粗糙表面的固体更远离黑体的概念,但是不能反过来说“光滑反光物体不是黑体”,比如上表中的玻璃和冰近似成黑体的效果也不错。

黑体辐射谱

根据普朗克黑体辐射定律,黑体辐射光谱满足单位波长的辐射功率为:

I = (2 h c2) / (λ5 exp(h c / λ k T - 1))

给出特定温度,就能绘制出各温度光源的黑体辐射谱。下图是各温度下的黑体辐射谱。可见随着温度的升高,发光功率会提高。同时最大发光波长会缩短(即蓝移,从红外向可见光、紫外光移动)。

颜色与色温

【】【颜色的光谱定义】【】

色温是对光源发光光谱的一种简要描述,即这种光源的发光光谱接近于哪个温度的黑体辐射谱。(对可见光灯,有时会仅对人类眼睛的特性来衡量三种波段颜色的比例。)

下图展现了各光源的发光光谱。可见日光、白炽灯、卤灯的光谱非常接近黑体辐射(因为它们本来就是物体加热所发出的光),其中日光接近于5778 K的黑体辐射,白炽灯和卤灯接近于3300 K的黑体辐射。所以我们说日光的色温是5778 K,白炽灯和卤灯的色温是3300 K。

注意色温越高的灯越蓝,发出冷光;色温越低的灯越红(或者说越黄),发出暖光。

与之相反,LED和荧光灯的光谱可以说和黑体辐射没有一毛钱关系,因为它们的发光根本不是物体加热导致的。但是如果我们按照人眼的三种视锥细胞对各光谱进行投影,计算各个光源的红绿蓝的比例,可以与特定温度的黑体辐射的投影结果接近。

许多生物的视锥细胞与人的情况不同,比如许多鸟类是四色视觉,而蛇类在可见光区是两色视觉(见视觉一节)。根据黑体辐射的规律,我们可以知道在人和蛇眼中,白炽灯、卤灯都很接近它们各自看到的3300 K黑体辐射;但LED和荧光灯并不是直接模拟黑体辐射谱,而是只模拟了人眼三种颜色的比例,所以如果你买来一根6500 K色温的LED灯,你看着觉得很像6500 K日光的白色,但其实在蛇的眼里是某种人类无法描述的颜色,但反正不是白色,和它们看起来的6500 K黑体辐射的颜色是完全不同的,不像日光。

同时当你不止考虑人眼所见的可见光颜色、而是要考虑真实的光物理过程时,应该谨慎使用色温的概念。比如3300 K的热灯会让你感到很暖,这是因为3300 K的热灯发出大量的IRA/IRB。但是你找一个3300 K色温的LED灯泡来,那一点也不会觉得暖和,因为LED灯泡只模拟了可见光部分的颜色比例,根本不管你红外的部分。

太阳光

下图展示了5778K的黑体辐射谱(黑色曲线)、和大气层外的太阳光谱(黄色曲线)。太阳光谱大约是5778K的黑体辐射谱,拟合极好。

大气层内测量的太阳光谱与黑体辐射谱有一定距离,是因为阳光透过大气层后因大气层内物质的吸收在特定波长有减弱。

注意还有一个常见的摄影色彩标准Illuminant D65认为太阳光的色温是6500 K,有很多摄影灯产品的“日光灯”还原的是6500 K色温,这其实不是描述太阳光本身的,而是测量了北欧地区包含了天空蓝色散射的自然环境光,因为掺入了蓝天的颜色,所以色温会从5778 K的太阳光谱变蓝、色温变高,变成了6500 K

光照布置原则

所有的爬行动物光照/加热问题都可以归结为一句话:

【在空间、时间、波长维度上实现合理的功率密度分布。】

这句话非常重要,有点难懂。但是你已经照着做了。

【空间分布】

这三个维度中空间分布是最成熟的,比如:

•水平IRA梯度 = 冷区/热区/洞穴/土下;

•水平UVB梯度 = UVB要有阳照区、阴影区、蔽荫处;

•垂直UVB梯度 = 紫外灯的安全距离;

•垂直温度梯度 = 室温过低时加热垫导致蛇腹部低温烫伤。

【波长分布】

“不同波长下的能量分布”就是光谱。国内对它的关注才则刚刚起步。

这方面的例子比如:

•UVB灯<290 nm的有害紫外光;

•UVA2的D3合成的自限性;

•缺乏UVA1导致色盲;

•为什么应该用卤灯替代加热垫?

•为什么某些灯看着白色,但手机拍照与肉眼看完全不同?

【光热一致性】就是空间分布和波长分布的匹配问题。

【时间分布】

最后剩下时间梯度,研究最不充分,解决方案最少,错误的俚俗饲养法最多。

比如【温度时间分布】,经常有人说“爬宠要28 °C恒温;降到25 °C以下就吐食/肠胃炎/呼吸道感染。”但很多常见宠物原产地的夜间轻松18 °C。沙漠更低,鬃狮蜥夜间体温可以降至10 °C。

有人喜欢三十多度恒温烤鬃狮蜥,这种做法容易诱发压力状态、行为问题和免疫问题:野外鬃狮蜥什么时候才会遇到30 °C的夜间温度?在盛夏白天45 °C的时候。这种天气对所有动物都构成压力。鬃狮蜥在那时会长期于洞穴中躲避、降低新陈代谢、减少活动、减少捕食和进食,这状态熟悉吗?

如果真的“降到25 °C就患病”,先想想是不是动物本来就有问题。

再比如【可见光时间分布】,所谓“夜行动物喜欢黑暗,所以应该一直黑着。”人是日行动物,拿灯对着人连照72小时,这是关爱吗?这是折磨。没有日夜交替夜行动物如何“夜”行?

同理,用定时开关管理光照时,一到时间“啪!”就把灯关了,一秒钟就从正午变成午夜,那晨昏动物怎么“晨昏”呢?用可编程LED模拟晨昏渐变可以改善这些动物的行为。

更高端的还可以考虑光谱的时间变化。晨昏时天空光照来自瑞利散射,短波为主,主管昼夜周期的黑视色素就对短波敏感。那如果我们开发光谱可调的光源(如UVA-LED)又能在何种程度上改善动物的行为?

Vis和UVA1

光强

可见光源的光强亮度应当合适。实际亮度可以利用光度计测量 IV,还可以利用蛇的瞳孔根据光强缩放的性质直观定性判断栖地内人工光源的亮度是否太暗或太亮 II

夏日晴天的阳光下(相隔玻璃)玉米蛇的瞳孔状态(用于模拟阳光可见光部分的光源强度应大致以此为上限)II

夜间卧室顶灯下玉米蛇的瞳孔状态(此种可见光光强过低,不足以模拟白天的阳光照射)II

Liam Sinclair认为如果没有光度计,可以用一些与特定型号手机适配的app来测量;但Thomas Griffiths认为不该相信手机上的光度计,因为手机镜头是个数字信号,而光度计是个模拟信号,转换时可能有问题。

同时还应注意人的lux和爬行动物的lux不是一回事,因为视觉响应函数不一样。

很多人的爬宠栖地中可见光光通量是严重不足的。【】【所以玉米蛇需要多少可见光光通量?】【】比如鬃狮蜥的环境中,人们常常只设置一个UVB灯和一个卤素灯。这其实是不够的。在Liam Sinclair的实验中,这样设置的可见光光通量只有8000 lux左右,它在户外实测的阴影区域是15000 lux,在阳照区有100000 lux。我们不太可能直接模仿太阳,但是可以通过加装两个24 W的高密度LED灯管实现约30000 lux的可见光光照。(Sinclair, 2020 III (个人注:这个算起来似乎不太对。待查)

根据这个采访,一般LED灯实现的就是4000 lux,阳光是100000 lux以上。这个作者通过八九盏灯,两个卤素,两个LED,一个热灯,一个T5 UVB灯,一个长条LED灯,才搞到了65000 lux。所以模拟阳光的强度不现实。(Griffiths, 2023  III 

Valerie Leigh · Hypothetical question for a bearded dragon: If your enclosure is a a very bright room, that get 8-9hrs of sunlight (with windows that let in light, not heat) that light up the enclosure , are LEDs still necessary?

Jonathon Gordon Howard So I measured with my lux meter the other day at various points around a bright lit room through windows for a comparison. Europe location.

  1. Direct sun next to window was about 40 000-50 000 lux
  2. Overcast direct light next to window was 4000-6000 lux
  3. Out of direct light next to window it was 400-900 lux.
  4. Glass enclosure at the back of the room 5 meters away with only room light, it was 90-200lux A bearded dragon in Australia basking is gonna be at 110 000 lux. When they are out of direct sun they’re still going to be at 40000-60 000 lux. I would say that a beardie in an enclosure would benefit from additional led lighting. Hypothetically and practically.

I just installed the Jungle Dawn. I also installed a free lux app on my phone thanks to a member mentioning it. The lux went from 4,000 to 11,000! It's 32,000 outside. My poor guy has been living in the dark!

Frances Baines Admin 32,000 lux is about right for outdoor daylight on a gloomy overcast day. When the sun comes out, if you aim the lux meter at the sun you can easily get over 100,000 lux (direct sunlight). Indoors that amount of light causes enormous glare. But I'd say 11,000 lux is fine; up to 30-40,000 is also fine at reptile distance in the basking zone. Sure, there's no "scientific evidence" for these numbers but the animals' responses are often remarkable.

夜间可见光

Clarke1996,月相导致的夜间光照差异对响尾蛇行为的影响.pdf

夜间不要开灯,日用可见光照明在晚上应该定时熄灭。

自然界最主要的夜间照明是月光。月亮有月相,还有大约一半的时间月亮是白天出现的,夜间没有月亮。满月的月光亮度在0.1~0.2 lux。无月的星光照明亮度是0.002 lux。夜间的自然光照亮度在这之间。

有专门的0.2~0.5 lux的月光灯,可以为爬宠安装月光灯方便夜间观察,也可以不装。

有人喜欢给蛇的栖地里装明亮的红色灯。他们的理论是蛇看不见红光,所以不干扰蛇休息。这纯粹是胡说八道,蛇可以看见红色光。装常亮的明亮的有色光夜灯会打乱昼夜节律,严重的还可能直接损伤视力和精神状态。(Reptifiles III 况且装了红光的栖地非常丑,人看着也难受。

UVA1问题

UVA1对蛇视觉需求的贡献

有研究表明许多蛇有紫外视觉(见蛇的可见光波段和色觉一节)即有对360 nm左右紫外光敏感的视锥细胞(笔者注:不过注意不是看UVB的,是看UVA的),不提供紫外光源的话相当于世界少了一个元色。如同你从生到死只给黄光和绿光混合成的偏色灯,从来没见过蓝光一样。(Ferguson, 2010   IV 

UVA1光源

Bahakiya Yamamoto

能提供UVA1、满足爬行动物色觉的最好光源是什么?似乎(无UVB的)人用金卤灯是最好的选择,比如Philips MasterColor。

现在的新技术中:有UVB LED带有365 ~ 400 nm的UVA灯珠,但是UVB-LED普遍有造成维生素D过量风险的问题。我没有看到任何上市产品是只有UVA1和可见光的灯珠,但是不带UVB的。我甚至考虑过购买UVB-LED,再把其上的UVB灯珠掐掉,只剩UVA1和可见光LED,但是另一个问题就是这些灯的总辐射功率都太低了,无法提供有意义的高辐照度。

您对这个问题有什么看法?

Another thing I've observed is that most fluorescent lamps' spectra have a noticeable dip in the UVA1 region. Is there a reason this gap is so hard to bridge? Could manufacturers possibly add some kind of UVB/UVC-absorbing and UVA1-emitting powder to simulate sunlight more closely? Would love to hear your thoughts!

Frances Baines Admin

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ReptileLighting/posts/3165702886897619

Frances Baines认为荧光灯管的重要问题是比例。

以下讨论忽略红外部分。

太阳的UVB:UVA:可见光 = 0.5 : 7.4 : 92.1,超过90%是可见光。我们的(荧光)灯的亮度都低的可笑。比如我测过12% UVB的灯是10.7 : 29.8 : 59.5

要让UVB达到合理水平,必须让UVB和UVA的比例变得很高,如果添加UVA1视觉对应的荧光剂,让UV部分的光谱和太阳接近,那UV都占到50%了,与太阳的8%相比太多了,导致(单独使用时)爬行动物的视觉偏紫外色。

金卤灯和荧光灯管截然不同。好的金卤灯是复现太阳光谱最好的灯(但垃圾的金卤灯特别垃圾)。因为它的可见光输出太强,好的UVB-金卤灯可以在理论上提供和太阳光相似的光谱(红外除外)。很多年前,有一个很好的金卤灯叫Iwasaki Color Arc PAR36 6500K,不过现在不卖了,我测得0.3% UVB, 9.5% UVA 和 90.1% 可见光。

但是用金卤灯有实践问题:

  • 金卤灯正在从人类照明中退场,被LED取代
  • 金卤灯比较昂贵
  • 金卤灯需要镇流器
  • 金卤灯需要一个4 kV的点亮脉冲,需要符合要求的接线和特殊的灯座
  • 金卤灯不能调光,不能接温控器。

金卤灯在欧洲比较流行,因为在仓库、商店、工厂和卤灯上使用,但是在英国和美国不流行,因为后者的人用照明就没太用过金卤灯,很多人都不知道这是啥。我个人很喜欢金卤灯,但是它并不适合所有的栖地布置,我不推荐新手使用。

我不认为不提供UVA(不提供金卤灯)就是没有提供“全光谱照明”。目前的UVB灯管和白炽灯都会发射少量的UVA1。目前没有明确证据表明爬行动物和鸟类因为只使用(缺乏专门的UVA1光源的)常规的光照组合(UVB荧光灯管 + LED + 卤灯)导致难以识别同类的UVA1花纹或食物的颜色。所以缺乏UVA1还没有造成明确的福利或健康问题。这与UVB(Vitamin D3)、UVA2(Vitamin D3)、可见光(昼夜周期)、IRA(深层加热、抗炎等)的证据状态明显不同,这些波段都会明显影响福利。

至于你问目前提供UVA1光源的最好选择是什么,Philips MasterColor 和 ZooMed PowerSun 70W HID 是很好的选择,尤其是它们也可以用于提供好的可见光谱。不过你可能看到了,我对加强提供UVA1并不是特别重视。

我知道有一些自称全波长LED的灯具在加UVA1-LED,如果它们能把UVA:可见光的比例搞对,那它们也可以是好的产品。当然,不要将UVA1-LED与疯狂研制/销售UVB-LED的风气搞混,对后面这些,它们对维生素D3合成的影响根本还不清楚。

个人理解:

我理解她的逻辑有这几点:

提供UVA1对动物是重要的

提供UVA1更多的是提供视觉信息,对健康的影响(如NO的生成)或许有,但尚不明确

UVB荧光灯管发出的UVA1的量很可能能够让动物“不再UVA1色盲”,但是仍然偏色

在已经有UVB荧光灯管发射UVA1的基础上,再提供更多的UVA1(以使其和太阳比例匹配)能否对动物福利有显著贡献,缺乏明确的证据。

从循证角度讲,各波段对动物福利影响的证据级别排序是UVB>UVA2>可见光>IRA>UVA1

发布后有几位朋友询问提供UVA1的方法和必要性。重新贴一下与Frances Baines交流此问题时她的回复(括号中是我自己补充的内容):

UVA1 对爬行动物视觉是重要的,但 UVB 荧光灯管可提供少量 UVA1,虽然其比例是严重偏色,目前没有明确证据表明在提供 UVB 荧光灯管后、动物还会因缺乏UVA1而导致难以识别同类的 UVA1 花纹或食物的颜色。所以缺乏额外 UVA1 光源造成福利问题的证据等级不高。(其实我们容易体会这对爬行动物的影响:80~90年代荧光灯管普及前,年龄稍大的观众都经历过白炽灯泡照明的时代,白炽灯光对人来说就是“蓝色基色很弱、绿色基色比例低”。这不至于吃晚饭分不清哪是食物、也不影响写作业,但影响有辩色要求的工作。)

与之相比,提供恰当强度和光谱保证【UVB】Vitamin D3合成、【UVA2】Vitamin D3自限性、【可见光】昼夜节律(并引导晒灯行为)、【IRA】深层加热、抗炎等都更重要、证据更为明确,这些波段照明的缺乏和过量都(相比UVA1更)可能明显影响福利。

(实现UVA1照明的最好光源是太阳。与UVB/UVA2不同,大部分UVA1可以透过玻璃,所以可以方便的通过把爬箱放在窗边引入阳光中的UVA1。当然,因为阳光的强度和角度是变化的,这对栖地的庇荫、通风和光热一致性设计提出了更高要求。)

Philips MasterColor 是目前最好的人造UVA1光源之一,很好复现了(UVA1和可见光波段的)太阳光谱质量。但用它有麻烦的地方: ● 金卤灯正快速被LED取代(产量下降,在某些地区不易购买) ● 需镇流器(不能直接拧在灯座上) ● 需4 kV点亮脉冲,需符合高压要求的接线和特殊的灯座 ● 不能调光,不能接温控器。 ● (镇流器常有一定噪音,不太适用于卧室养爬)

有厂商正在研发 UVA1-LED,若能把“UVA1:可见光”比例搞对就很好。当然,不要将其与最近疯狂研制/销售 UVB-LED 的风气搞混,后者对维生素D3合成的影响根本还不清楚。

(我个人认为实现正确的可见光照度及其昼夜渐变比正确的显色更能影响行为。如果必须在“接有编程控制的LED”和“调光受限的金卤灯”之间二选一,我可能还是会选LED、牺牲UVA1。当然如果能用阳光、或者将来有带UVA1的LED产品就两全其美了。)

Philips MasterColor 70 W 灯泡才40刀而已,比相同光通量的Arcadia Jungle Dawn LED Bar还要便宜。而对于镇流器、灯座等因素,只需要一个推荐的部件列表就行了。除了不能调光之外、金卤灯似乎比LED在任何方面都有优势。我这种看法对不对?如果对,为什么大家没有普遍使用(不带UVB的)金卤灯(提供可见光和UVA1照明)?

Frances Baines:

没有别的因素,最主要的就是一般的爬行动物饲主都只想要简单的解决方案,能买现成的,往栖地上一放,插上就能用。任何额外的步骤都会造成极大阻力。

一般的饲主听你说又要额外接镇流器、又要接线、还要特殊的灯座,而且关了之后竟然要冷却了才能开,直接就劝退了。另一个原因是英国和美国没有经历过用金卤灯(给人)照明的时期,所以增加了陌生感,这与欧洲一些国家的情况不同。

我已经为此努力了很多年,不断地鼓励人们用金卤灯(提供可见光和IRA),但即使有些灯是带着镇流器、灯泡和灯座一起卖的,还是没有几个人用。因为销量差,很多商品已经不再生产了。我们几个尝试推广ZooMed 的 70W HID(但是不成功),ZooMed已经停止生产了。

现在在某些地区,买一个E27口的金卤灯,比如 Philips MasterColor 70 W 灯泡已经非常困难,很多地方已经不再生产了。当然,这类灯的销量下降主要是因为它在人用照明领域的销量下降了,被LED取代了。我估计如果这个趋势继续下去,Philips很快也会停止生产。相关的镇流器还是可以买到,但是需要自己接线。我感觉没有几个饲主这么迎合的学习如何安全的接线。我们必须强调,如果你对自己的电学操作技能不熟悉,就请雇佣专业电工接线。能为了爬行动物做这些事的饲主是真正的硬核饲主。

Consumer interest. I think the main thing is the "average pet reptile keeper"'s desire for a simple, plug-and-play solution that they can just buy, place on top of the screen and put on a timer. There is huge resistance to anything "complicated". They don't want to hear about external ballasts, special wiring and fixtures, and replaceable bulbs that need to cool down before they will relight if turned off... and metal halides and "arc lamps" are so unfamiliar to most people in the USA and UK that the responses to launches of metal halide "reptile lighting" kits were very poor in both countries. I tried for many years to encourage people to try out metal halides, but even the ones sold as complete sets with ballast, lamp and lamp-holder never caught on. They are currently either being sold off cheaply, or discontinued already. A few of us are trying to popularise the really nice ZooMed 70W HID system, which ZooMed stopped manufacturing in European voltage for lack of sales and will bring them back if there's enough interest... but I'm not sure there will be. Now, it is extremely difficult to find E26 or E27 screw-fitting metal halides such as a 70watt Philips MasterColor bulb here, and they are no longer stocked in any well-known online stores. People don't want them for indoor human lighting any more. I suspect they will soon cease production as sales continue to decline. The ballasts are still available, but sold with no wiring. Few new pet owners seem ready or willing to learn how to wire a ballast safely, and we always recommend, for safety, that if they are not confident they should hire an electrician. People here - apart from a few very serious enthusiasts - don't want that.

红外/加热

【】【热传导速率和热辐射速率】【】

温度的时间和空间梯度

爬行动物是变温动物,不是冷血动物(有的爬行动物在晒点的时候比你的血还热)

不同波长红外光的不同作用

红外光常被等同于热,这其实不对,不同波长的红外线有截然不同的生理响应。尤其是接近可见光的短波红外线有除了加热之外的重要作用。

即使是在相同气温下把皮肤表面加热到相同温度,用不同波长的红外线加热时人的感觉截然不同。人在冬天走到阳光下之后会产生“深入肌肤”的温暖,这就是短波红外(IRA)的作用。皮肤对IRA有一定的透明度,所以IRA可以直接温暖深层肌肉组织。但是如果你只是用同样温度的暖宝宝,就没有这种功效,只能感到从外自内的热传导。这种差别对变温动物更为重要。(Sinclair, 2020 III 

IRA/B/C(近/中/远)红外的作用主要差别在皮肤穿透性上。参考人的皮肤的可见-红外吸收光谱(Crowson, 2001 IV ,可见皮肤在600 nm~1100 nm左右的红光-近红外区域有一个半透明窗口(有手机闪光灯照手指,可以看到只有红光透过)。所以IRA可以穿透皮肤,直接加热深层的器官和肌肉,提高爬行动物的消化效率。(Sinclair, 2020 III 

即使是在相同气温下把皮肤表面加热到相同温度,用不同波长的红外线加热时人的感觉截然不同。人在冬天走到阳光下之后会产生“深入肌肤”的温暖,这就是短波红外(IRA)的作用。皮肤对IRA有一定的透明度,所以IRA可以直接温暖深层肌肉组织。但是如果你只是用同样温度的暖宝宝,就没有这种功效,只能感到从外自内的热传导。这种差别对变温动物更为重要。(Sinclair, 2020 III 

只要存在上方发射的IRA/IRB光源,在自然界和圈养环境下都能观察到蛇在晨昏时的晒太阳行为,因为短波红外线能更有效地通过爬行动物的鳞片,通过皮肤,通过脂肪组织,达到血管。被加热的血液被泵送到身体的其他部分。这比长波红外线更有效,因为它几乎不能穿透鳞片。(Sinclair, 2020 III 

对体型较小(较薄)的爬行动物,IRA可以直接加热器官,起到帮助消化、免疫等作用。(Sinclair, 2020 III 

人在受伤后进行红外线理疗也有类似原理。在哺乳动物实验中,近红外线IRA有除加热以外的生理作用,虽然没人在爬宠中重复这些实验,但类似的机制可能也存在。比如有研究表明近红外线可以增加细胞线粒体中的ATP,可减少炎症并有助于愈合。例如提供IRA可以减少小鼠随年龄增长的视网膜衰退,甚至可能延长寿命。红外线在医学实验室和马匹产业中的应用有其原因。当一匹马受伤时,他们常常将热灯对准伤口以帮助愈合。(Sinclair, 2020 III 

IRB穿透皮肤的能力比IRA差,但还勉强算是优质热源。

更长波长的IRC几乎不能穿透皮肤,只有表面加热作用。要达到同样的内部温度,动物晒IRC的时间要远比IRA长,因为IRC无法穿透鳞片和皮肤,只能靠热传导加热身体内部。(Sinclair, 2020 III 

太阳光产生的红外以IRA为主,物体吸收后会被加热,直到达到热平衡。物体被加热后也会释放热辐射,一般以IRC为主。

shared in Reptile lighting by unknown user 【】【Tortoise Trust Web - Effect of Basking Lamps on the Health of_ Captive tortoises and other reptiles.html】【】

Frances Baines

Among our Admin team, Joe, we have a small subgroup researching something new to reptile husbandry... in fact, new to science... which is that measuring "temperature" is actually not nearly as important as measuring the irradiance and the proportions of different parts of the spectrum, when considering animal lighting and heating.

We are starting to measure "power density" from incandescent lamps. See Guide 9 for a range of articles and discussions. https://www.facebook.com/.../ReptileLigh.../learning_content

The reason this is important is that many different things will increase the "temperature" - but warm air, conducted heat from warmed substrate, visible light, UV, and long-wavelength infrared (infrared B and C) will only warm the skin surface, and the heat energy is conducted through. But keratin (skin) is semi-transparent to red and short-wavelength infrared-A. And this infrared-A will therefore reach right through the upper skin layer - the "old" skin - and be absorbed not just by the fluid layer (heating it directly) but also warm the "new" skin below that and the subcutaneous and muscle layers beyond that, too. This IR-A is predominant in sunlight and in incandescent lamps. In "normal" amounts found in sunlight (estimated between 200-300 W/m2 ) it not only warms deep tissues but causes gene expression in cellular DNA, via cytochrome C, supporting immune function, healing and cell division. I would imagine these things would be very important during genesis of the new skin layer.

However.... too great an intensity of IR-A has a very different effect. In humans, it can cause an increase in collagen breakdown and reactive oxygen release, with long-term chronic effects - see Barolet, D., Christiaens, F. and Hamblin, M.R., 2016. Infrared and skin: Friend or foe. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology, 155, pp.78-85.

We have been mapping the IR-A component of different lamps and found dramatic differences between brands; Thomas Griffiths has published some startling iso-irradiance charts showing frighteningly high IR-A irradiance from certain halogen bulbs, for example, compared to incandescent flood bulbs of identical wattage and therefore similar total heat output.

I wonder whether too high IR-A could be causing cellular damage to the cells either producing the fluid for the separation layer, or the new skin surface itself, creating some sort of "bonding" between old and new skin? I'm just speculating, but Quentin Dishman and Thomas Griffiths and several others might be interested to know what lamps you are using and at what distances, and through what mesh screens...

should we also recommend different IRA power density to different species as well?

Frances BainesAdmin

Bahakiya Yamamoto The ratio of IR-A to both visible and UV is definitely not "roughly the same" unfortunately; the altitude of the sun has an extremely powerful effect on UVI, and a quite strong effect on IR-A compared to visible light.

However, YES we are in the process of investigating suitable "ranges" of IR-A power densities, it is ALL very experimental to date as this is completely new to science. However I have seen recommendations of the low end of the range (around 200-250W/m2) for our "forest edge" and "shade dwellers" and the higher end of the range (around 300 - 350 W/m2) for sun baskers....

Frances BainesAdmin

Joe Monahan No, I don't know anything about the enzymatic activity in this case. However, I just had an idea.

Enzymes are proteins; all have a temperature above which they denature - they break - and stop working. What if the enzymes are being denatured by excessively intense IR-A?

A quick Google using terms "enzyme denature temperature" is worthwhile:

e.g.

https://chem.libretexts.org/.../18.../18.07_Enzyme_Activity

Quote:

"After a certain point, however, an increase in temperature causes a decrease in the reaction rate, due to denaturation of the protein structure and disruption of the active site (part (a) of Figure 18.7.2). For many proteins, denaturation occurs between 45°C and 55°C. Furthermore, even though an enzyme may appear to have a maximum reaction rate between 40°C and 50°C, most biochemical reactions are carried out at lower temperatures because enzymes are not stable at these higher temperatures and will denature after a few minutes."

So.... why do so many monitor lizard keepers, and others, allow infrared lamps of sufficient intensity to heat their basking surfaces to well over 45-55°C ? OK, the lizards would be expected to heat up pretty fast under high intensity infrared radiation. But what if, in doing so, the fluid layer just under the outer skin heats to above 45°C?

Just a thought...

Frances BainesAdmin

Bahakiya Yamamoto Yes, within cells, enzymes could well have very different properties than when suspended in solution. But that's precisely why this is still a viable speculation: the fluid that forms between the old and new cell layers is extracellular! I have no knowledge of its composition, other than that specific quote from Mader: "The old skin is cleaved from the newly formed layer by the enzymatic activity of lymphatic fluid that floods the space between the two layers." Lymphatic fluid is what might be loosely described as "serum" - like the fluid that appears under blisters on sore human feet or burned skin. I've seen slightly damp new skin on a gecko's tail when it pulls off the old skin like a glove. It's slightly shiny, looks as if it might be a little sticky perhaps.

If insufficient was secreted, or was reabsorbed, the two layers would stick together. If the enzymes mentioned by Mader failed to "digest" the dead layer above, perhaps that too would prevent separation.

I have not been able to find any more detailed material about the process of skin shedding.... See what you can find, guys.

调光对波长的影响

【】【】【】

并不同意Dishman的说法

Bahakiya Yamamoto Quentin Dishman Does dimming really have a huge effect on the spectrum? As the black body radiation power is proportional to the fourth power of the filament temperature, a tiny change in temperature will have a large effect on output power. For example, if I dim a 3300 K 150 W bulb to 100 W, the black body radiation temperature would only drop to 2980 K. A 2980 K blackbody radiator still provides a good amount of IRA.

Quentin Dishman Moderator Bahakiya Yamamoto tungsten is not a black body, its spectral emissivity varies considerably (image below) This particular lamp is also starting from a significantly lower filament temperature than 3300° K. It has an operating filament temperature of ~2650° K, which is actually above average among reptile-branded basking lamps; the 100W version has an even lower operating filament temperature of around 2375° K, which is quite common. Since those are the most common bulbs that keepers encounter and use, as a general rule I advise choosing lamps that simply produce X intensity at Y distance at full power, just to keep things simple and certain 🙂

434130516_7264400520280326_7960954909837482429_n.jpg

Norbert Kaszycki Quentin Dishman Maybe I'm reading it wrong, I'm mechanical engineer, not light engineer, but the curve you have posted seem to confirm what Bahakiya eluded to. In the range between 700 and 1400nm for any slice variation between 2200K line and 2800K line is within 2% or less. What do I miss?

Quentin Dishman Moderator Norbert Kaszycki The fuller picture emerges when plugging emissivity into a black body formula (and also accounting for glass). The % of IR-A isn't so different between 2800 and 2400K--both are acceptable to me--but it's significantly lower at 2000K. This is because power is proportional to T^4

433002342_7266825793371132_7081603865189625812_n.jpg

Bahakiya Yamamoto Quentin Dishman I was making a similar plot accounting for the emissivity and just about to post it. As your figure have shown, dimming from 2800 K to 2400 K reduces power to 54%, and this doesn't cause a practical difference in IRA content. As I understand, this shows that unless one chooses a lamp that's drastically overpowered (>200% the need), dimming is a practical control method that doesn't affect spectral quality. Even if we dim a 2800 K lamp to 2000 K, that's a power reduced by 74%, the IRA ratio is only dropped by 27% compared to choosing a smaller wattage lamp. We have many other factors that have much greater effect than 27%. For example, what's the desirable IRA irradiance for each species, what's the optimal IRA wavelength, what's the transmissivity of the skin from different species, and as you point out, different lamp works at different temperature even at full power, etc. This made me believe that dimming the lamp (to a reasonable ratio of the original power) doesn't post practical issue.

Quentin Dishman Moderator Bahakiya Yamamoto “Dimming is a practical control method that doesn’t affect spectral quality”. There’s a lot of grey area. On the basis of what keepers actually do and what lamps keepers actually have access to, and for the purposes of what advice we give to new and confused keepers, I will disagree with this conclusion, respectfully:

  1. most reptile-branded lamps operate at around 2500K (or below), which is lower than people thought, and lamps whose filaments operate at 2800-3000K are not accessible to most keepers, at least not anymore. 2500K is already a significant compromise compared to sunlight’s infrared. 2000K would be a much larger compromise, and would shift the output primarily to IR-B (50% more IR-B than IR-A)
  2. many keepers do use drastically overpowered lamps and then dim them to 50% or less—that’s precisely what we try to discourage. If we can at least minimize or ideally just avoid dimming altogether, we should. Avoiding dimming eliminates several safety risks, such as thermostat failure or bumping a dimmer switch.
  3. desirable irradiance for most basking species would be tied to sunlight under clear (ish) skies at key times of day, but there are also meaningful differences between solar infrared and a tungsten lamp that we must account for.
  4. assessment of intensity: not mentioned, but we currently advise using the RS ISM400 for assessing the intensity of basking lamps. When you dim a lamp from 2500K to 2000K, the usefulness of that reading declines significantly—at such low temperatures, the readings are around 50% of what we would expect. All of this is why we advise that keepers choose a lamp (from the limited current range) that provides the desired intensity at full power at the distance needed; it’s a simple and inherently safe setup.

和红外辐照度的测量

【】【】【】

Brenda Fillmore

I’m needing help please Tested rock it was 93 on flat bottom of enclosure watt 100 We raised it and got the temp to 98 later shut the lights off for the night turned them back on today and temp is not reaching it is at 88 I changed the bulb to 150 watt and now it’s to hot it’s at 113-115 we had it on for over 3 hrs before switching Rock to light is 13 inch’s Thank you for the help she is new one day to u

Quentin Dishman Moderator Hi Brenda, surface temperature is misleading. Surface temperature doesn’t need to be particularly precise, it only needs to be comfortable for the animal. As long as it’s not too hot, it’s fine, in other words. What matters for basking is the intensity itself. Intensity is distinct from temperature: we know from daily life that objects reach different temperatures on a sunny day in accordance with their physical properties. When faced with the choice of walking barefoot on either black pavement or white sand on a sunny day, most people intuitively understand that the black pavement will be hotter. Therefore temperature is not the right way of assessing intensity; instead we have various meters and tools and charts (third-party testing) that directly tell us intensity levels. 🙂 We do NOT want to dim lamps. Dimming lamps negatively affects the most beneficial wavelengths disproportionally. Since intensity is what matters, we control it via distance. This means that, for each and every model of lamp, there is effectively one distance for a target intensity range. What is the exact 150W you’re using? We can provide the exact bulb-to-animal distance at which the intensity is suitable. Once you know the intensity is suitable, all you have to verify is that the surface isn’t getting too hot. If if is, then try a different material, preserving the same bulb-to-animal distance. 🙂

Chris Phillips Admin There's a missing part of the equation here you did not say what the wattage of the first lamp was?? Have you considered using two lamps of varied wattages, 1 being of lower value to assist... As mentioned by somebody else how long did it take for the temperatures to reach the desired goal originally? That's a very large difference from one day to the next unless there's some missing information here? I typically keep my household at a steady temperature usually no lower than 72° and I get consistent readings from my heat lamps without changing the wattage or the location. Is there some unknown extenuating circumstance..

适宜温度区间

玉米蛇的推荐饲养温度如下(奥地利动物饲养条例, 2022  V :

  • 白天 24~28 °C
  • 晒点 35 °C
  • 夜晚 18~22 °C(注意对幼蛇可适当提高。)
  • 如果要冬眠,在 8-15 ºC 冬眠2~5个月

【】【晒点温度或许不是晒点附近的气温,可能是晒点地面的表面温度?】【】

下图是玉米蛇原生生境中的某个城市(Tallahassee, Florida)2022年每日最低/最高温度的周平均值(Weather Underground)。灰色部分是大致的冬眠期。从图中容易理解上述推荐温度。

下图是该城在玉米蛇分布统计上的位置表示(图钉位置是Tallahassee,分步频次统计于iNaturalist)

不过应该注意,不能反过来机械的照搬栖息城市的大环境温度,因为不同动物所处的微环境不同,其与大环境的条件显著不同(例如住在洞穴、地下的动物,就相对于大环境向低温、高湿偏移。

UVB和UVA2

【】【还没看:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L83RApPPri8】【】

太阳紫外光谱

紫外区可以进一步细分(Griffiths, 2023  III :

  • UV(紫外)
    • UVC (100 – 280 nm)
    • UVB (280 – 320 nm)
      • 非自然UVB(280 – 290 nm):在自然阳光中含量很少,从饲养爬宠的目的来说认为是UVC也差不多。
      • 罕见UVB(290 – 295 nm):在什么澳大利亚大沙漠晒死个人的地方才有,一般地方也没有。
      • 非自然UVB(295 – 320 nm):这是爬宠饲养中有生理作用,需要提供的UVB。对比如维生素D的合成有重要作用。
    • UVA (320 – 400 nm):
      • UVA2(320 – 340 nm):和维生素D的合成有关。对维生素D的合成起到调控作用(负面调控)
      • UVA1(340 – 400 nm):和爬行动物的紫外视觉有关。

海平面的太阳光谱一般就截止到300 nm左右,以UVA1为绝大多数。UVB只占5%。

下图显示了紫外区太阳光谱和与UVB相关的化合物的吸收曲线。

紫外线强度的衡量

紫外线的强度用UVI表示,UVI定义为一个响应函数(下图红色曲线)与阳光光谱乘积的积分(并乘以一个系数)。英国的晴天大概UVI有4,多云的时候有1~2。(Griffiths, 2023  III 

我们常用Solarmeter 6.5来测量爬宠饲养中的UVI。其也是通过仪器设计使用一个特定的响应函数测量其与阳光光谱乘积后的加权总功率的设备。仪器其实很简单,就是一个测量功率的光敏二极管加一个过滤片,光敏二极管测量所有来光的总功率,所有的科技都在于如何让那片过滤片选择性的按想要的响应曲线透过相应的光,并阻挡其他的光(其响应曲线如上图所示)。注意UVI的响应函数和Solarmeter 6.5的响应函数其实不是一回事,但对于爬宠饲养来说足够用了。Solarmeter的使用方法是把检测器放于动物将要所在之处,将检测器朝向光源,按按钮测试。(Griffiths, 2023  III 

Solarmeter有很多种型号,用6.5是因为它响应的波段最接近维生素D3的合成所需的紫外波段。下图中绿色是合成维生素D3所需的吸收光谱。Solarmeter不需要校准,历史上第二台被生产出来的solarmeter 6.5(No. 00002)一只到现在还是准确的。不推荐购买Solarmeter之外品牌的更便宜的UVI检测仪,Thomas Griffiths等人测试了很多人手中的紫外线检测仪,发现一个叫RG的便宜牌子数据满天飘。(Griffiths, 2023  III 

Thomas下面这个光谱不对

应该更类似于这样:疑似UVB测试卡的响应光谱.png

【】【https://products.jrsi.com/shop/photochromics,https://edu.rsc.org/feature/photochromism-in-view/2020209.article】【】

另外有一种卡片叫UV测试卡,原理是卡片上涂了一些有可逆光致变色性能的染料,但是它的响应谱(上图亮黄色)和爬宠维生素D3合成的响应谱可以说是毫无关系,所以用它反而被误导,不要用。(Griffiths, 2023  III 

【】【自己的专栏文章】【】

维生素D相关的生化过程

【】【冬青我写的专栏】【】 【】【冬青巨人守宫公众号】【】

【】【Webb et al. (1989) found that wavelengths up to 330nm would degrade vitamin D3 remaining in skin, breaking it down into inert metabolites (5,6-transvitamin D3, suprasterol I, and suprasterol II).】【】

本节参考:(Ferguson, 2010   IV ,(Sinclair, 2023 III ,(Sinclair, 2020 III ,(Sinclair, 2020 III 

【】【https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK278935/】【】

【给冬青写的专栏有一些】 【冬青在巨人守宫公众号写了一些】

下图总结了与维生素D3相关的生化过程

维生素D3前体是7-脱氢胆固醇,产生于真皮层中,经UVB照射发生激发态的逆-6π-电环化转化为前维生素D3,吸光波长是290~315 nm。在体温加热条件下,前维生素D3会发生1,7-氢迁移转化为维生素D3。这个过程在温暖的动物体内需要几个小时才能慢慢进行,直到前维生素D3被转化为维生素D3

维生素D3从皮肤中入血后到达肝脏,肝脏将其氧化羟基化为骨化二醇,并重新释放入血。

维生素D3也可直接从食物中获取,维生素D3会被肠吸收,随后转移至血中,并被肝脏转化为骨化二醇,后续过程与皮肤合成途径一致。

食源维生素D3和内源性维生素D3的区别是通过接受UVB照射合成维生素D3不会过量,因为UVB照射增加时,会产生惰性的光化学产物(【】【是什么?】【】),这些产物可以抑制维生素D3的进一步合成,产生负反馈的效果。

从食物中获取维生素D3没有这种负反馈,可能过量。多余的维生素D会在脂肪中蓄积,并可能达到中毒剂量。所以用UVB补充维生素D是比食补维生素D更安全的做法。食源维生素D3的摄取量很难控制,因为喂食的食物中的维生素D3含量你不知道。每个供货商差别很大,供货商喂老鼠的食物得营养充足;同一个供货商不同老鼠个体也有差别。

没有数据表明蛇有能力通过选择食物来调节维生素D3的摄入计量(这我都不能啊。。。),也缺乏通过食物摄入维生素D的数据。所以虽然通过食补调节维生素D3的摄入量是可行的,但很难控制。所以最好提供合适的UVB照明,可以佐以非常低剂量的维生素D3补充剂。

骨化二醇是维生素D3最稳定的代谢产物,可以在血浆、血清中蓄积,是维生素D3的主要体内储存形式,因此测量血中的骨化二醇含量是衡量维生素D3状况的典型生化指标。有些骨科疾病就诊时会被医生要求血检25(OH)D项目,就是骨化二醇(即25-羟基维生素D3)。

一些骨化二醇会在肾中被转化为骨化三醇,即1,25-二羟基维生素D3,这些骨化三醇会和副甲状腺激素一起控制肠道吸收钙的过程。有骨化三醇钙才能被肠道吸收,保持血钙水平,它也使得钙在骨骼中沉积、使肌肉可以生长。钙也是肌肉纤维能收缩的必要条件。

维生素D3的作用不止于此,他还有自回分泌(autocrine)和旁分泌(paracrine)功能。(啥意思?)

维生素D3在肝脏中被转化为骨化二醇并入血后,如果体内的维生素D3的含量超过维持钙代谢所需的量,多余的维生素D3会被用于其他用途。很多器官有将维生素D3和骨化二醇从血中吸收进细胞的功能,并在细胞内转化为1,25-二羟基维生素D3,从而避免过量维生素干扰其他地方的钙代谢过程。这些维生素D3和衍生物在其他器官中,如皮肤中,还有增强免疫系统、调节细胞分裂,防止癌细胞形成的作用。

【】【Mader】【】 It is important to note that reptiles are thought to only utilize D3, many human products use D2 but “mathematically convert” the D2 into the equivalent D3 for their label information using the known rate of human conversion. Reptiles cannot convert D2 to D3. The important point is that clinicians evaluate the vitamin label (see Table 27.9 or online resources) to make sure the product is appropriate.

【】【 Sarina Wunderlich · Vitamin D Toxicosis in a Blue-Tongued Skink (Tiliqua scincoides) Presented with Epistaxis and Tongue Discoloration https://bioone.org/.../Vitamin.../10.5818/19-04-193.2.short Is here anyone who has access to the paper? Do they comment on the husbandry conditions that lead to 768 nmol/L 25OHD? ("The diet of this skink mostly consisted of greens dusted with a supplement containing calcium and vitamin D" from the abstracts is a bit vague.) Is it really a toxic blood level? Even larger values (up to 1'118 nmol/L) were found in free ranging Ricord’s iguanas. JAN C. RAMER, ROBERTO MARIA, TIM REICHARD, PETER J. TOLSON, TAI C. CHEN & MICHAEL F. HOLICK. 2005. Vitamin D status of wild Ricord’s iguanas (Cyclura ricordii) and captive and wild rhinoceros iguanas (Cyclura cornuta cornuta) in the Dominican republic. Journal of zoo and wildlife medicine 36.2. 188–191. . DOI: 10.1638/04-080.1.

https://bioone.org/journals/journal-of-herpetological-medicine-and-surgery/volume-30/issue-4/19-04-193.2/Vitamin-D-Toxicosis-in-a-Blue-Tongued-Skink-Tiliqua-scincoides/10.5818/19-04-193.2.short

Frances Baines Admin Although I agree with the basic conclusion that it is safer to rely on suitable levels of UVB to enable natural vitamin D3 synthesis, than to supply D3 via supplements, on careful reading of this paper I am not at ALL convinced that the skink was suffering from hypervitaminosis D. None of the classical signs were showing....the presenting symptoms were more akin to some sort of blood poisoning, and it had a necrotic tail lesion... 3y

Sarina Wunderlich Author Thank you for your evaluation as a vet! Sadly we do not know more about the UV bulb (some last longer than one year), so I can't draw anything helpful from that article.

Frances Baines Admin Vitamin D toxicosis normally presents as hypercalcaemia, leading to renal damage and more rarely, calcium deposition in the tissues. None of the symptoms described fit the picture.... It's very strange that hypercalcaemia was not mentioned, despite haematology being conducted... in fact without that, I would seriously doubt the diagnosis. 3y

Frances Baines Admin Looks more like some sort of blood disorder - some type of bone marrow disease, cancer, etc? Something akin to brassica poisoning? (Just guessing... but I'd like to read the full paper, too..)

】【】

紫外对蛇的生理作用和必要性

注意白化玉米蛇的特殊情况,以下的部分讨论不适用于白化玉米蛇。

经常有人觉得蛇不需要UVB,而且没有UVB也确实能活。但是最近的研究,尤其是Frances Baines的工作越来越表明,UVB对蛇的精神和身体健康非常有益。这属于超越了动物福利概念中的中性状态、转而提供正向福利的范畴。(Ferguson, 2010   IV 

有人说玉米蛇夜行,所以不可能需要UVB。这是错误的。一是玉米蛇是晨昏动物,不是完全的夜行动物。二是即使是夜行动物,在睡觉时也会有“cryptic basking”(隐蔽晒背)的行为,就是大部分身体躲藏,但是露出一小节晒背。(Sinclair, 2022 III ,(Sinclair, 2023 III ,(Sinclair, 2020 III 

UVB对维生素D合成的贡献

自然界中,生物通常能充分利用各种自然能源,因此,蛇能用UVB合成维生素D3没有任何奇怪的。

蛇确实可以从食物中获取维生素D3,但有充分证据表明蛇可以利用UVB提高血中的D3水平、而且仅靠食补而缺乏UVB的蛇维生素D3水平低下。例如 Acierno 等人 (2008) 研究发现玉米蛇体内的D3水平在被UVB照射后大幅提升。(译者注:下面讨论了爬行动物接受UVB照射后体内维生素D3上涨的文献研究,相关数据我在冬青专栏中《【询证饲养】如何科学地获取两爬饲养经验?》总结过了,就不重复了。)

维生素D3的生化过程说明天然的D3合成途径是自限性的,在常规自然光照下可以自动维持在最佳浓度、几乎不可能过量。而饲料动物的D3含量很难确定,尤其是你完全不知道饲料动物(如鼠、鸡)的饲养者是怎么养动物的,例如他们吃什么饲料、是否提供UVB等等。所以光照补充D3比口服好得多。(译者注:具体机制亦在上方的专栏中有所解释。)

有人说玉米蛇可以从食物中获得足量的维生素D3,这很可能是错误的。

在一篇论文中,作者研究了玉米蛇体内的骨化二醇浓度是否上升。作者用十二条玉米蛇做受试,一半照射UVB,一半不照,并测试骨化二醇的浓度,实验持续20天。实验结束后,照射组的平局浓度时196 ± 17 nM(实验起始时是63 nM), 对照组是57 ± 15 nM,增长显著。(Guzman, 2007 IV 

另一项实验中作者用四条缅甸蟒实验310天。其中两条蛇完成了实验。这两条蛇在一开始时骨化二醇浓度为39 nM,310天后是244 nM,增长显著。(Oonincx, 2018 IV 

这些实验与“蛇可以从食物中获取足量维生素D3”的说法不符,前面讲过UVB照射下产生维生素D3有负反馈机制,能增长这么多倍说明他们在实验开始时离最佳状态很远。

缺乏维生素D3可能重要的健康问题:

骨化二醇有重要生理作用,包括心血管、免疫、细胞分裂和防止癌症。(Sinclair, 2020 III 

维生素D可能影响生育力、精子质量和蛋的合成(因为蛋壳要用钙来合成),胚胎也需要钙。缺乏维生素D3可能导致蛇的孵化失败,因为缺乏维生素D代谢钙可能导致缺钙,使蛇没法改变身位、破壳出蛋。

有外伤时维生素D3可能可以帮助神经的修复。

有很多人发现玉米蛇呼吸道感染,尤其是养在抽屉里的人。UVB照射可能可以增强免疫减少呼吸道感染、细菌感染、烂嘴和腐鳞,省去看兽医的费用。在出现这些问题后增加UVB照射可能会促进恢复。(Sinclair, 2021 III 

UVB通过刺激皮肤内的白细胞来调节免疫反应。还调节皮肤细胞的分裂,或许有抑制癌症的作用。

除了合成维生素D3之外,UVB对蛇的皮肤有直接好处,可以杀死病原体。紫外线可以皮肤的刺激白细胞、淋巴细胞、黑色素细胞,发挥免疫调节作用。皮肤受光照后会分泌β-内啡肽,使动物对晒太阳感到愉悦(这也是人类喜欢晒太阳的原因)

有人认为,可以用维生素粉替代UVB照射。但维生素粉有其劣势,从上面的机理讨论可以理解口服维生素失去了维生素D₃合成的自限性,若使用不当可能导致维生素D₃中毒,导致高钙血症。临床表现为全身软组织的钙沉积,如胃肠、肾脏、肺、心血管、滑膜组织上的钙沉积。【而正确衡量口服维生素D₃的剂量并不简单,并非有一定之规。如果动物已经接受了一定剂量的UVB照射时(不论是有意的还是无意的),再口服维生素补剂就可能过量;饲料动物(如小鼠)中的维生素D₃含量也并不恒定,与饲料动物的饲养条件有很大关系,一般人靠补剂提供准确的维生素D₃并不容易。】巨著《两爬内外科学》的作者 Mader 有这样的观点:

The use of commercial oral D3 supplements to avoid the expense and/or substitute for broad-spectrum (UVB) lighting should be actively discouraged.(应该积极抵制用口服D3补剂替代UVB光源以节约成本的风潮。)

UVB对促进正常行为的作用

褪黑素的合成是UVB波段吗?

夜行动物受阳光照射会导致睡眠,其原理涉及褪黑素的浓度变化。褪黑素对人的作用是促进睡眠,但对夜行动物是使其精神起来。受到UVB光照可以阻断褪黑素的合成,在melatonin-serotonin cycle中有重要作用,控制昼夜节律,调节活动水平,减轻压力。

一项对玉米蛇的研究表示,玉米蛇的自然行为(比如警惕行为)显著增加。这不但对蛇是正面福利,对饲主也是能让养蛇更有趣的措施。很多人的蛇一动不动,像是养了一块宠物石头似的,这除了缺乏丰容以外可能和缺乏UVB也有关系。(Hackett, 2013 IV 

UVB可能可以改善蛇的拒食,一项1969年的研究发现接受UV照射的拒食的蛇有一部分可以喂食了。(Laszlo, 1969 IV 

(Frances Baines)

有很多坊间证据表明蛇会主动选择进行UVB照射,灯具刚安好后,常有饲主见到蛇会“疯狂晒灯”,包括努力寻找晒灯机会、活动性增加、昼夜活动规律改变。当然,控制它们行为的因素亦可能有荧光灯管中的UVA。

这一现象尚无同行评议文章研究,但是有两篇未发表的学位论文谈及此事:

有人将 Jamaican Boas 暴露于温和的日间UVB下,并与没有UVB比较。作者发现蛇的活动增加了。(T. Bellamy, & I. Stephen, 2007,实验进行于ZSL London Zoo and Chester Zoo)

另一个类似的研究是Nail (2011),发现玉米蛇的行为和生长速率受到UVB光照的正面影响。

(Francis Cosquieri)

我要补充一个例子,UVB对蛇的重要性强到了可能可以直接决定物种/亚种的分化(Brinker, Andrew Michael. "An ultraviolet light survey of three species of semi-aquatic snakes at the Old Sabine Bottom Wildlife Management Area, with intraorder comparisons and microhabitat descriptions." UMI thesis. (2006).)

紫外对蛇的行为改变有影响有很多坊间证据,而且很多人观察到蛇确实会主动选择晒灯。有晒灯机会的蛇表现出更低的压力水平,并且有福利提升。

蟒在野外常有晒日行为,认为野生蟒不会暴露在UV下是错误的。蟒(弗格森2区)比玉米蛇(弗格森1~2区)的紫外需求多。Hollandt等人的文章(翻译见《什么才是符合球蟒习性的饲养方式?--基于行为学,对两类饲养系统的评估》)发现球蟒确实会晒灯。地毯蟒等其他澳大利亚蟒也会晒灯,并且我个人认为地毯蟒的紫外需求应该比球蟒还要高。

有恰当紫外的动物更健康,这个结论没有什么可质疑的。能活47岁的球蟒是怎么养出来的?是在引入太阳光照的前提下养出来的。有“繁育大神”炫耀他的球蟒一辈子没有光照能活十多岁,我不懂这怎么好意思炫耀,二三十岁才是正常水平。

我上面说的主要是针对蟒,因为这是我的主攻方向,其他蛇、其他爬行动物也应当有一样的结论。我不相信有任何人在使用了恰当紫外光之后,还会觉得紫外对动物没好处。为爬行动物提供恰当的紫外灯后就能看到自然的晒灯行为、甚至能看到动物会压扁自己的身体充分晒灯;动物的体色也会变得更好(有时特别明显)。

夜行、晨昏动物是否会接受紫外线

(Frances Baines)

有人认为,如玉米蛇、豹纹守宫等动物是夜行动物,在自然界中不会接受太阳辐射。这是错误的。

日行/夜行的划分并不是非黑即白的,夜行动物也会在太阳升起后外出活动,很多晨昏动物、夜行动物其实会在白天外出,只是时间不长而已。即使是在躲避状态下,爬行动物也都会将自己的部分皮肤暴露在阳光下,并接受一定剂量的UVB照射(除了极其罕见的情况,如深洞穴中的生物外)。注意,这不一定是直射的阳光,有些蛇有"mosaic basking"行为,既接受透过叶片间隙而摄入的斑驳阳光。更多的动物在睡觉的场所(如树枝、树洞、石缝等处)也会有阳光,有时是漫反射进入的阳光,即使量不大,但还是有。

天然躲避场所中也有UVB其实是很容易理解的事情。我要问,它躲者的时候,你怎么知道它在那里的?因为你看见它了。你得有光才能看见它,这说明躲避区域也是有光照的。紫外的反射规律和可见光是一样的,可见光能反射进去,紫外就能反射进去。所以动物即使在躲避,它的头、肩也是受到光照的,有时你能看到豹纹守宫把尾巴置于入口处,那这部分暴露的皮肤就可以接受光照生成维生素D3。因此,野外的生物都有接受日照的机会,并且都会利用这些资源。

文献中,Ferguson et al (2010)描述了5种晨昏、夜行或仅偶尔晒日的蛇的日UVB剂量。作者认为要模拟它们的晒日行为,应该提供适当的低水平UVB。有几项研究观察了蛇皮肤的UVB透过率,表现出蛇皮肤的UVB透过率与相应物种自己选择暴露于阳光中的剂量相关,蛇越偏向晨昏、夜行动物,皮肤对UVB更透明;晒日行为更少的蛇很可能只需较低的UVB剂量就可以实现充足的维生素D3合成,晒日行为较少不代表它们完全不需要阳光。

在其他动物中也是如此,例如夜行守宫 Coleonyx variegatus 的皮肤允许UVB透入1.21.9 mm,这与日行沙漠蜥蜴、如 Uta stansburiana、形成很大区别,它们的皮肤仅需0.30.9 mm就将UVB基本吸收了(Porter 1967). 在同一篇研究中,作者发现有7种蛇都有类似情况,皮肤透过率都是日行<晨昏<夜行;Carman (2000) 发现夜行守宫物种 Hemidactylus turcicus 的皮肤合成维生素D3的量子产率是日行沙漠蜥蜴物种 Sceloporus olivaceous 的8倍。说明即使是夜行动物,也会通过进化调节UVB的光合过程,他们可能需要利用它们微环境中微弱的(译者注:例如反射进躲避处的)紫外光、或者利用短暂外出期间接受的直射阳光来合成维生素D。 作者:鳞间笔记 https://www.bilibili.com/read/cv34460424/?spm_id_from=333.1365.0.0 出处:bilibili

UVA2的自限性

Could we estimate the effect of UVB-LED lacking UVA2 from decades of mercury vapor lamp usage? I‘ve read the UVB-LED paper by Sarina, Thomas and Frances. I see there wasn't much direct evidence (for or against) about whether exposing reptiles to UV light with a low UVA2:UVB ratio could lead to a medically significant vitamin D toxicity, and the safety of UVB-LED needs further medical trials. (I'm aware of the bearded dragons paper by Cusack in 2017.) I know mercury vapor lamps, which also have low UVA2:UVB ratios, have been utilized in zoos for many years. (Before we have conclusive trials of UVB-LED) I wonder have there been any hypervitaminosis D cases in animals exposed to mercury vapor lamps? If so, could we use these instances (or lack thereof) to gauge the real world medical effect of lacking UVA2?

Thomas Griffiths Moderator I think the 313nm peak is the saviour of MVBs. It’s RIGHT on the edge of the molar absorption ranges for Tach. and PreD3 vs Lum. and 7DHC. And in fact, when we artificially remove the peak from a MVB or even some T5s (just reduce the numbers in the data) and then analyse the data it tells the exact story that we paint. Unofficially I’ve seen/heard of quite a few zoo animals laying thin-shelled eggs when they’re under just MVBs.

Frances Baines Admin I have never seen a single report of "hypervitaminosis D" in reptiles that was confirmed as vitamin D toxicity from overproduction due to a lamp with an abnormal spectrum. However, I have seen some extraordinarily high serum 25(OH)D3 results from apparently perfectly healthy animals, including green iguanas and Caiman lizards... but normal and even very low levels from other species under the same lamps... but there have also been very strange results from certain immunoassay blood tests which have likely cross-reacted to other metabolites, as less dramatic results were obtained with LC-MS/MS assays. So it's difficult to know what's happening with some of these test results. But what convinced me that something is very different with these LEDs were the results from Cusack et al's study using the "prototype" UVB LED that was so weak that it only offered a UVI 0.24, compared to the wild bearded dragon's typical exposure to UVI 4.0 when basking. about 16 times greater... and yet that extraordinarily weal lamp enabled so much vitamin D synthesis that blood levels equalled that of wild dragons by the end of the trial. This begs the question... what if those dragons had been offered UVI 4.0 from that lamp, instead?

玉米蛇的UVB剂量需求

确定UVB的剂量很重要。Ferguson等人测量了蛇类自然栖地中的UVB水平,并将其划分为弗格森区。这是 Ferguson zone 的定义文献:(Ferguson, 2010   IV  Baines 总结了不同物种的UVB分区,并给出了相应灯具紫外线强度的表格,这是一个非常重要的工具。玉米蛇位于Ferguson 1~2区,夏日光照13小时,冬日11小时,对应的 UVI 是日平均0~1.0,最大 UVI 0.6~3.0。(Baines, 2016 IV 

可以通过观察动物行为作为调整UVB水平的参考。如果蛇选择长时间接受UVB照射,可以增加UVB的光通量。如果蛇避开UVB区域,应该尝试降低光通量或关掉看看动物是不是恢复前去这个区域。注意不光要评估UVB的量,还应该考察可见光光通量和温度,并排除短时间应激的影响。

有的时候给从未接受过UVB照射的蛇提供UVB时,可以马上看到差别。比如从来没晒灯的蛇开始晒灯,显得更活跃等等。(Sinclair, 2020 III 

紫外灯的两种布置理念

有两种布置紫外强度的方法,必须先决定采用哪种方法再决定需要提供的紫外强度(Sinclair, 2020 III  :

一个是阴影法(Shade method),即在整个栖地内提供一个比较低强度的UV,这种方法不太好,因为动物不想晒的时候也不得不晒着;

另一个是光束法(Sunbeam method),这是模拟林间地面大部分地方是阴影,只有小部分地方有斑驳的阳光区域。对应到栖地内,就是在栖地的一部分(1/3~1/2)提供一个比较高的UVI指数,然后提供一个梯度逐渐衰减到0。后者的UVB晒点要足够大,让动物可以自行决定是否晒灯,更推荐后者的方法。

灯泡安装的位置,使用阴影法时应该占据爬箱的3/4长度或者全厂,前提是必须有UVI为0的阴影区;使用阳光法应该让灯照范围不超过栖地一半,以保证动物可以方便的找到阴影区。

更建议使用光束法,提供UVB的梯度(注意这需要栖地够大),提供避光的躲避,使得动物可以针对自身需求进行调节(有证据表明爬行动物可以自己调节接受UVB照射的程度,文中有个引文)。建议可以按相应区域UVI的最大值(对玉米蛇是0.6~3.0)确定离UVB最近点的UVI值。(Ferguson, 2010   IV 

要注意温度和UVB的匹配性,不要让动物为了获得高温,就必须接受超剂量的UVB辐射,或者相反。栖地里的UVB梯度应该有能衰减到0的位置。

白化玉米蛇的紫外需求

Anderson DVM 在 Animals at home 采访中被问及白化种的UVB需求时,表示他不认为有任何医学状况是不该给UVB的,只要灯具合格,强度合适,动物可以自己选择躲避。(Youtube ID Rg2HoYpq0fQ)

紫外光的“必要性”

(Francis Cosquieri)

(括号中的人名标注了其下内容来自哪位专家,下同;多位专家发表相似观点时,仅择其一)

在讨论前,首先要纠正一个误区,很多人误以为UVB对爬行动物是可有可无的、认为缺乏UVB的效果可以完全由钙粉弥补;在此错误认知下很容易轻易得出“给白化动物提供UVB有弊无利”的错误结论,这是不负责任的。

因此,在讨论为白化动物提供光照的潜在风险之前,必须了解紫外光的生理作用。这些作用与是否白化无关,但我们必须了解这些内容,这样才能认识到“光照决策的衡量应有利弊两面”。

另一个很常见的错误逻辑是“UVB有好处、但不必要”。说“白化爬行动物不‘需要’UVB”,“很多人的白化动物养了XX年没提供UVB也没事”,“没有UVB也能活”。

那什么是“不必要”呢?活到完整的寿命必要吗?舒适的温度必要吗?最佳健康状态必要吗?满足娱乐和精神必要吗?这些人非要强调“必要性”,那“养宠物”对人来说必要吗?

作为宠物饲主,我们应当认同你所提供的条件应该超过“必要”的限度,达到提升生活质量的程度。如果一个饲养要素被确定有好处,即使其没有“必要性”,也应当尽可能提供。所以不该问UVB对爬行动物是否“必要”,而是它是带来益处。

白化动物主观上更畏惧UVB吗?

(Frances Baines)

白化的蛇畏惧的是UVA1和可见光(既爬行动物的可见光范围),畏光和UVB无关。

白化可分为两类,一类“白化”基因是降低了黑色素的生成,但皮肤上仍有部分黑色素,眼中也有“正常的”黑色,称作“hypomelanistic morph”。这些变异种的眼色素正常,通常它们并不畏光,皮肤的保护也比完全的白化个体好一些,应该给这些动物提供正常的光照。

另一类“真正的白化”是变异导致的皮肤和眼中的黑色素完全缺失。“真正的白化”个体皮肤为白色,瞳孔为红色(而不是黑色,因为视网膜前缺乏黑色素层)。

白化动物因为视网膜和虹膜缺乏黑色素层,缺乏为光敏细胞过滤光照的功能,UVA和可见光的强度在到达视网膜前未衰减,高亮度光会导致不适甚至疼痛,会畏光。在提供强可见光时,具有红色瞳孔的白化动物(包括爬行动物、鸟类、哺乳动物,也包括患白化病的人)会因强光感到眩目,长期的强可见光照射可能导致晶状体中的白内障或视网膜损伤,可能损伤视力,在人类中这被称为黄斑变性。

有眼皮的物种,如白化的豹纹守宫,在阳光下会眯眼,当然,有粉红色眼睛的蛇也畏光,蛇并不能眯眼,所以它们会直接从强(可见)光区域走开。亦有实验表明白化个体会主动避免晒灯,例如Hollandt等人的实验中(原文已由 @乌拉圭vs袋鼠 和 @冬青动物志翻译,《什么才是符合球蟒习性的饲养方式?--基于行为学,对两类饲养系统的评估》)实验发现,白化种主动选择的的晒灯时间(10 ± 2 min/day)远远低于非白化种(144 ± 13 min/day),相比色素正常的球蟒,白化球蟒去含紫外线晒点的次数少、停留时间也要短得多,只有10分钟。

但是,畏光原因并不是UVB,研究表明,蛇的眼鳞、角膜和虹膜几乎会吸收全部的UVB,如下图是Doorn等人(2005)用蛇蜕测得的蛇眼鳞透射光谱。所以,白化动物的理想UVB的辐照度与畏光问题无关。

img_80.png

几种游蛇蛇蜕眼鳞部位的透射光谱

白化动物接受UVB照射时更易患光性角结膜炎吗?

(Frances Baines)

我们应该首先回顾一般(非白化)动物“UVB过量”导致的问题,它应该分两种情况讨论:

一种情况是“UVB的光谱不正确”,既灯会发射危险的非天然UVB甚至UVC,这里的案例有(在下列视频的最后一节有讨论):

荧光灯管错用荧光剂配方:在2006-2007年,我参与了一项研究,研究的动机是当时有几种中国产的爬行动物荧光灯管导致了严重的问题,这些灯的紫外辐照度远远低于天然阳光,但是却导致了光性角结膜炎、甚至导致了皮肤损伤和动物死亡,在那时,没有人理解这一矛盾的原因。我们研究发现,这是因为这批荧光灯管使用了为医用目的而设计的“光疗荧光剂”作为涂料,他们还使用了过滤作用较差的玻璃材质、以增加灯管的紫外辐照度,这些灯不但会发射天然UVB(295315 nm),还会发射非天然的短波UVB(280290 nm)、甚至触及UVC(<280 nm)。在同样的辐照度下,这些短波辐射对细胞的损伤远远高于天然的UVB辐射。

荧光灯管荧光剂涂敷过程的品控问题:即使荧光灯管的配方合理、但是内层荧光层受到损伤,而外层玻璃未能充分滤去“泄露”的UVC,也可能导致此类问题,我观察到有的荧光灯管的荧光图层呈“条纹状”,其光谱中就有较小的UVC发射峰。

缺乏前过滤片的卤灯:还有另一种危险的产品,就是缺乏前过滤片的卤灯,这些灯常被作为UVA/UVB灯出售,但它也有UVC问题。卤灯灯珠为了耐热而普遍采用石英封装灯丝,石英无法过滤UVC。所以未经过滤片处理的石英卤灯灯珠会发射UVC,使用这类卤灯时,必须有外层过滤片滤去其黑体辐射中的UVC组分。

UVB-LED:最近兴起的 UVB-LED 灯也有这个问题,它们选用的UVB-LED灯珠可能会产生短波 UVB 甚至 UVC,甚至有产品直接使用 UVC 灯珠。(译者注:注意,这与 这条动态讨论过的 UVB-LED 缺乏 UVA2 而可能导致的维生素D3过量问题是独立的两个问题。)

另一种情况是“UVB剂量过高”,例如选用了一个优质的UVB光源,但是光源放置的离动物太近,导致动物等于受到了热带沙漠地区正午的太阳辐射,但动物却觉得只是在正常的晒太阳(译者注:因为可见光照度未与紫外辐照度匹配)。即使灯具的光谱合理,如果动物被允许走到离灯管过近的地方,那也会导致PKC。

两种情况都可能造成急性及慢性问题。

在超极量的UVB照射下,急性光照损伤通常在12小时内显现,最典型的病症是光性角结膜炎(photo-kerato-conjunctivitis,PKC),角膜只有几层细胞厚,是眼睛最脆弱敏感的组织,光性角膜炎的主观感受被描述为“眼睛里进了玻璃碴”,极为疼痛,常导致动物拒绝睁眼,眼皮也可能中行。万幸的是,及时撤去相关的UVB光照后,相关症状通常在几天内快速消失,轻度急性晒伤不需要治疗。但对于幼体来说,PKC导致的疼痛和失明导致的压力可能使动物休克。我在2006~2007年研究过相关案例,其(幼体的)死亡率约10%。

人类的雪盲症和电焊工的弧光眼病都是光性角结膜炎。光性角膜炎和光性结膜炎的成因相同,但症状不同,对人类的角结膜炎:

  • 结膜炎一般不导致疼痛或畏光。急性结膜炎不影响视力,一般有自限性,不治疗在1周内痊愈,治疗时在310天内痊愈。慢性结膜炎不易治疗,可能导致眼睛瘙痒、有异物感、灼烧感、有分泌物等。
  • 角膜的神经末梢丰富,因此,角膜炎常有严重眼痛(被表述为“眼中进了玻璃”)、眨眼时加重,伴有畏光,会持续至炎症消退。角膜的炎症在及时治疗时可以不丧失视力;但若不及时治疗,可能导致视力下降或致盲。
  • img_81.png

(人眼)角膜和结膜的关系

具体到白化动物,在正常的紫外光谱和辐照度条件下,目前其实没有明确证据表明导致白化蛇患光性角膜炎的UVI剂量低于野生型个体。

这不意味着白化动物接受过量UVB照射的风险和正常体色的动物一样,显然并非如此。但我(指Frances Baines)想说的是,白化动物的UVB照射过量导致光性角结膜炎的风险并不严重,在传播中被夸大了。

目前所有的爬行动物晒伤案例中,要么是光源光谱不合理、要么是所提供的UVI数值远远超过了正常水平。反过来说,在光源光谱正常、且提供正常水平的UVI两个前提下,在兽医学报道中,不论是不是白化的,没有任何一篇经过同行评议的报道中有爬行动物被灯晒伤的案例,一篇都没有。

在2007-2010年,有三个品牌的紫外灯的灯谱中会发射非天然的短波UVB(<290 nm),导致了爬行动物的晒伤问题,我当时为了撰文发表此事(译者注:后发表为文章 《球蟒和蓝舌石龙子的光性皮肤炎和光性结膜炎》 D. Gardiner, F. Baines, K. Pandher, J. Zoo Wildl. Med. 2009, 40, 757.),对所有类似的病例做了极为详细的研究,我收集了超过100例动物的光性角结膜炎(PKC)的案例和少数几例导致皮肤晒伤的案例,但未有一例是受到有合格光谱的灯具提供正常强度的UVI所导致的。这从负面说明只要灯具有合格光谱、并且控制于(译者注:与非白化动物相似的)正常强度下,很可能并不会导致白化蛇个体的光性角结膜炎。

(Chris Phillips)

我的所有玉米蛇都有UVB光照,一出壳就提供。很多是 amelanistic 和 albino 变异,包括 reverse okette 变异,它们有粉色的瞳孔和黄色/红色的体色。弗格森区建议提供的UVI水平类似于你坐在大树下的数值(开放的阴影区,2.0)或在灌木丛下面(1.0)。就我的经验,我从未观察到我的玉米蛇有UVB导致的晒伤问题,从喂食行为来看也没有视力问题。蛇的眼鳞可以阻挡UVB,所以你担心的眼睛问题根本不存在。

(Thomas Griffiths)

因为其定义的原因,弗格森区规定的UVI范围是相当保守的。在这个问题上,我们在圈养环境下给一般的白化动物提供的光照离伤害眼睛的辐照度还差得远了。我们推荐瞄准弗格森区的低限照射。除此之外,没有什么其他理由不给这些个体提供光照。

白化动物更易晒伤皮肤吗?

(Frances Baines)

考虑到给玉米蛇提供的UVB强度只是阴影区的阳光强度,在(皮肤晒伤)这方面没有明确论据支持给白化玉米蛇选灯时和非白化玉米蛇要有区别。白化与否,两种玉米蛇都会喜欢有阴影区的环境,例如落叶、假灌木、树皮卷等,以提供可以在斑驳的阳光下“secretive basking”的环境。

蛇的皮肤比人的皮肤对UV的抵御能力强,对超额紫外的耐受能力比人高得多。正常的低水平UVB光照不应对蛇或其他喜阴物种造成伤害。(译者注:人的皮肤即无鳞、也几乎无毛,在光照皮肤损伤问题上人类才是陆生脊椎动物中的特例,在此问题上不应盲目推广针对人类的研究结果。)

有一项相关实验测试了这一问题,Cheng Chang(常城)和 Rong-Liang Zheng (2003) 将黑眉锦蛇暴露于非天然(短波)紫外光照下、施加远超合理剂量的紫外光照,并记录其效果。(Chang, C. and Zheng, R., 2003. Effects of ultraviolet B on epidermal morphology, shedding, lipid peroxide, and antioxidant enzymes in Cope’s rat snake (Elaphe taeniura). Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology, 72:79-85. 刘重斌,常城,王子仁,李仁德,佘秋生.紫外线对荒漠沙蜥皮肤形态、蜕皮、脂质过氧化和抗氧化酶的影响[J].动物学报, 2006, 52(3):542-550.)

要注意,它们使用的灯是短波UVB灯,发射峰值在297 nm。我强烈怀疑他们用的紫外灯是“光疗灯”,使用的是与我的文章《球蟒和蓝舌石龙子的光性皮肤炎和光性结膜炎》(Gardiner et al. J Zoo Wild Med, 40(4):757-766)中的发光方案类似,提供了很多非天然UVB,而这很有可能是导致皮肤损伤的主要原因。我测试过与文中用的灯具同类的灯,我发现这类灯UVB = 100 µW/cm²的辐照度相当于UVI = 10.2,是热带接近正午的辐照度水平。但对阳光光谱的灯具来说,UVB = 100 µW/cm²对应的UVI则低得多(译者注:UVB/UVI比值大小是一种衡量灯具是否含有非天然短波辐射的一种粗略方法,相当于“只有两个数据点的光谱”;这一比例数值越小,含有有害短波辐射的可能性就越大)。导致这些灯可能在低辐照度下产生较高的光损伤效应。他们使用的光照是不正常的,夸大了UVB的影响。

实验发现,在使用这样具有不合理光谱的灯具的前提下,当研究者将皮肤样本暴露于40 mJ/cm²的UVB辐照后12~24小时,人的上皮中产生了很多晒伤细胞(sunburn cells,病理结果),但黑眉锦蛇需要显著更高的皮肤晒伤剂量才能达到相同结果,所需的剂量是24小时300 mJ/cm²(UVI ≈ 30);12小时500 mJ/cm²(UVI ≈ 50);或即时800 mJ/cm²(UVI ≈ 80)。注意到这个剂量是极其离谱的!没有任何人会同意给蛇提供这样的剂量。而文中的使用了光谱如此离谱的灯,提供了如此离谱的高辐照度、还得出黑眉锦蛇对光的容忍性很强,说明蛇的皮肤对自然阳光的耐受能力非常强,这(从进化上)表明这种蛇在野外很可能可以耐受将自己暴露在阳光下。实际上,黑眉锦蛇皮肤的角质层遮挡了95%的光,只令5%的UVB到达表皮基底层。与之相对,白人皮肤的透过率是30%,黑人是10%。

皮肤抗晒伤性能上,白化玉米蛇与非白化玉米蛇很可能差不多。白化变异对紫外抵抗能力的影响被过度泛化了。白化对皮肤的角质厚度没有影响,仍有角质带来的皮肤保护功能。它们确实缺失了色素的保护、对强UV的保护作用下降了,但蛇的皮肤对过量UVB导致晒伤的抗性本来就非常强,并且给玉米蛇提供的UVB强度只是阴影区的阳光强度,没有人给蛇提供极强的UV,所以皮肤晒伤问题并不是白化动物接受UVB光照的主要风险。

白化动物更易患皮肤癌吗?

(Frances Baines)

紫外线照射导致蛇的慢性光照损伤的证据不够充分。爬行动物的鳞状细胞癌(注意不是黑色素瘤)被认为与长期的过量UVB照射和慢性蜕皮异常有关,但相关性证据弱,我能想到两篇相关文献:Hannon, D.E., Garner, M.M. and Reavill, D.R. (2011) Squamous cell carcinomas in inland bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps). Journal of Herpetological Medicine and Surgery, 21:101-106 和 Duarte, A.R. and Baines, F.M. (2009) Squamous cell carcinoma in a leopard gecko. Exotic DVM 11:19-22.

至于皮肤癌,对哺乳动物来说,缺乏皮肤色素确实会增加非黑色素型的皮肤癌风险,但在爬行动物中,虽有鳞状细胞癌的报道,但总体上皮肤癌非常少见。这可能与上一节的讨论有类似的原因。

一个现象是,在鬃狮蜥中,皮肤癌发生最多的地方是眼皮、既皮肤最为暴露之处。因此,爬行动物抵御UV对DNA损伤导致皮肤癌的主要方法很可能主要是皮肤角质层,而不是皮肤色素。而角质的保护能力不受白化的影响。在少数爬行动物皮肤癌的案例中,未见白化/色素减退的个体的皮肤癌风险显著高于正常个体。

低弗格森区白化动物在野外难以生存的主要原因并不是因为紫外线的利用和防护,而主要是缺乏保护色而被捕食。(在缺乏天敌时)白化的蛇在野外可以生存的很好。在西班牙大加那利岛,逃逸的宠物白化加州王蛇在当地已经被列为”受关注的入侵物种“,难以清除,影响了本地原生种的数量。大加那利岛维度28度,位于“Tropic of Cancer”,UVI水平高,且全年都较强。而白化王蛇可以在这样的光照条件下建立稳定种群。

白化动物照射UVB会导致维生素D3过量吗?

(Frances Baines)

上面说过了,从安全剂量上讲,UVB合成维生素D3有自限性(译者注:原理见下方文章,不再重复)。UVB在合理的范围内过量不会导致维生素D3过量(译者注:前提是灯具的光谱合理)。

白化爬行动物的皮肤缺乏对UVB的过滤,所以UVB透过率高,合成特定量的UVB所需的辐照度更低。因此“有效剂量下限”降低了。所以(相比于未白化动物)为白化动物适当降低UVB辐照度的做法不会造成健康问题;但是我更倾向的建议是,给白化蛇个体提供正常水平的UVB光照,但通过遮蔽物和躲避提供“斑驳的阳光”,让蛇可以充分的自己控制晒灯行为。

具体操作建议

在实践中应该注意:

  • 要充分保障光热一致性;
  • 要提供匹配的可见光灯(对红眼白化个体降低可见光水平)
  • 要提供充足的躲避、庇荫处、假植;
  • 灯管应有保护措施,如配备 Arcadia Lamp Guard Pro 以防止蛇接触灯具,尤其是防止蛇爬到灯管和反光罩之间;
  • 应保证灯具的安全距离(纵向梯度过大问题),距灯20 cm内是不安全的;

【豹纹守宫】

对白化豹纹守宫,Arcadia Shade Dweller 7% UVB是不错的,放在 ExoTerra 栖地的顶网上面(译者注:注意考虑顶网的遮挡作用),与白炽灯晒灯匹配,最近的距离控制在 20 cm,此时UVI数值相当于早晨-上午的太阳;不过更常见的应该是灯距离底地面三四十厘米,此时在栖地地面上的UVI = 1,更接近树下的水平,是合理的。

(此时有人反驳说守宫应该用2.4%的 Shade Dweller Pro Arboreal 型号更合理,Dr. Baines 就此认为)我认为不要给这只豹纹守宫使用 Arcadia 2.4% Shade Dweller Pro Arboreal,即使放在栖地内部,它的输出相比 7% Shade Dweller 也弱太多了。你用 Arcadia Shade Dweller 7% UVB 在 50% 遮挡时UVI 只有 1.1,这个强度是很合适的。Arboreal太弱了,在 25 cm 外 35% 遮挡时 UVI 只有 0.3,50%遮挡只有 0.2,这个剂量没啥用,我不认为你这是在提供有效的UVB照射。

Arcadia Arboreal 版本灯管的设计初衷是可攀爬的喜阴物种,它们可以爬高,爬到离灯只有几英寸的地方,甚至是直接爬到灯的保护网上,这个灯极低的发射水平保证了在这种情况下UVI也不超过3,不会造成伤害。

地栖物种不需要这个特性,Arcadia Arboreal 对地栖物种来说太弱了。即使是白化的无纹(patternless)豹纹守宫也可以接受不超过 1.4 的UVI(弗格森1区的上限)或是 “shade method” 提供 0.5~0.7 的UVI。如果你的缸有 30 cm 高,你晒台 5 cm,那你的灯离晒台 25 厘米,使用Arcadia shade dweller 7% 的灯没有问题,即使是坐在灯下正中间都没问题。

而且我估计豹纹估计也不会坐在正中间,我养了6只豹纹守宫,有一只是patternless,都不会在开敞处晒灯(并不是睡觉,因为我如果在屋里干点啥,它们就出来看我,所以它们是主动选择不出来晒灯)。它们获取UVB的方式是隐蔽晒日行为(译者注:即将身体主要置于躲避中,利用暴露出来的少部分身体部位、或是利用反射、散射入栖地的光照来晒灯),或者接受白天休息时的斑驳光斑。我对我的豹纹守宫提供的是 T8 Arcadia 6% UVB tubes 或者 T5-NO Arcadia Shade Dweller 7% UVB Kit,从2013年以来就是这样的,没有问题。

【白化蛇类一般原则】

我们常见有这个说法:“对白化蛇降低可见光和UVI,降低一个弗格森区给灯”,我不认为这个提法会造成健康问题;但是我更倾向的建议是,给白化蛇个体提供正常水平的UVB光照,但通过遮蔽物和躲避提供“斑驳的阳光”,让蛇可以充分的自己控制晒灯行为。

【白化玉米蛇】

对白化玉米蛇,同样在恰当距离上使用 12" 8W Arcadia 7% UVB Shade Dweller是合理的。只要最近的晒灯地点不要近于 20 cm (UVI = 2.0),不要超过 30 ~ 35 cm(灯到垫材的距离)就很合适,在 25 cm 处是 UVI = 1.5,在 45 cm 处是 UVI = 0.5。

【白化球蟒】

白化的球蟒可以使用UVB。如果蛇有爬高接近UVB的选择,则只需提供很低的UVB,比如ZooMed Reptisun 5.0 13 W紧凑型荧光灯(配小型灯罩)并置于LED灯附近。提供昼夜节律。

【白化猪鼻蛇】

(被问及的是白化twinspot变异的猪鼻蛇的光照需求)猪鼻蛇本来就是阴影区的UVI需求,我建议在直射区域提供UVI = 1.0的水平(既弗格森一区的上限),并提供充足的庇荫区域。这样水平的UVI不会造成什么问题。

(Thomas Griffiths)

白化动物(和非白化动物相比)有相似的紫外需求,我建议按照原本弗格森区的下限提供。

玉米蛇是弗格森一二区之间,一区的最大UVI在0.81.4,二区在1.13.0,白化玉米蛇按其下限提供是很安全的,在此强度下不必担心眼睛出问题。

白化的豹纹守宫用比如 30 cm 8W 7% Shade Dweller UVB,在 30 cm 处的 UVI = 1.7,这样的UVI数值不会对白化的豹纹守宫有影响。如果你想更保守一些,可以在下面垫一个Lamp Guard Pro,此时会削减到 UVI = 1.1。

(Chris Phillips)

我养了很多玉米蛇,从刚出壳到成体都有,我的所有玉米蛇一出壳就晒UVB,很多是白化变异,有红眼的 reverse okette,有 butter,有很多是 amelanistic 和 albino 有红色眼睛,提供非常温和的UVB即可。我开始用 Arcadia Shade Dweller LO 8 W,提供大约最高2.0的UVI(这是自然界开放的阴影区的水平,例如树下)。也可以在 30 cm 的距离上使用一个Shade Dweller灯管。如此提供的UVB接近阴影区的数值,这都非常温和,类似于你坐在大树下(开放阴影区,UVI ≈ 2.0)或在灌木丛下面(封闭阴影区,UVI ≈ 1.0)的数值。

我其实认为玉米蛇的紫外需求更接近弗格森二区,认为即使为白化个体提供接近 3.0 的 UVI 也没有问题,当然,不是说就把蛇放在 UVI = 3.0 地方暴晒,提供 3.0,但是它所处的躲避和庇荫处显然会低一些。它们有选择出来晒灯的自由,或者也可以再躲避里、也可以爬高。蛇会自己调控晒灯行为(译者注:在满足各波段光源空间位置和强度均匹配的前提下),会依据可见光选择IRA或者紫外晒点。所以白化玉米蛇的紫外灯旁必须有匹配的可见光灯,我们的人工可见光照明本来就比太阳暗太多了。蛇的眼鳞不能透过UVB,这和蜥蜴不一样,因为蜥蜴没有眼鳞。

我用这个方案时,未见有任何一条玉米蛇有与过度光照相关的症状,并且我可以根据它们锁定和猎食冻鼠的能力判断它们的视力没有问题,长得也很好。

对白化的加州王蛇的光照设计来说,UVB 可以用比如 Arcadia Shade Dweller 12" 8 W,它提供的UVB很低,更接近阴影处的辐照度,在合理距离上不会造成伤害。带可见光的热灯也不会损伤他们的眼睛,因为我们用照度计测过,明亮的、非UVB的热灯的照度其实很低。注意提供丰容物和躲避,让王蛇可以选择。

计算紫外剂量时的影响因素

【】【自己的专栏文章】【】

可以通过UV-Tool查询一些因素的影响。(Baines, 2016 IV 

遮挡

例如上面的两种灯在网格之上安装的时候应该距离晒点25~35 cm(假设遮挡率35%),如果没有网格遮挡,应该距离晒点35~45 cm

有的顶盖纱网可以挡住35%、甚至50%的光,这个时候就要换大一号灯泡。

吸收

塑料、玻璃会吸收UVB,所以UVB灯管要么直接装到箱体内部,要么放在顶网上面,隔着塑料或者玻璃材质的顶面就没用了。

下图为我测得的不同材料在200~950 nm的吸收光谱(注意受光谱仪限制,吸光度超过2时透过光太弱,仪器无法测出具体的吸光度有多高)。可见6 mm玻璃会极为有效的吸收330 nm以下的绝大多数光;而亚克力更夸张,8 mm的亚克力板直接吸掉了380 nm以下的大部分光,所以UVB灯绝对不能隔着玻璃或者亚克力照射。(有趣的是,相机的“UV镜”比普通玻璃和亚克力的吸收截止波长还要低。)

光源距离与是否装有反射器

【】【频闪问题】【】

注意光通量随距离的关系是平方反比定律,即光强与灯距被照射表面距离的-2次方成正比。

要注意网上的数据是否带反射器,带了的强度大不一样。所引文献中分别列出了有/无反射器的情况。

光源寿命

紫外灯泡必须按说明所写的时常做更换,否则很可能开着开了,其实UVI已经降得很低。

Solarmeter的作用

上面这些因素考察起来很繁琐,另一个方法是买个仪器直接测量有效强度,需要花几百块钱买一个Solarmeter 6.5紫外光度计来测量。Solarmeter很贵,不建议就养一只动物的入门玩家卖这个,还不如买好点品牌的UVB灯,可靠品牌的灯出场时每一只都会测试UVB强度,所以只要在寿命以内,你可以根据测试数据和公式。很好的预测动物接收到的UVB剂量。(Sinclair, 2020 III 

如果动物多的话推荐买个Solarmeter,因为紫外灯管必须经常换,厂商标注的使用年限是最低年限,有的灯管能用好几倍的时间还不显著影响UVI,所以买个Solarmeter 6.5能省下灯管钱,UVI衰减到不能接受了再换。

频闪问题

https://www.hereinspaziert.de/VG-Licht/Licht_VG.htm

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ReptileLighting/posts/3164077547060153

Roman Muryn Admin · The choice of basking lamp for us reptile keepers depends on a few factors, the power, the light source itself and finally, how the light is radiated or reflected. For example, a high wattage lamp may have its illumination diffused by the glass globe and render its light less intense over the whole enclosure. In contrast, a reflector may focus all the light onto a small spot and increase intensity significantly; so, for the same power, two quite separate intensities. When choosing a lamp for basking, getting the balance between power, spread and intensity, is difficult and up until recently was a matter of trial and error. A methodology, where the power density is measured and can be depicted on a chart, has been developed and will help in choosing a suitable lamp. This now gives us reptile owners data and a plethora of choices from suppliers, all of which can be measured and confirmed. Wouldn’t it be good if the variables in the decision-making process were individually selectable and you could build your own lamp, configured to suit your need. The picture of the display is from Fran.

Thomas Griffiths Moderator “Those three lamp types, in balance, will provide the best full spectrum lighting that current knowledge has to offer.” (Three lamps mentioned being incandescent, LED, and a UVB source such as T5) This statement ignores UVA1, which is missing from a setup consisting of those lamps. There would be a large gap in the spectrum from around 340nm to around 420nm. This range of light is essential for our reptiles to be able to see in “full colour”, as without it everything will be tinted. Even T5 lamps don’t provide a full spectrum of UVA1. Our current best bet for this provision is metal halide lamps, which are readily available. There is certainly a way to vastly improve the ‘quality’ of the spectrum provided to animals within our current knowledge, and that is to provide a halide. It would have to be done in balance, though. I am also very wary of G9 LED capsules, as every single one that I’ve tested has a flicker index that would cause eye strain and migraines in humans, with a high risk of seizures in sensitive individuals (IEEE PAR1789 standard). I’d be very cautious about putting an animal under them or using them for viewing an animal. My report on the lamps is here: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/Ag9RWT1KD8gXZAo7/? - with all the copyright etc included for the charts

Roman Muryn Author Admin Thomas Griffiths I wonder how it is that the LEDs that are being sold haven't been rejected by anybody. Mine (G9) look just fine to me. Flicker is a complex subject, much more than you imply. How did you measure flicker? What wavelengths did you consider? Considering flicker in the context of human eyes is all that can be done. Reptiles eyes have such a huge response bandwidth; from slower skinks and geckos to catching flies in the air agamas, that you shouldn't even consider in the same sentence. Heck, I can see flicker on an MVB, and they seem to be used everywhere. Yes, some animals will see the amplitude and wavelength variation that is the basis of "flicker". Flicker is a human construct. Many lamps we have are design for human optics and will have "flicker" just beyond our perception, our human response capability. We are using them even now in vivaria. Mostly flicker is based on mains rectification frequency and cheaper LEDS go down the simplest cheapest route, not just the G9s. Yes UVa is important. Yet we humans are not capable of imagining what sight is with it, and no amount of poring over charts will give us an insight as to what reptiles actually see. Please read Immense World by Ed Yong. In fact, anybody reading this please read the book. In my vivarium tests, where I offered halide and LEDs at equal power and intensity, under equal conditions, the LEDs were chosen more often. (not just a couple of lamps but loads of them over two years), as a result of that testing many on this FB group are now using the spotlight LEDs I found through testing - to great effect. As a result of that testing, we are now moving to recognising that power density matters. It's not an opinion I had about LEDs, it's a choice they, the animals made; Monitors, Agamas, Collared etc. They were unaware of the science. I don't have a problem with Halides, none at all. I just think, and so do my animals, that some LEDs are preferable. Please don't make rules, the broadness of physiology and behaviour of our animals is such that no single hard statement will be true.

Thomas Griffiths Moderator Roman Muryn we often generalise critical flicker fusion frequency based on the limited studies on animals - many are insect-hunting birds or peregrine falcons. But there’s certainly some studies on non-human animals. PAR1789 has been around for circa 12 years now, and there’s a lot of devices available for measuring it. I measure with a handheld Bluetooth device on-the-go (OPPLE device), but the spectrometer can often calculate it in a controlled environment too. The LFA-3000 is a standard in the lab, designed for LEDs so it considers 400-700nm. There’s undoubtedly good G9 lamps out there. I’m just yet to find any that I like. It’s not just about the animals, but also about us as keepers viewing the animals. I wouldn’t want a photo-sensitive individual to have a seizure whilst observing their new pet that they’ve set up in their child’s bedroom. The ‘flicker’ you’re referring to is the frequency, but that actually doesn’t play a part in Flicker Index at all. Frequency is the “old method” where flicker is concerned. I only refer to Flicker Index. Flicker Index considers modulation depth and averages, and doesn’t consider frequency at all. And there’s loads of studies on even “invisible flicker” having an immediate (less than 5 minutes) impact on migraines, vision, and strain. And it’s even noticed in cats. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/224188247_LED_lighting_flicker_and_potential_health_concerns_IEEE_standard_PAR1789_update UVA1 also has other benefits, such as cortisol reduction. And there are studies showing increased beta-endorphins after UVA exposure. UVA also appears to “prepare” the skin for UVB exposure with increasing Nitric Oxide etc. - it’s much more than colour vision. It’s not about making rules as you’ve claimed. I merely make note of your comments - If the aim is to provide the “best full spectrum” as you say in your writeup then we shouldn’t ignore UVA1, which your setup does. It’s not the “best full spectrum” unless it contains the full spectrum. And it’s not necessarily difficult to implement UVA1 in a balanced way. It’s as simple as that statement (“best full spectrum”) being true or false - and if you don’t provide UVA1 then the statement is false. Some of the modern LED lamps (Exo Terra TerraSkyUV) include it as a standard now. And anecdotal evidence suggests animals really enjoy sitting under them out of choice (I know Liam Sinclair can attest to this as he recently installed one too).

Liam Sinclair Thomas Griffiths Roman Muryn nothing is full spectrum unless it represents the spectrum fully and that includes UVA1. It’s in the name surely.

Roman Muryn Author Admin Wizard of Oz, over the week end its eg hunts, bunny hops and Bear hunts. Then next week packing for exotic climes.Late April this needs picking up. 1d

Thomas Griffiths Moderator Roman Muryn I’ll be attending to work on the matter in the coming days and weeks. There’s always much to discuss with this. I’m doing lots of flicker testing at the moment from a few different perspectives in the zoo world, as well as UVA1 with new and old products in the pet world. So it’s on my mind a lot. I’ll see when I’m free.

Roman Muryn Author Admin I dont have time, but the Flicker stuff is just a red herring. I have Corns in the living room, long strips in the kitchen, I have G9s, and various LED types in the garage, Flicker never an issue. Saying its an issue doesn't make it so. Cross-referring to the reptile application would be simply fallacious. Yet in a weird way we, will later in this debate, come full circle to it. Lets take it slowly. I fully agree with your comment that full spectrum must include UVb. Its a weakness of my statement. It should also include visible light at full magnitude. Not the pissy 40,000lux we may offer on a good day but the full 120,000lux that we get in real life. The problem is it aint practical. The inefficiencies of our lighting would cook the inmates. Our enclosures are too small. And what time of day are you talking about? In the morning when they are basking and the blue end of the spectrum is low? Well some of them might be basking, Or at night when there is no real UV, or at midday when mad dogs are out with the occasional chuckwalla. Its a bugger to define. Its a pain because despite the shed load of unknowns, intuitively you and I know that UVa a plays a part. That extra cone would not have evolved, would it? I know you have quoted a couple of examples, but I don't think they are the big deal. There is more. I've been looking for months for an answer. So yes the arrangement is not full spectrum.. I would still use it. When I get back this should be picked up as it needs attention.

Thomas Griffiths Moderator Roman Muryn I think you’re missing the point of the flicker being an issue. It may not be an issue for you. But it IS a thing, and not in the way you appear to understand it. Flicker Index is a recognised standard. It’s recognised in zoos for animals when conducting welfare audits as part of newer WAZA rules, and it’s recognised for humans in places like offices when conducting risk assessments for workers. It’s one reason Everfine spent millions investing in the technology to measure, and collect data on, the flicker index of lights. I have pages and pages of reports that have been produced on the matter when creating animal lighting. And it’s the subject of much debate about ill-health in thousands of people every year. If humans placed under lamps with a high Flicker Index get unwell, it’s not a red herring. I wouldn’t want my photosensitive nephew to have a seizure when looking at his pet beardie, or when looking at the Komodo at the zoo. Him and thousands of others. There is no debate - it’s very real. And if we know that there are health implications on those who may NOT be extremely photosensitive, I wouldn’t want to consider the welfare of an animal “forced” under those lights. To NOT make cross-references to reptiles would be silly. We make cross-references with all other biological effects of light on animals, including yourself with regards to infrared. As for UVA1, crepuscular animals tend to be more sensitive to it visually. (I say tend because there’s many that break the rule). If we look at the light at twilight or through Raleigh Scattering, and light reflected from the moon, UVA1 plays a role and is present. It’s involved in so many factors that I think are all applicable, and I think they certainly are a big deal. You can focus on infrared, and the questions raised over the fact that water-filtered-IR doesn’t have nearly as much of a heating effect on skin as unfiltered IR. I find that very interesting indeed. But my primary focus is on other matters of lighting and the full spectrum including UVA1. And the flicker index does form a small part of that. My original comment was based on your statement that the “best full spectrum” was made up of a T5, LED, and Incandescent. I simply offer that this isn’t true. It’s a good setup, better than most pet reptiles are offered for sure. But it’s not the best we realistically have to offer.

Roman Muryn Author Admin As a matter of interest, when you said the G9 LEDS all have flicker What did you measure? How did you measure it? what parameters did you record and what criteria did you use to determine that the flicker was significant?

Thomas Griffiths Moderator Roman Muryn all the G9 LEDs I’ve tested have had significantly high Flicker Index - we have to be careful with photosensitive kids so it was something I did a lot of. It was also a particular area of interest with working with slow motion filming equipment for BBC, although that was primarily based on frequency and not Flicker Index. The parameters are dictated by IEEE PAR1789, so its modulation vs averages of peak-to-peak amplitude. The criteria is all set by that standard, which has been around for some time now and made by the IEEE. As a hand-held on the go device, I use an OPPLE LightMaster Pro. In the lab an Everfine LFA-3000 is often used as a part of testing.

Roman Muryn Author Admin So to confirm you measured the LEDs against PAR1789 which a standard defining Flicker frequencies for humans. What bandwidth was the sensor that produced the modulation curve? 10h

Roman Muryn Author Admin That nice lamp you showed was that the one at Drayton at the conference? 10h

Thomas Griffiths Moderator Roman Muryn I tend not to focus on frequency as much because for most applications it will be 100Hz (50Hz twice cycled). I focus a lot on Flicker Index which doesn’t consider frequency. Although for risk assessments the IEEE does consider frequency. When measuring for family with photosensitivity, yes - this is what is done. I think it’s fair to extrapolate human standards here, for two main reasons: 1- Humans are the ones keeping the animals. We must be able to do so safely. 2- we extrapolate a whole manner of other human-centric standards onto our animals, UVI, Lux, etc. When focusing on animals and welfare audits, frequency is also considered for some birds for example. This is because many species have shown a higher CFFF, and they CAN see the strobing from lamps. The OPPLE sensor in this instance focuses on changes in lux over a period of time - so around 400-700nm. It also reads CRI which is a nice touch. The reason for this wavelength range is that it’s human vision-based. And the LED lamp I showed the spectrum of with the UVA above wasn’t at the conference, no. It’s an Exo Terra product which to my knowledge isn’t realised yet (but I’m not sure!). It runs through a DC transformer so there is no issue with Flicker Index and has that wonderful UVA1 covered nicely. 9h

Roman Muryn Author Admin I get it, you are a health and safety tester for these installed lamps. Yet you relate the results to reptiles, How do you compare the light flicker responses to faster animals such as Lacrtids and Anoles. 9h

Edited Thomas Griffiths Moderator Roman Muryn for my purposes in day-to-day keeping at home (I’m not a health and safety tester by any stretch though) I look for a low risk for seizures in humans (aka my family) viewing the animals. That’s VERY important. And I don’t think you’d considered it when making a recommendation of G9 LEDs seeing as you hadn’t mentioned or maybe even heard of PAR1789 until I made comment about it. That’s why I brought it up in my original comment as a side-note alongside the primary comment which was in relation to UVA1 and “best full spectrum”. I really do think that ensuring that human caretakers don’t suffer when keeping animals should form a very valid part of designing a lighting rig. The concept of Critical Flicker Fusion Frequency isn’t simple, as I said above in another comment. There are studies on animals (a few on birds are very interesting!) and again as I said above the general rule tends to follow fast-moving animals or animals with fast-moving prey. You raise a good question about some animals. And this is something welfare officers are considering currently. In WAZA welfare audits the current consensus is (according to recent talks at summits in Italy, for example) to maintain low flicker index until we can be sure of otherwise for all taxa. Natural light helps here. It’s not [just] ME making the comparison, it’s zoo welfare staff and teams. As I say, we extrapolate human-centric standards across to reptiles all the time. UVI is a human standard. Lux is designed for human vision (and in fact this paper does a really good job of making me think more about it: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/373474063_Beyond_Lux_Methods_for_Species_and_Photoreceptor-Specific_Quantification_of_Ambient_Light_for_Mammals). We measure CRI, which is a human standard (set by CIE). We put effort into considering lumens per watt when looking at lamp efficiency, that’s human-based. In exotic medicine, many of the prescriptions are unlicensed human drugs that we know work on reptiles. Thus, extrapolating another human standard onto animals really isn’t a crazy idea or unscientific as you may be trying to imply. We know of cFFF for Anolis, Tuatara, Toads, and a few others. And we know that in cats there are unconscious processes in place when exposed to lights with frequencies of 100Hz and 120Hz. It’s certainly not beyond belief that light flickering at a visible rate or even an invisible rate can affect our animals. Perhaps the reason your animals didn’t like your halides was because the ballast was causing a flicker that they couldn’t see but they didn’t feel “good” under? I wouldn’t put that out of the realm of possibility. But all of this has digressed, the main comment was to do with UVA1 being missed from your “best full spectrum”. The flicker thing was more of a side comment about my dislike of G9 LEDs given my experience with them in the slow-motion filming world and exposure to seizures (in others) from them. I do, though, agree that an “array” of lamps would work beautifully as you described - a spread of incandescent and LED lamps over an enclosure. It’s a good idea.

Liam Sinclair Thomas Griffiths health and safety 😂 I’ll get you a high vis jacket lmao

昼夜节律

【Hodgson2024,昼夜温差的好处 Best of both worlds Acclimation to fluctuating environments confers advantages and】

https://www.bilibili.com/read/cv33265137/?from=readlist

光热一致性

日照时间

【Bertolucci2004,可见光对昼夜节律的影响.pdf】

玉米蛇的光照要求是:每日12-14小时。如有条件,可以让夏季光照比冬季更长。(奥地利动物饲养条例, 2022  V 

下图是 35 °N 纬度上的太阳起落时间(注意日出前和日落后还有额外的光、热)。

有人说因为玉米蛇夜行,所以不必提供灯光。这是错误的,一方面玉米蛇有晨昏动物属性,会在尚有阳光时活动;另一方面即使是夜行动物也需要有光照提供昼夜节律。正如同你自己是日行动物,但24小时开着和太阳灯照你那是审犯人才有的酷刑,照上四五天就疯了。

有人通过实验在爬宠上验证了类似现象,如果不给ruin lizard提供直射光,动物的昼夜节律直接消失了。(Foà, 2004 IV 

可见光是调节晒灯行为和体温调节的主要刺激形式。

光源

目标:模拟太阳

太阳仍然是最好的照明光源。目前没有任何一种单一的人造光源可以在有限成本下同时模拟太阳光的光谱和光强。

上面讲了太阳各波段的光对爬行动物生理过程的影响,几乎已经覆盖了太阳光的各个波段。爬宠照明设计的目的就是尽可能覆盖爬宠所需光照的各个波长范围,并调整每个波段的强度。

关于太阳光的光谱参见这一章节,这里再放一下太阳光光谱,用于与下面的人造光源比对

另外还有太阳造成的次级辐射,比如热物体的热辐射,太阳晒热的岩石在太阳落山后会释放热辐射,其光谱约为数十摄氏度的黑体辐射谱,几乎完全是IRC。

栖地光源设计

Sinclair重要采访,有很多图 【】【https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr4Im82cUpM】【】

下图展现了一些爬宠加热光源的红外区发光,可以见到温度对黑体辐射的影响。图片下方的表格是不同红外光源的各波长总功率比例。这一组数据非常有实践意义,仅根据黑体辐射定律、不需要任何具体材料信息就能从最基本的黑体辐射公式计算出来。(这组数据会在红外光源章节再出现一次。)

从图表中可见,低温物体的发光(如室温附近的加热垫)主要以长波红外IRC为主;增加温度到1000 °C左右,会出现中长波的红外线IRB和少量短波红外线IRA;增加到3000 °C,会辐射少量可见光,并有大量的IRA和IRB。太阳温度更高,主要是更短波的可见光。

   商品名                    英文名称                                     黑体辐射温度                紫外/可见                IRA                IRB                IRC            
  ---------              ---------------------------              --------              -------              -----              -----              ------          
   (太阳)                   (Sun)                                   5700 K               52%                  32%                14%                2%             
   白炽灯泡/卤灯                Incandescent                             3300 K                10%                  40%                40%                10%            
   远红外加热灯                Deep heat projector (DHP)                1450 K                0%                   10%                50%                40%            
   陶瓷加热灯                  Ceramic heat emitter                     500K                 0%                   0%                 1%                 99%            
   加热垫                    Heat mat                                 300K                0%                   0%                 0%                 100%           

【】【】【】

野外的红外光光源有两种:

  • 太阳辐射,其光谱约为6000K的黑体辐射谱,以IRA为主;
  • 热物体的热辐射,如太阳晒热的岩石产生的热辐射,其光谱约为数十摄氏度的黑体辐射谱,几乎完全是IRC。

为爬行动物饲养箱提供热量的目标是尽可能准确地模拟其在野外体验到的热量形式。

目前栖地中的加热灯所用的发光原理都是热物体的黑体辐射(加热垫还有显著成分是热传导)。特定波长的黑体辐射强度满足如下规律:

Intensity = (2 * h * c^2) / (λ^5 * exp((h * c) / (λ * k * T)) - 1))

【】【注意用黑体辐射算太阳是不对的!因为臭氧层、二氧化碳、水之类的有吸收】【】

下图是利用黑体辐射公式制作的人工红外光源(热源)的光谱(已对红外波段部分做了归一化),这张图非常重要,可以非常直观的理解各种光源优劣的原因:

商品名 英文名称 黑体辐射温度 紫外/可见 IRA IRB IRC
(太阳) (Sun) 5700 K 52% 32% 14% 2%
白炽灯泡/卤灯 Incandescent 3300 K 10% 40% 40% 10%
远红外加热灯 Deep heat projector (DHP) 1450 K 0% 10% 50% 40%
陶瓷加热灯 Ceramic heat emitter 500K 0% 0% 1% 99%
加热垫 Heat mat 300K 0% 0% 0% 100%

【】【把各种灯集中到一起,积分各部分波长占比】【】

【注意下面这些光谱缺乏强度校准】

【】【images/Emission_Spectrums_Florescent_And_UVB_Self_Measured.png" width=403 />

【】【images/Emission_Spectrums_LEDs_Self_Measured.png" width=403 />

【】【images/Emission_Spectrums_Halogen_Self_Measured.png" width=403 />

【】【images/Emission_Spectrums_Incandescent_Self_Measured.png" width=603 />

直接用太阳光

【】【】【】

荧光灯管

Thomas Griffiths Moderator The brand itself? Lucky Reptile have some decent heat lamps. But in terms of the exact lamp you’ve pictured (Lucky Reptile Lucky Herp 2 pack T5 UVB 10.0 24 W), we wouldn’t recommend it. We only recommend those that have been properly independently tested - which these have not.

Thomas Griffiths Moderator The factory is the same yes. Zoo Med and Arcadia use Sylvania for their lamps. Reptile Systems and Leap use Narva.

荧光灯管的dimming

Sarina Wunderlich Dimmable ballsts have been around like "forever". I especially liked the older/simpler ballasts with 1-10V interface, where you could just solder a small capacitor to the interface, so that the lamped on itself dimmed from 1% to 100% in like 20-30 Minutes. I used that as a "wake up light" for myself roughly 20 years ago. No app or complicated electronics needed.

T5 vs T8 T5 Ø16MM T8 Ø26MM

T8经常比T5衰减的快,T8更便宜(【FILL_REF_AUTHOR: Keepint 170+ Reptiels Properly | Francis Cosquieri】 III 

Thomas Griffiths Moderator Hello Cayce, There are a few differences between these lamp types. And a few similarities too. They are both tubes, and work in an identical way in terms of their internal parts. They work by chemicals inside causing a phosphor coating to fluoresce. A T5 is five eighths of an inch in diameter. Hence the 5. A T8 is eight eights of an inch (aka, one inch) in diameter. Hence the 8. T5s also come in a variety called a High Output, (T5HO, T5-HO, HOT5, etc). Both T5 lamps and T8 lamps can be suitable for a range of animals. Generally speaking, T5HO lamps tend to be recommended for popular animals such as Bearded Dragons etc because their output is high and thus they have a greater “usable distance”. The beauty of these lamps is the phosphor coating. They are well refined (or rather, the good quality ones are!!) and can simulate the sun’s UVB very closely. There are other fluorescent lamps that can have a great spectrum too. Some compact fluorescent lamps are really nice. However, their strength isn’t quite as high as that of a tube lamp. The 65W Zoo Med Mega Compact lamp has a usable distance similar to that of an Arcadia 6% ProT5 24W.

Mathieu Pierret T5 is better for everything. 1y

Frances Baines Admin Mathieu Pierret No, that is only true when high UVB is needed in the basking zone, or at a greater distance. For shade-dwelling species or those in very small terrariums T5-HO would usually be very unsuitable.

Frances Baines Admin Daniel Jackowitz everything depends on the UV level needed by the reptile. We have developed detailed charts for the T5-HO series from ZooMed and Arcadia, for example, in our Guides section of this Group. The T5-HO would be necessary, for example, if you kept a sun-basking species such as a bearded dragon or a Mediterranean tortoise species, and wanted to have your UVB tube about 14" - 18" above the basking zone - a safe and effective, practical distance above the animal for both a heat lamp and a tube. Your target is to get a UV Index 4.0, like morning sunlight, as would be ideal for a sun-basker, in his "patch of sunlight". That is absolutely impossible at 14 - 18" below a T8 tube, even with a superb aluminum reflector. Easy with a T5-HO. Rog Farnsworth I've recently tripped over T8 to T5 conversion kits. I gather there are several types but hunting for detailed information keeps leading to write ups with 'buy LED, they're better' conclusions. Totally disregarding UVB LEDs, are there any merits to T8 to T5 conversion kits for use with UVB fluros? 1y

Edited Chris Phillips Admin Rog Farnsworth T8 fixtures are running at lower wattage in order to convert to T5 you literally have to change the end caps which hold the lamp and the ballast to operate at higher wattage. If you're talking about converting a T8 fluorescent to a LED lamp that's a different story they make compatible units but not UVB as far as I'm aware If you have a hyperlink to clarify this product you're talking about I'd be happy to look at it

Rog Farnsworth Thanks Chris. I did come across mention that the power running to the end caps can be higher which obviously wouldn't be ideal. I'm not talking about LED lights designed for a T8 housing, rather the kits that change the end caps to T5 and bypass a magnetic ballast. This is one i was curious about, though i did notice the power level of the T5 looks to be half the usual power: https://www.jaycar.com.au/4ft-t5-fluoro-lamp.../p/SL2748 Other kits i've seen seem to require wiring the ballast out of operation entirely. Presumably if the T5 bulb is running at less than it's usual power the UVB output would be less than otherwise would be the case but some of the other conversion kits i saw didn't seem to mention the actual wattage the T5 would be pulling so i'm not sure if that's a feature of all types of conversion kits or just this style. JAYCAR.COM.AU 4ft T5 Fluoro Lamp Adaptor Kit | Jaycar Electronics 4ft T5 Fluoro Lamp Adaptor Kit | Jaycar Electronics 1y

Chris Phillips Admin Rog Farnsworth That's interesting is Australia still using the little starter on the very far right of the image that is like strictly non-electronic ballast technology, really old old stuff there Basically you're looking for a system with a magnetic ballast it talks about converting the 40 watt lamp to a 28 Watt... and it cannot be an electronic ballast so you might be out of luck on that aspect 1y

Edited Rog Farnsworth There are still a lot of T8 aquarium housings around that use magnetic ballasts/starters Chris though non-specialist T8 tubes are being phased out and housings along with them. There's only one mainstream T8 aquarium/reptile housing still available which does use an electronic ballast (so obviously no go with the upgrade kits) but they've only been on the market maybe 18 months or so. I wouldn't look to buy a new T8 housing myself but with so many still kicking around i couldn't help but be curious. Given the lower output however they don"t really seem worth the bother though. 1y

Edited Chris Phillips Admin Rog Farnsworth Well if you had a way of measuring the output UV index it might be worth giving it a once over but I'm not convinced that it's going to be the answer or solution Let's say you did convert 1 Typically the T5 high output lamps require 24 Watts and you're going to be over driving it slightly which would affect the longevity possibly and definitely increase the output but without a reasonable reflector it wouldn't be any better than a Bare Bulb, Which we have tested by removing the reflector to determine the output and it is extremely low without one of the proper shape and radius 1y

Edited Rog Farnsworth Yeah, i totally agree with your conclusions Chris. Unfortunately i don't have access to a Solarmeter but from independant test reports i've read of T8 and T5 fluros i can only imagine output would be horribly hobbled. Thanks for your input, it's confirmed my gut instinct as to the usefulness, or rather lack of, of T8 to T5 kits. 1y

Chris Phillips Admin Rog Farnsworth Nice chatting with you mate Thomas Griffiths Moderator Hi Danni 🙂 Mourning Geckos can be difficult, because they can sometimes like to sit directly on the mesh under a lamp. This has been touted as being a heating problem, though - they may be seeking out heat. If you have chronic “mesh crawlers”, then the ShadeDwellerArboreal lamp from Arcadia may be best suited for UV - alongside a gentle basking lamp such as a 25W Zoo Med heat lamp. If they’re well behaved, you may be able to opt for the standard ShadeDweller lamp for UV 🙂

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ReptileLighting/posts/3152210514913523

Frances Baines Admin Hi, Amanda. Welcome to the group. UVI 3.5 is absolutely fine for a bearded dragon. But other members have pointed out that the ReptiZoo fixture and tube are cheap Chinese products made with less reliable components; our tests showed that the reflector is not as strong as those sold by Arcadia and Vivarium Electronics, and the ReptiZoo UVB tube decayed (lost its UVB output) much more rapidly than either the Arcadia or ZooMed T5-HO brands. HOWEVER at present the kit you have is working well, AND you have a Solarmeter 6.5 to monitor it. My suggestion would be to keep using it as long as the UVB in the basking zone is above UVI 3.0 (your placement looks fine) then get yourself a new UVB kit. A basking zone only 9-10" from the mesh seems rather close for a good brand of T5-HO... what brand of vivarium is it? That will tell us how thich the mesh screen actually is. Hello! I’ve recently upgraded my current snake up to a 120 gallon and now have an open 40 gallon. I’m looking at possibly getting a (baby) corn snake in the near future, just more so looking at the items I need to get for the time being Specs- thrive 40 gallon enclosure, 60% block screen (so I’m going to have to Internally mount uvb) Species- corn snake Location- Canada (for product reccomendations) I have not built up the basking platform, but after substrate there is roughly 12-14 inches from substrate to mesh. What uvb, and what heat bulb should I be looking at? Thanks in advance

Frances Baines Admin For ANY snake, the UVB must be above a mesh screen, as they love to "investigate" fluorescent tube fixtures and can get into real difficulties, so if you are going to put it under the Thrive screen, you'd need to somehow fix it inside a mesh guard like the Arcadia Lamp Guard Pro... What a hassle, and cumbersome too. A Thrive screen with a 60% block can still have a lamp put above it. If you get an Arcadia Shade Dweller 12" 8watt 7%UVB Kit, on top of that screen it's safe for a snake to get to within 3-4 inches of it without getting excessive UVB (over UVI 3.0) and useful UVB (over UVI 0.5) up to 12" below it. Not a problem! 🙂 e.g. https://www.reptilesrus.ca/arcadia-shadedweller-pro-t5.../ It's a bit more difficult to work out what heat bulb you'd need because so much depends on things like room temperature, amount of ventilation, even type and colour of substrate absorbing the warmth... The mesh screen will absorb 60% of the infrared and light, too, and get hot and re-radiate it as long-wavelength infrared which will warm the air rather than light the basking zone. (Not necessarily a bad thing, mind...) I guess I'd start off with something like a 75W ExoTerra Intense Basking bulb in a small deep dome placed alongside the tube, and see what temperatures I'm getting (ambient air temp as well as surface temp below) after a 3hr warm-up... https://www.facebook.com/groups/ReptileLighting/posts/2605555312912382

I was comparing the Arcadia Natural Sunlight and Sylvania Activa T8 fluorescent tubes, specifically for the shortwave UVA wavelengths. Is it correct to decide that the Arcadia tube is giving more shortwave UVA than the Sylvania one? Or how do I need to interpretate this…? since you usually talk about the activa (or Narva biovital) when it comes to fluorescent tubes with UVA. Thanks, Jeremy

img_14.png

img_15.png

Sarina Wunderlich

Is it correct to decide that the Arcadia tube is giving more shortwave UVA than the Sylvania one? As the others already said: Yes, its more shortwave UVA in the Arcadia spectrum. But the longwave UVA that is visible to reptiles and birds, is better generated by the Sylvania. The intensity could still be slightly higher to recreate sunlight.

Frances Baines Admin Yes, the two lamps each have two "phosphor blends". They both seem to use the exact same "visible light phosphor blend" - a good triphosphor for white light for human eyes. Then the Sylvania Activa has a small amount of a UVA-emitting phosphor, creating its characteristic "bulge" peaking at about 370nm in the long wavelength UVA (under the right-hand "tail" of your red arc). These are visible wavelengths to reptiles. But the Natural Sunlight tube has a phosphor blend peaking much lower down, about 330 - 340nm in the short-wavelength UVA. This extends into the UVB, giving enough UVB for some vitamin D3 synthesis at close range, and short-wavelength UVA for control of vitD synthesis. You also see sharp "peaks" at 313nm, 334nm and 365nm. These are from the mercury vapour emission, as are the huge spikes in the purple, blue, green and orange. All fluorescent tubes have those, because all work via mercury vapour.

Thomas Griffiths Moderator I think that the best way to say it would be that it’s proportionally more UVA. I’ve not checked the lamps, but it COULD be that the Sylvania is LOADS brighter and thus overall there is more UVA, but these graphs show that proportionally the Sylvania produces less UVA than the Arcadia. If that makes sense?

Thomas Griffiths Moderator In a similar sense, the old Repti-Glo lamps from Arcadia(应该是Exoterra) seem to produce a larger proportion of UVA than most modern reptile UV lamps. I think it’s a shame that this lamp was discontinued and replaced with the “Reptile UVB 100/150/200” range. Here’s the spectrum

img_16.png

Frances Baines Admin ExoTerra ReptiGlo lamps had a very different spectrum to most other lamps, and as a result always had a strange purple-blue look to them. However, look closely at the shortest wavelengths. They are -even with the 5.0 - significantly shorter than sunlight and traces are present down to the boundary of UVC at 280nm. This made the lamps have a higher UV Index than their competitors. Which might look better on paper, but that way of achieving it makes the lamp more risky for eyes and skin, owing to the increased energy in those non-terrestrial wavelengths. Their ReptiGlo 10.0 was worse, and interestingly, when they improved the spectrum to closely resemble other brands for the UVB100 and UVB150 series, they retained it for their "extreme" series, the UVB200. Which is why I don't include it in suggestions, when people ask about T8 lamps. Here is the spectrum.

img_17.png Thomas Griffiths Arcadia like many brands has a lot of manufacturing done in china. Many of their lamps are made in china, CFL, DHP, Halogen, etc. And the ProT5 fixture is made in China too. However, the T5 tubes you see on the shelves today are still stock from Germany.

Wayne Timcoe Thomas Griffiths do we have an estimate on how long the German stock will last? I know that the facility that produced arcadia's bulbs closed. I think last year in April (sometime around then iirc)

Thomas Griffiths Moderator Wayne Timcoe Sylvania’s fluorescent production facility closed circa August 2023. I’m not sure on stock, you’d have to contact the company’

紧凑型荧光灯

汞蒸汽灯

问及Reptizoo的Dimming Thermostat

Frances Baines Admin I think the word "sunlamp" is usually referring to a mercury vapour lamp because they were originally used as tanning lamps for humans, and called "sunlamps" at that time. Mercury vapour lamps are arc lamps and can never be put on a thermostat, whether dimming or not, because the electric arc will fail, and the lamp go off, if the electric supply is reduced or cut off, and the lamp has to cool down before it will restart...

called HQL by Osram

Frances Baines在AAH采访中的评价self-ballasted mercury vapor lamps are considered outdated due to their unstable UVB output among individual lamps, narrow beam, and poor spectral quality, characterized by Hg gas emission spikes.

Chris Phillips Admin They are difficult to work with from an amateur standpoint. Many believe that the all- in- one or 3 in 1 is the answer in a single package... but it is lacking in a number of ways. They do have the spikes and short wavelengths of UVB as Frances noted giving them a very high output when measured. And as you can see they also have the green or blue glow due to the nature of the mercury vapor igniting in the glass tube behind the glass envelope. Usually the maximum Kelvin is approximately 4100 or 4200 k which is a far cry from 5,000 K daylight or 6500k As we all know they cannot be dimmed they must operate on 100% power so when you're trying to coordinate heat and UVB exposure this can be problematic because they cannot be independently manipulated. Some of the lamps that I have tested myself wear out extremely quickly within 3 to 5 months producing values of UVB or UV index below that of a fluorescent T8 lamp and on the other hand we have seen some examples here in this group where the same brand name measured extremely high, dangerously so. I have seen fluctuations myself with the ones that I have used a so-called 160 watt lamp from the same brand name purchased in 2018 gave certain specific measurements and then another one purchased in 2020 acted more like a 275-watt lamp with much higher readings. It made me wonder if the printing on the actual glass envelope was a mistake due to the high output. The one thing I have noticed even after the UVB wears away the UVA is significantly higher than anything else I own which is in my opinion somewhat valuable. Although the horrendous color green is always prevalent especially in photographs and I'm quite certain the reptiles can see it, so I do attempt to blend a multitude of LEDs and other heat lamps in an attempt to offer some attempt at daylight approaching 5000k . Even when the mercury vapor lamp is quite weak in the UVB measurements I can still get good UVA from the Mega Rays I've used over the years. I wish we had access to the European lamps such as the metal halides and other externally ballasted HIDs which are very popular on that side of the world. They have always been further advanced and I don't know why it didn't catch on over here in the USA

The proportion of UVA from 320 - 335nm, important for natural revention of excessive vitamin D3 synthesis, is very low. This is also typical of mercury vapour lamps. It is still unknown as to whether this has any long-term health consequences.

Ollie Neuman If you actually measure them and set them up correctly you won't have that problem. The actual concentrated beam from a narrow flood mercury vapor lamp is about the size of a coffee cup in diameter or a Coca-Cola can. Once you move outside of that particular beam of light the UVB or the UV index drops rapidly... much lower values / readings. However, if you don't have the ability to measure them that can get dicey.

人用无UVB金卤灯

UVB金卤灯

【需要区分下列评价时可见光还是UVB】

Frances Baines Admin Metal halide lamps are a modified, upgraded type of mercury vapour lamp, which are HID (arc) lamps that need an external ballast to drive them. Like mercury vapour lamps, the ones designed for reptiles have glass fronts that allow UVB and UVA through, but unlike mercury vapour lamps, the arc tube also contains a blend of metal halide gases, which when vapourised by the arc, release brilliant white light. Good ones are able to produce "sunlight" levels of visible light, unrivalled until recently when really good LED floodlights have started to match them in brilliance. The ones used (until the LED takeover) for lighting human stadiums, warehouses, jewelly cabinets and car showrooms emit no UVB but often emit decent amounts of UVA, so make great floodlights for adding to a basking zone. The ones sold for reptile use vary a lot in UVB output, and UVB longevity, and unfortunately are typically PAR30 size with rather narrow beams. They have not really "caught on" in UK and USA, probably because of the need for the external ballast and good quality electrical fittings and lampholders (they need a 4kV ignition "kick"). I love them for the visible light. I have used Lucky Reptile Bright Sun, ExoTerra Sunray and ZooMed HID Powersuns for years, but I let the UVB run down (usually within 5-6 months) then keep them as additions to the basking zone light and warmth for as long as they last (years!). (For UVB I use T5-HO in reflectors, either Arcadia or ZooMed) Running costs are exactly the same as ordinary lamps, i.e. 35watts, 50watts, 70watts. The initial outlay is heavier though because you're buying a ballast kit as well.

Thomas Griffiths Moderator Jordan Silotti in addition to what Frances has said, there DOES exist some HID lamps that don’t need a ballast. Albeit not reptile lamps. Philips have released some “self-ballasted” lamps in their “MasterColor” range, they’re 25W PAR38 lamps - however they still only have a 40° beam angle. Their light is “warm” - about 3000K. In theory they’re “plug and play” and don’t need an external ballast. I’ve seen them somewhere as 50Hz but doing a quick Google at the moment I can only find 60Hz ones. However they don’t emit any UVB as they’re not reptile lamps. So they may be suitable for visible light but not as a UVB lamp (as is with the ZooMed, Exo Terra, Lucky Reptile, SolarRaptor, and Mega-Rays). The Philips lamps specifically start at around £80. Product code is 14779-0

img_76.png

István Péter Bocskai Dear Frances Baines, After their UVB output running out, aren't they emitting UVC rays? Thank you:)

Frances Baines Admin No, not at all. The reason the UVB "runs out" is because the glass solarises - it gradually becomes less able to transmit UV, with the shortest wavelengths lost first. So if there had been any UVC getting through, that would be the first to be lost from the spectrum; then the UVB, then some of the UVA....

Jack Humphrey Speaking from experience in reef keeping, they are outdated in terms of huge running costs etc, however from a reptile point of view I’m not sure 🙂

Frances Baines Admin Jack Humphrey Yes, they are being discontinued everywhere, because for most purposes, LEDs are considered superior - the energy-saving benefits are undeniable. And the mercury in the halides will eventually lead to their complete ban I'm sure.

Frances Baines Admin Jack Humphrey Yes, they are being discontinued everywhere, because for most purposes, LEDs are considered superior - the energy-saving benefits are undeniable. And the mercury in the halides will eventually lead to their complete ban I'm sure. For reptiles, the visible spectrum of a good brand like some of the "Mastercolor" halides is unbeatable, because of the near-continuous UVA plus visible light spectrum. LEDs have no UVA and most of them still use a blue "driver" so there's a big spike of blue light, very little cyan and very little red.

需要区分可见光金卤灯和UVB金卤灯

【】【Bearded Dragon Lighting Guide with BeardieVet & Thomas Griffiths】【】

这个访谈中认为金卤灯是很好的灯,Philips Mastercolor 30°是最好的金卤灯,可见光、UVA调配的很平衡

金卤灯点亮时,金属卤化物尚未气化,所以金卤灯灯泡刚启动时的光谱都是汞灯的发射谱,随后随着金属卤化物的气化,才逐渐变成金卤灯最终的光谱

img_46.png

【】【】【】

Sarina Wunderlich Karl Guyton II Valdemar Riisager Egelund T5 UVB lamps have plenty of UVA ("30%") but its mostly concentrated in the UVA2-range. The UVA1 visible to reptiles (and playing a role in appetite etc) is not well covered by UVB fluorescent lamps. Also, for colour vision, UVA1 should be from the same lamp as the visible light to avoid strange colour effects. Metal halide lamps are best for UVA1 and visible light.

the fluorescent lamps are superior in creating a large basking zone to UVB metal halide lamps.

金卤灯的镇流器通常由humming noise,离人所在处太近时会造成困扰

Krzysztof Lis Chris Phillips maybe I do a follow up question. How would You rate metall hallide lamps? They don't have the spikes like a MVB, but the green glow remains in most cases, and they have the same problems with the UVB output.

Chris Phillips Admin Krzysztof Lis With the metal halide lamp you can get brilliant bright white light and UVA. I'm not worried about UVB I can use other sources for that such as the T5 high output.

太阳灯

??? 在钨丝灯旁边放了个汞灯?

Self-ballasted mercury vapor lamps

Frances Baines Admin I have not tested a ReptiZoo MVB but if it is as in the picture - a large reflector bulb with clear front glass - I would avoid it. That shape bulb typically produces an extremely intense, extremely narrow beam of UVB which does not create a wide enough area for basking and can even emit very dangerously strong UV in that small area.

LED

【】【】【】

LED研发的科普

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1wi421f71U/?spm_id_from=333.337.search-card.all.click

Thomas Griffiths · Never posted these officially last year. Some mini reports on some screw-in LED products that are often seen on the group. Welcome to share them to other groups and websites etc, just please ensure you post the entire image and not a portion of it. The quick takeaway is that the MILYN is by far the brightest out of these lamps. But something I noticed is that it is much tighter beam than the others - however this isn't noted in the mini reports. Something else worth noting is that the SANSI LEDs render colour (human vision) much better - and the 36W version seems to include a red diode (around 695nm) that the others don't have. This red diode isn't visible when looking at the lamp, there isn't a clear red spot or anything. I use this product a fair bit! As always, questions are welcome!

"E:\My_Program\Voldy_Notes\附件\灯具测试报告\可见光LED\326554543_1533197603858059_5322339166428399355_n.jpg" "E:\My_Program\Voldy_Notes\附件\灯具测试报告\可见光LED\326431515_704300581337064_941539739522465502_n.jpg" "E:\My_Program\Voldy_Notes\附件\灯具测试报告\可见光LED\326443571_838476247316413_8728424700033703931_n.jpg" "E:\My_Program\Voldy_Notes\附件\灯具测试报告\可见光LED\326476464_705976134437702_2111352557865834554_n.jpg"

Brodie Pearson Hello Thomas Griffiths, on a different note I am trying to get my in cage uvb correct and am thinking I just need a wire cover that blocks 15-20% of the uvb transmission. I have a Arcadia t5 12” and my bearded dragon is is 13” away from the light at it’s highest point and 16” at it’s lowest point. Is there a product that fits this? 1y

Thomas Griffiths Author Moderator Brodie Pearson Hello Brodie 🙂 Great question - and I think it deserves it's own post because that way other people in future can find your post easily on the page. If you make your own post (feel free to tag me), and include some pictures of your setup and ask the same question, then it'll be more visible for other people who may have the same question.

James Atkins So would you consider the SANSI 36W bulb "better" than the Milyn? 1y

Thomas Griffiths Author Moderator James Atkins That's going to be a hard one to answer! I use it more and prefer it for my setups. But that's not to say it's better. Nowadays I'm actually using Philips Master Colour Metal Halides for visible light as they have a nice UVA spectrum too, so it's a 2 birds 1 stone situation, and I'm pairing a Jungle Dawn LED Bar in there too. 1y

James Atkins Thomas Griffiths my first thought was mainly if because of the extra red diode in the SANSI 36W does it give a more even spread of the spectrum vs the Milyn? I currently use the Milyn for my bearded dragon focused on the basking area along with a halogen and UVB, with a Jungle Dawn running perpendicular to illuminate the rest of the enclosure. I also use the SANSI 15W (with similar lighting arrangement as my BD) for my Roger's Racer. I would use a larger form factor LED spot bulb, but I found it impossible to find a guard big enough for a bulb the size of the Milyn/SANSI 36W. 1y

Thomas Griffiths Author Moderator James Atkins yes the SANSI 36W is a quasi-PAR38 size lamp so it’s also quite large. For me, the spectrum of the SANSI lamps is preferable to that of the MILYN or the Jungle Dawns. But of course, this is for MY eyes and not necessarily those of the reptiles - none of them produce UVA which is essential for reptile “full colour” vision. 1y

James Atkins Thomas Griffiths I won't rush to do it, but maybe perhaps in the future I'll swap out the Milyn for the SANSI 36W and compare visually. I know I'm lacking UVA within my setups, but it's always eluded me a bit compared to other wavelengths from other bulbs. Have you got a link (preferably UK) to the Philips Master Colour Metal Halides that you use? 1y

Thomas Griffiths Author Moderator James Atkins Yeah 🙂 I use this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265779690387 I've got a spectral reading, but it's on my other computer (annoyingly it's one of the things I've not added to my cloud drive yet!) Just remember that Halide lamps need a ballast. I use the Mega Ray MultiWattage ballast - but any 70W ballast will work the same.

Philips CDMR 70w (70w/942) Par30 Flood ES/E27 Ceramic Metal Halide Cool White Thomas Griffiths用的金卤灯

卤灯/白炽灯

卤灯又叫卤钨灯、卤素灯、碘钨灯

这是最好的加热光源。卤灯(暖光、非LED、灯下有炙烤感的那种射灯)或白炽灯(就是50~100 W的浴霸灯泡),能提供更多的有生理作用的IRA。

卤灯其实也属于白炽灯,只是卤灯的灯丝被稀薄的卤素气氛包裹,使得它的灯丝可以比白炽灯烧的更热,提高了可见光的发光效率。

注意搜“卤灯”可能搜出“金卤灯”(金属卤化物灯),这俩不是一个东西,不要买错!金卤灯的发光原理不是黑体辐射,是电弧放电;爬宠金卤灯一般是6500 K的色温(但只能称之为色温,不宜说是6500 K的黑体辐射谱,其光谱离黑体辐射谱相差太远),其中含有显著量的UVA和UVB,几乎不含IRA,红外区几乎只发射IRC,所以买错了不但没有提供IRA,还可能导致紫外区过量。当然这不是说金卤灯就不好。

这种灯同时发出可见光和红外线,所以没法把可见光和红外光分别控制 III。也因为它有可见光,所以无法正常使用on/off型的温控器(即热了就完全关上、凉了就完全打开)直接控制,否则蛇和人都要闪瞎了。带可见光的灯调温有两种方案:

一是使用调光型温控器(dimming thermostat),其原理可能是使用triac削去部分交流电波形,使有效电压降低,削去的量受变阻器控制,进而根据温度经PID之类的控制逻辑控制该削去多少电压。(这种控制器在国外有卖,几百一个,但是国内似乎没找到)。II

二是使用正常的on/off型控制器,但使用额外的串联在控制器输出端的调光型开关使卤灯恰好不会出发控制器的关闭信号。如控制器设置36 °C,用调光器调整灯泡功率使得持续打开时温度也只有35 °C左右。温控器的作用使提供保护。好处是便宜,缺点是受环境温度影响,可能要在不同季节手动调整功率。II

卤灯的一个参数叫PAR,这里的PAR指的是Parabolic Aluminized Reflector lamp,其实就是把灯珠塞到一个反射的杯子里了(见上方的图)。所谓PAR38等等指的是杯口的直径是38/8 inch = 12 cm(这计量方法真变态。。。),PAR20就是6.5 cm,即纯粹是这杯子有多大。(Griffiths, 2023  III 

注意PAR还有另一个相关缩写是Photosynthetically Active Radiation,不要只搜PAR灯给买错了(Griffiths, 2023  III 

有的卤灯有棱镜,作用是使光束更舒展或更聚集,可以按需选择。(Griffiths, 2023  III 

有的卤灯缺乏前方滤波玻璃,并作为UVB/UVA灯出售,这有很大风险:

Katarzyna Paś February 2, 2020 · Hi At first I'm sorry for my English...I have no talent for foreign languages at all 🙁 I breed reptiles more than 10 years, but this year I'm going to move most of my terrestial geckos to new terrariums, and also change heat source - from heat tapes to halogens. I bought several types of halogens, and honestly the best results came with...Chinese 3% halogen - yes, probably the same type that is well known from beeing potentially dangerous. I mean this bulb made the biggest basking area and gives a lot of light and heat. I tested Lucky Reptile 12V system too, but basking spot was very very small, and temperature was low comparing to 230V bulbs. ( BTW - producer ensure, that 12V system is absolutely more effective than 230V - is it even possible??) 2 halogen from well known brands made very small areas, with 2 point with extremely hot temp. That's why I started to consider these Chinese halogens - especially that I need low wattages only, and in these times almost all brands made products in China actually... Have any of you tested this 3% UVB halogens lately? Are all of them really dangerous and low quality? Do you know anyone, who tested these bulbs with UV meter, especially UVC meter? Thanks for your help! 🙂

img_210.png Lucky Reptile 12V

img_211.png Nomoy halogen - 3% UVB

img_212.png Reptech halogen

Frances Baines Admin Yes, I am the person that tested those lamps. I'll attach the poster "report" I made as a warning. The ones causing problems have no front glass lens, so the unsafe UV which should be blocked by the glass escapes. They are advertised as UVB 3.0 which by the way is meaningless. There are many types of basking lamps which would be suitable. Incandescent lamps including halogens are getting hard to find in Europe as well as other countries because they are banned from sale for human lighting. If you need bulbs with screw threads (E27 mounts) have a look for ones like this: https://www.reptiles.swelluk.com/arcadia-basking-solar.../ Katarzyna Paś Author thank you. Yes, I know this graphic. Have you tested more brands, or just one? And how it looks with lot wattage bulbs? (25-35W)?

Frances Baines Admin I tested two different ones, both 100W. I did not test lower wattage ones. But why buy something with a very undesirable spectrum, which is cheap and nasty, and has an unprotected halogen capsule which if it shattered would spray hot glass all over your geckos? There are many "flood" type halogen bulbs and incandescent bulbs available. How hot a basking zone do you need? I keep leopard geckos, a moorish gecko and gargoyle geckos; I mainly use 40 watt reflector bulbs like the one I linked to. Any bulb with a frosted front face will give a wide beam. Some halogen bulbs designed as "flood" will give a wide beam but the absence of a diffuser often creates a focus "star" or "ring" which is not ideal. Quentin Dishman

Hi James,

There is much misunderstanding and misinformation around “halogen” lamps. A lot of it is just seizing on the word. In truth halogen-incandescent lamps are not much different in their filament temperature (and therefore spectrum and IR-A %) than ordinary incandescent lamps, especially not the Arcadia ones. I’ve done a lot of work on this personally, and found no major trends. There’s also not a significant difference in spectrum give or take a 100-150 Kelvin, at least when considering that the material (I.e. tungsten) can only go so far in imitating sunlight’s infrared anyway—this means we can treat incandescent and halogen-incandescent basking lamps as one and the same in terms of “radiation quality”.

However, shape plays a major role in selection. Arcadia’s halogen lamps are PAR lamps—these tend to have narrow-ish beams, but the ones Arcadia sells are effectively spotlights (regardless of their marketing claims). For your enclosure, you’ll be wanting lamps with wider beams than the Arcadia PAR lamps.

Below are some results from my tests, followed by two “iso irradiance charts” that show the importance of lamp shape and glass type (both of those were made by Thomas Griffiths).

img_2.png

img_3.png

Think of the bands as intensity levels. For your snakes, I would recommend ~250 W/m², which is shown spectrally in the chart above.

img_4.png

img_5.png

I have a question about types of heat lamp fixtures. I've seen people complain about bulbs going out prematurely, and often others comment and ask what type of fixture the bulbs are in because that could contribute to the problem, but I haven't been able to piece together what the ideal fixture is. I have not set up my enclosure yet, I'm still gathering materials. This will be for a corn snake in a 36x18x24 exo terra with lighting and heat above the mesh. The basking spot will likely be 12-14 inches below the lights. I am looking into the Reptizoo 100w intense basking spot and the Arcadia Shadedweller pro 7%. I am in the US.

Frances Baines Admin Always buy from a well-established brand like ZooMed, Arcadia, ExoTerra, etc. rather than super cheap Chinese brands on the likes of eBay and Amazon because theoretically they have stricter quality control over the electrical wiring, components, etc... and hopefully some sort of warranty as well... but otherwise, look for a size that fits your screen top without touching the plastic edges, but is deep enough to take the bulb without it sticking out below the shade. "Deep domes" are often the best for smaller tanks. Jesse's right - the commonest issue -regardless of brand of fixture- is that the little tab at the bottom of the screw-in part of the fixture needs to stick out a little bit, so it is in good contact with the solder blob at the very bottom of the bulb. But over time this often gets depressed by the bulbs that are screwed tightly into it. Then if a new bulb has a metal screw-in part that happens to be a tiny bit shorter than the one that went in before, the tab in the base of the fixture may not quite touch the blob at the base of the bulb.... causing either no contact (bulb doesn't come on at all) or partial contact (bulb might flicker or flash; or a tiny spark might cross the gap and cause a short circuit and blow the bulb. Sometimes just prying up the tab a fraction with a fingertip (when turned off of course!) will restore function but not too much bending, or the tab may snap off! 卤灯的低功率版本一般以灯珠的方式售卖;高功率卤灯以“卤钨灯管”形式存在,叫R7灯管;其问题是缺乏前过滤片,

Quentin Dishman Moderator Personally I don’t see any advantage; the only complication to using ordinary halogen R7 bulbs within that fixture is its lack of protective glass—it would be necessary to use capsules that have a UV-block coating or to somehow fit a piece of ordinary glass.

Thomas Griffiths Moderator Quentin Dishman Exactly this!! There is no dedicated reason to use the coated Reptile Systems branded halogen 'bulbs' at all. In fact, I bought some standard R7s tubes to try, but never got round to properly testing. The gold-coated R7s obviously have the protection from UVC leaking which is nice. And the coating reduces glare - however the glare isn't a huge issue when we're trying to heat animals with 'daylight'.

光波管(金红外灯)

英文 Gold infrared lamp, 俗称Gold bar。这二者并不是普适名称,而是Reptile System灯具的商品名被泛化。

人用的产品叫光波浴霸(注意有的光波浴霸是碳纤维加热灯的IRC灯,不是这玩意儿)。有叫黄金管、黄金发热管。

【光谱】:

  • 光谱特性和发光机理:钨的黑体辐射 + 原子厚度的金镀层滤波 + 玻璃的滤波。
  • 可见光比例低,相当于卤灯或白炽灯削弱部分可见光。
  • 与卤灯/白炽灯不同,完全不发射UVA/UVB/UVC;原因是金镀层和玻璃的吸收。
  • 分区积分结果:不可用,没有人用足够红外的光谱测试。猜测为少量可见光,大量UVA + UVB,少量UVC
  • Reptile System 的灯具包装声称不干扰昼夜周期,这是扯淡。
    • 该灯的 100 W 版本在 30 cm 处达 30 lux;400 W 达 600 lux。
    • 说明远远高于最亮的自然夜间亮度(约0.2 lux)。
    • 而且说明该灯的亮度随功率的增加是非线性的。

【单体功率限制】:几乎无上限,甚至有10 kW的单体光源出售。

【价格】:人用版本比卤灯稍贵,约两三倍,并不多,通常用于浴霸,爬行动物用的很贵(似乎只有Reptile System一家生产?(【FILL_REF_AUTHOR: 】 I )

【寿命】

  • 人用的浴霸寿命长,但浴霸不会终日持续开启;
  • 作为爬行动物光源长期开启时似乎有不低的故障报废率,故障模式是灯丝熔断或灯体破碎;
  • Thomas指出灯体破碎的原因可能是触摸灯具导致多余物残留、随后影响玻璃局部在高温下的性能。个人对此存疑。

【可否用开关温控器】:不能,既因为有可见光、又因为不能反复开关

【可否减功率控制】:可以

【是否需要镇流器】:不需要

【是否需要启动器】:不需要

【负载类型】:纯阻性负载

【频闪】:热容型频闪消除

【是否需要隔热措施】:需要

【显色】:低亮度的甚低温黑体辐射连续谱,仅红色,显色性能极差,但是亮度很低,基本不干扰正经可见光灯的显色

【波长可否用黑体辐射模拟】:不可

【已有测试】:

Lamp-Report-Reptile-Systems-Gold-Infrared-Lamp-Unit-v5.01.23.pdf

但是Thomas的测试报告中,测试光谱是紫外-可见-近红外光谱仪,意义一般。我想看是可见-近中远红外的光谱

通过肉眼观察截面光斑或XZ平面的等辐照度图都可以看到有光照不均匀问题,应为反射器的设计问题:

img_19.png

img_20.png

【示例】

Reptiles and research 换 7 feet 缸的时候用了此技术的灯构建晒点组合

【个人评价】

鸡肋。

该灯或许被期望解决夜晚热源均以IRC为主的问题,但并没有实现这一点。金涂层滤波截止性能的dT/dλ太小,导致说暗又不够暗,说亮又不太亮:晚上太亮不能用,白天我为什么不直接用卤灯呢?卤灯还更容易观察到光斑不均的情况,还便宜些。

比卤灯的唯一好处是 gold bar 是个 bar,所以光斑形状更长条,但这在合理距离下相比卤灯并没有明显优势。 卤钨灯也有灯管形式

对需要大功率的情况更加适宜。 卤钨灯管也有数千瓦的, 如Osram有20kW的卤灯

【他人评价】 Bahakiya Yamamoto

Comment on the use case of gold infrared lamps over halogen tubes?

I've read Thomas's review of the Reptile Systems Gold Infrared Lamp Unit and noted his positive feedback. However, I'm curious about what are the advantages of this type of lamp compared to halogen lamps? Gold infrared lamps are dim for its wattage, but it's still too bright for nighttime use. For daytime heating, as many enclosures could benefit from more visible light, switching to an equally powerful halogen could enhance visible light illumination. Halogen lamp also has better infrared spectrum as the gold coating can absorb some of the IRA. Additionally, halogen tubes ranging from 50 W to 10,000 W are readily available online and tend to be more affordable than their gold infrared counterparts. Halogen also gives better color rendering (with or without other lights). Could you help clarify what's the reason to choose a gold infrared lamp over a halogen?

Quentin Dishman Moderator Personally I don’t see any advantage; the only complication to using ordinary halogen R7 bulbs within that fixture is its lack of protective glass—it would be necessary to use capsules that have a UV-block coating or to somehow fit a piece of ordinary glass.

halogen R7 bulbs 是这种灯管: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Feit-Electric-150-Watt-Bright-White-2700K-T3-R7-Short-Base-Dimmable-Halogen-Light-Bulb-2-Pack-BPQ150T3-CL-S-2-HDRP/309695212?MERCH=REC-_-pip_alternatives-_-300620888-_-309695212-_-N&

Thomas Griffiths Moderator Quentin Dishman Exactly this!! There is no dedicated reason to use the coated Reptile Systems branded halogen 'bulbs' at all. In fact, I bought some standard R7s tubes to try, but never got round to properly testing. The gold-coated R7s obviously have the protection from UVC leaking which is nice. And the coating reduces glare - however the glare isn't a huge issue when we're trying to heat animals with 'daylight'.

Sarina Wunderlich I like about the lamps that they fill a wattage gap in the range 200-400W where I do not know many other options since the ban of incandescent lamps in the EU.

Frances Baines Admin Please remember that you need to put a sheet of heat-resistant (tempered) glass in front of any ordinary high wattage R7S Halogen bulb, they are quartz tubes (don't touch them with bare fingers either!) and allow a significant amount of UVA, B and C radiation with a spectrum that's not at all suitable for use as a UV source for reptiles. The glass will let all the visible light and IR-A through, and some of the UVA but block out the harmful shortest wavelengths.

有人(Tom Roe)推荐了这种灯管,周围有防护罩:https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C23GJ2FG?ref_=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_YHSDCTKCAA3T47VXA5ZJ&starsLeft=1&skipTwisterOG=1

UVB-LED

Wunderlich,2023 UVB‐emitting LEDs for reptile lighting: Identifying the risks of nonsolar UV spectra

LED-UVB晒灯普遍非常危险。现阶段别用!别用!别用! 曾有多位朋友私信提到他们要用LED-UVB做晒灯(样子见图,如果UVB晒灯是一块电路板贴着不同样子的小灯珠,这就是LED-UVB灯),最近有三位大佬合著了一篇重要的论文,专门指出 【LED-UVB灯普遍非常危险】。

文中测了市面上的16种LED-UVB灯。这些灯【无一列外】都有导致爬行动物维生素D中毒的风险,进而导致高钙血症。高钙血症的症状隐蔽、缺乏特征性,很难发现和诊断,到出现明显症状时常已不可挽回。

这个问题的原因是这些LED-UVB灯缺失315-335 nm的UVA2和长波UVB辐照。爬行动物晒太阳合成维生素D3时,晒再多的太阳也不会维生素D3过量,这是因为太阳光谱中315-335 nm的部分有负反馈作用(具体原理会写专栏介绍)。LED-UVB灯有290-315 nm、缺315-335 nm,后果就是维生素D3持续合成、不受限制,直到中毒。

很多商家会展示紫外线测试仪的数值,但是这个问题用紫外线测试仪检测没有用(除非将许多种响应曲线的测试仪合用),必须读完整的光谱才可以。

另外文章还发现有灯会发射非天然UVB(280~290 nm)甚至大量UVC(<280 nm),这会导致光性结膜炎、皮肤红斑/烧伤等问题。

文中隐晦的说所采样的LED-UVB爬宠晒背灯大多是“亚洲”生产的。而真正可靠厂商的LED-UVB还在研发阶段,根本没有上市,其研发难点是需要通过许多种不同波段的LED灯珠“拼出”一个太阳紫外光谱。以我经验估计合格的LED-UVB灯具生产成本不会低。

(该文三位作者都是大名人,一作S. Wunderlich是两爬光照知识网站licht-im-terrarium.de的创立者,光物理专业出身、主业做EUV光刻机,Thomas Griffiths 和 Frances Baines 都是编写两爬教科书的光照大佬。)

注意有的灯的发光光谱在315-335 nm也有分布,但其含量不足。太阳光谱中UVA2的积分强度是UVB的【4倍】。而作者所测的16种灯中(除研发样品外)最好的一款UVA2的积分强度仅为UVB的【0.35倍】。

打叉的图不是我随便找的,都是文中提到的品种。文中测试灯具的具体列表如下(这些全都不安全): · AOLLAN ReptiLamp. Zhong Shan Maineng Lighting Tech Co. Ltd. · Lightstorm UVB LED (已召回) · VivTech SurSun Mid‐Day Blaze/Jungle Cover/First Call · Dragon Drago‐Lux LED UV Desert/Forest · Reptile Systems New Dawn UVI Flood · ZooMed Reptisun UVB LED · Dohse Aquaristik GmbH Hobby UV Vital LED (已召回) · DMR Group Poland Terrario Reptile UVB LED 10.0 · Repti‐Zoo Dimming Modular LED UVB Light Hood Desert. · 另有六个厂商主动要求测试的研发原型

【】【Smart Herp UVB LED时间线总结】【】

Jonathon Gordon Howard June 13, 2021 · A led uva, uvb and 6.5K light being launched by vivtech (at the end of the video). He tests it with a solarmeter 6.2. Doesn’t use to 6.5 which he has on the table which is a shame. Listened to a podcast a few weeks ago by him and he seems to prioritise uv cm2 rather than UVI. From the podcast he seemed to not understand the information that UVI provides. He works for Zilla and they seem to prioritise uv cm2 too. Will be intere sting what the tests are like once the led hits the market https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7mlqJS_OxA

Frances Baines Admin That is a "VivTech" product, going to cost $89.99? And it puts out that tiny narrow beam of visible light, and a matching narrow beam of unknown "UVB" that gives 50 µW/cm² total UVB at 12" .... ?🤨 In principle I want to encourage new small businesses, but without knowing what the spectrum is like (there's only two LEDs so it will be a single wavelength) and what the UVI is, it's impossible to know what value this lamp has. There are dozens of $25 Chinese LED UVB lamps touted as "for reptiles" appearing on the likes of Amazon and eBay, and the couple I've tested have been simply horrible, though considerably more powerful. When I saw this post, I assumed it was going to feature ZooMed's prestige "new product" UVB LED Bar, said to be in mass production and launching this summer... and yes, I have been offered a sample of that one.. https://zoomed.com/uvbled

Frances Baines Admin I am concerned about this development. I sincerely hope that my doubts are unfounded, but I have seen test results for other LED UVB lamps used on human skin, and also the pilot study (Cusack et al 2017) which also used single-wavelength UVB LEDs, and it looks as if the huge imbalance in short- vs long-wavelength UVB may "release the brakes" on vitamin D3 synthesis, since the very restricted wavelengths should in theory upset the equilbrium between 7-DHC, lumisterol, tachysterol and pre-D3.... and all three papers showed very unexpected rates of D3 synthesis, with quite low UV Index. I am also anxious that if true, the UV Index may not be an accurate way to measure the vitD3 potential of these LED UVB products.....

Jonathon Gordon Howard Author Hopefully someone will send you a lamp to test as soon as they are available!

Chris Phillips Admin It is very disappointing that somebody sitting there with a 6.5 Meter on the tabletop didn't use it to actually show the most crucial u v index

Chris Phillips Admin I had to watch 18 minutes of stuff just to get to the last 3 minutes where they show a 6.2 uvb meter registering approximately 50 microwatts at 12 in I am not impressed

Jonathon Gordon Howard Author I did write it was at the end of the video 😉

Chris Phillips Admin Jonathon Gordon Howard I must have overlooked that Hi all, has anyone seen these. These are lights that starting to be sold down here. img_38.png

Caitlin Sallway Adding to the above comment as well, the diameter they produce is far too small for the bulk of species kept in Australia anyway. Bearded Dragons, Blue Tongues, Carpet Pythons and the like need something with a greater diameter. Honestly I’m hoping the technology improves, imagine the day when I can run a large Bearded Dragon enclosure with multiple heat lamps and UVB tubes with 30W of power.

Thomas Griffiths Moderator Caitlin Sallway yes agreed. The problem is that the phosphor blends we use in fluorescent lamps have been used for decades now. They’re well understood, and they’ve had time to be refined. The LED technology is new. Still very much in its infancy. In an ideal world it would be good to have an LED with a phosphor coating so that the spectrum is more broad and less “LED-like”. But this may take years, even decades, before it’s a reality. I’m up for embracing new technology. But I don’t think that the general public should have their hands on these products just yet. Couldn’t agree more with you.

Thomas Griffiths Moderator This was posted about not long ago, earlier on today I think! We don’t recommend the use of UVB LEDs at this point in time as a general rule. This is because the very nature of LEDs means that they are really narrowband on the spectrum. And these lamp often they venture slightly into the UVC range, even those that claim they don’t. The narrow band is potentially dangerous. This is because reptiles require a fairly wide spectrum (295-330nm approx) to properly and SAFELY synthesise vitamin D3. If they’re only getting a narrow band then they can in theory end up with high levels of serum D3. Studies showed this to be the case, check Cusack et al., 2017 - https://www.researchgate.net/.../322238723_Effects_of_a... There’s no doubt that LEDs will soon play more and more a part in the hobby. But currently we don’t see the benefit from a UVB LED. In short, it’s not recommended at this point in time.

Jonathon Gordon Howard They have responded to me on another group. Uvb led peaks at 305nm. Their “We’ve put 8 UVA cells of 365-370nm and another 8 UVA cells of 395-400nm. It measures about 115um in 30cm and 227um in 20cm.” img_39.png

Thomas Griffiths Moderator Jonathon Gordon Howard the peaks look near identical to the ZooMed UVB LED. Wonder if they’re essentially the same diodes. James Lewis I would recommend VivTech Products UVB LED bulbs. I have used them and had great results.

Dennis G. Lynggren James Lewis By great results you mean?

James Lewis

Dennis G. Lynggren I have it on tortoise and they are growing great. My buddy has it in a bearded and it reacts far better to that bulb than any other uv bulb I have used. I trust what Ryan McVeigh tells me about his product.

Thomas Griffiths Moderator James Lewis we still don’t recommend even the Vivtech ones at this stage. Dr Wunderlich has been doing some great work monitoring them. And she found a huge outlier in one lamp. It could just be a bad item - but if it is then that’s not a good sign for quality control. And the same problems still apply. The narrow bandwidth of the LEDs means that they don’t produce a nice full spectrum - which is what this group promotes. UVB LEDs have been associated with problems with serum D3 levels. Check my comment above for a link to the study. Thomas Griffiths Moderator Lamp Report - Vivtech Sursun UVB LED Lamps For the most up to date version of the report please use this link: http://tinyurl.com/5f9bp6vu In short, I'm not a big fan. The dangerous short-wavelength UVB is worrisome. I'm also not a fan of some of the marketing (podcasts, social media, etc) for these lamps that has insisted that animals are safe to touch the bulbs and even sit on the bulbs when they are turned on. This is VERY dangerous, and should not be done with any bulb. There is a near-complete lack of activity in the parts of the spectrum associated with the safe regulation of VitaminD synthesis. I have seen evidence of alleged damage to skin and eyes of animals from these lamps. In the past when speaking to them, Vivtech have responded with kindness to all messages. I sent this report to Vivtech in January 2024, and I gave them opportunity and time to respond to it, but I never heard back from them. I will say that Vivtech's position is that they use these lamps on a range of animals and have many customers that also use them. Their position is also that they do not measure shortwave UVB or UVC when conducting tests on this range of products. But I can confirm that my Spectrometer is more sensitive to UV than their equipment, I conduct tests in a controlled environment, and I had the device recalibrated shortly before conducting these tests (I recalibrate it once a year with the manufacturer).

Francis Cosquieri Thanks for this Thomas. Sad but not unexpected. I think this is very important information to share. It has taken the hobby a LONG time and no small amount of effort to get to the place we are now where people seriously talk about UV, particularly with… See more

Thomas Griffiths Author Moderator Francis Cosquieri I have no doubt that our future is LED. And I have no doubt that it's possible with current technology. It's just not commercially viable as the parts are so expensive.

Bahakiya Yamamoto Thomas Griffiths Is it the diodes with correct wavelength distributions that's too expensive? I know that UVB-LED can be tuned continuously from a device level (tuning the method of producing the layers of material) so that they have any peak wavelength between 290~350 nm. I think we should be able to have a good UVB-LED for reptiles if we have a combination of something like 315 nm, 327 nm and 340 nm LEDs, with the correct number of each type on a board.

Thomas Griffiths Author Moderator Bahakiya Yamamoto yes they can be tuned, bus as you tune the diode it changes intensity. In simple terms; If we say that a diode tuned to 297nm is 100%, then the same diode tuned to 315nm only outputs about 15%. The diodes tuned to 315 and 325 are much more expensive simply because they aren’t standard. And you need more of them, orders of magnitude more, to get a good sun-like spectrum. Thank you for the invite. I'm new to the whole reptile thing and was wondering if this uvb bulb was good. I have a 70 gallon tank and a bearded dragon.

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Sarina Wunderlich

Maybe good news for our hobby? Nichia, the world's largest LED manufacturer and inventor of the high-brightness blue and white LED, is scheduled to launch two new UV LEDs in March 2024: UV-B LED with a peak wavelength of 308nm and UV-A LED with a peak wavelength of 330nm.

Thomas Griffiths

Watch this space for some that are out soon that do just that! And also check out the spectrum for the Exo Terra TerraSky UV. With the UVB off and the UVA diodes turned on, it really does fill out the spectrum quite nicely!

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I’ve tested it as a part of the R&D process. I’ve not made a public report just yet, but the irradiance charts on the website are based on my testing. Of course, UVB diodes simply haven’t been fully tested on animals and until they are, we have to be cautious. The paper on the reason for this is here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/author/GTV6TE6DUA4AB3UQZEDY?target=10.1002/zoo.21806 I use mine over my emerald tree skink, with the UVB diodes dimmed down to 0% but all other diodes on full power. In this configuration, the spectrum is lovely at a distance of about 30cm. The UVA1 is filled in really well and can form a great part of a setup. However, with it being only 10W the obvious issue is that the lamp isn’t very bright. Especially when we consider that a lot of that 10W is going into UVA diodes that don’t add anything to the lux value. This will always be the case, though, and isn’t necessarily relating to just this product.

Frances Baines Admin Thomas Griffiths Just to be clear that I've read this right: You're using yours with the UVB part of the lamp turned OFF, but with the UVA and visible light parts turned ON? And the spectrum in your post above is with the UVB turned OFF. 🙂 Yes I agree, that looks very nice. Personally I agree with Thomas, I would be happy to use this without the UVB, but I want to see evidence of safe long-term use, with no evidence of abnormally high vitamin D3 levels in blood samples after at least 3-4 months of use at "normal" UVI levels over the animals before I use it with the UVB turned ON....

Thomas Griffiths Moderator Frances Baines correct, the UVB is off but the UVA is on along with the 'white' at 100% power (dimmable 0-100%). And this is the spectral reading of that configuration.

Tom Roe Author Thomas Griffiths I am hoping the Terra Sky UV lamps are released in the UK soon! I emailed Exoterra when you first posted the spectrm and they don't have a release date for the UK yet. The lack of brightness is definitely the biggest disadvantage but I am finding the high output white LEDs like jungle dawn are making the viv a bit too warm and my DIY setup isn't getting as hot so I hope these are sufficient to keep the plants at the cool/darker end of the viv going. I contacted Phosphor Tech in the US to make me a phosphor for wide UVA wavelengths a while ago, by painting a phosphor onto an existing UVB LED, and they were very helpful and could do it, but the tooling and postage were too expensive for a hobby interest alone. 2h

Thomas Griffiths Moderator Tom Roe I’ve tried this with a manufacturer - what we found was that the best phosphor decayed very quickly. The shorter wavelength the phosphor, the more volatile it is. 2h

Tom Roe Author Thomas Griffiths so do you think in the future LED arrays will need to have several different UVA LEDs with different output peaks instead of one UVB LED and UVA emitting phosphors to effectively replace mercury discharge lamps? 1h

Thomas Griffiths Moderator Tom Roe yes, that’s what I think. It’s really the only efficient way of doing it I’d LOVE to use UV phosphors, but even our heavily refined UVB phosphors are only rated for 12 months. That said, Nichia have this month launched some nice diodes designed to match peaks of Mercury Vapour Emissions. They could change the game a little bit. Nichia is also a world leader in phosphors. 1h

Tom Roe Author One approach I considered was buying phosphor sheets with the LED behind them, which some companies make, so that the phosphor could be replaced, but not LED. Obviously the issue with this is potential exposure to short wavelength UVB during the change but also the cost of replacement is still there.

Quentin Dishman Moderator Thomas Griffiths do you have a Lux reading for this at 30 cm? (Being only 10W I assume it’s quite low?) 32m

Edited Thomas Griffiths Moderator Quentin Dishman Distance - 30cm Lux - 1334 PPFD - 19 Quentin Dishman Moderator Thomas Griffiths it is really low; hopefully similar, more powerful units start to appear soon 30m

Thomas Griffiths Moderator Quentin Dishman It's only 10W and it's spread out over around 40cm with a bunch of energy-hungry UVB and UVA diodes so it's all in balance. But yes, you're not wrong. It's not very bright.

Hi I'm wondering about heat lamps! I've gotten conflicting info about halogen bulbs (I have a mini halogen that came with the Zilla enclosure I got) and a CHE. Some say halogen is bad for my frog's eyes (White's tree frog) but others say it's the best for daytime heat and that CHE only produces surface heat. So is the mini halogen ok to use?

Thomas Griffiths Moderator I’ve done a quick Google of this product and it seems that it’s a “red bulb” or “blue bulb”. These are less than ideal as they miss out a large portion of the spectrum. Red/blue bulbs are not necessarily “dangerous”, at least not any more than any other incandescent light. But they aren’t the best option in most people’s opinion. A “normal” halogen may be better suited than a “red light”. For a normal halogen, I think that the only real worry from them being “bad for eyes” is the production of UVA, which in HUMAN domestic/workplace lighting is normally considered not great. However the UVA produced by many incandescent bulbs is so minimal it’s shocking that they even put it on the box to be honest! It’s almost certainly not damaging to a reptile or amphibian. I’m at this point assuming that the mini-halogen you’re using is a “bulb” rather than a “lamp”. Given it’s size (and a quick Google image search) I’m pretty confident that it’s a bulb rather than a lamp. (A lamp in this instance is considered a bulb inside a further glass casing for protection). The other danger you have with such a bulb is their tendency to “explode” if touched with your skin (even when they’re off). The oils from skin can quickly heat up and cause catastrophic failure of the glass, causing a heck of a bang and often a session of picking up tiny shards of glass. Many lights are, by their very nature, inherently dangerous if you look directly into them. But this isn’t necessarily something you’d bring up when talking about Whites Tree Frogs specifically as the same is true for all animals (including humans - you ever tried looking directly into a bright bulb? Don’t do it! 😂) Is the mini-halogen ok to use? In a word, sort-of… Are there better options? Definitely. Are the other options easy to come by and cheap? Absolutely. In terms of light produced you’re almost certainly better using a standard halogen rather than a “red/blue light”. But if you insist on using a red/blue light then you may still find it safer switching to a halogen “lamp” rather than bulb, just for safety purposes.

Thomas Griffiths Moderator Julia Snowden coloured lights aren’t necessarily “bad”. I think it’s more appropriate to say “not the best”. And yes that’s certainly a normal halogen lamp that you’ve pictured. But from the looks of it, that wouldn’t fit in your current reflector housing because it’s a different fitting (your current one looks like it uses a G9 push fitting whereas the one you’ve pictured uses an E27 screw fitting). You can, of course, always buy a new reflector. But that’s more cost! You may be better just finding a standard G9 Halogen. They’re inexpensive in most hardware stores or online. Personally, I’ve always preferred standard incandescent bulbs over halogens. But that’s just my taste and many people are the complete opposite to me and that’s fine too 😂 You may be able to find cheaper lights (not branded for reptiles) in hardware stores or online too. Just always check that the wattage and fitting are right, and you should be fine. In any case, you should always have your heat source on an appropriate thermostat. For any heat source that also provides light (such as a halogen lamp), it is best practice to use a dimming thermostat as other kinds of thermostat will quickly blow a light bulb!

Jasper Snowden Author Thomas Griffiths oh I def have my heating on a thermostat always! And the lamp my CHE is in is standard size I think. It's up to 150 watts so just getting a normal incandescent bulb within that range should be easy c: as long as it provides the heat he needs I don't mind grabbing a simple bulb at home depot 2y

Jasper Snowden Author Thomas Griffiths now I'm not sure if it's called a dimming thermostat but it jeeps the temp at what I set it to by shutting on and off (I'm assuming that's not dimming and the off and on can cause the light bulb to blow?)

Thomas Griffiths Moderator Julia Snowden yeah that sounds like a classic “on/off stat” I posted a comment somewhere the other day that discussed the differences… here it is… For this explanation, “stat” means “thermostat”. Control Stats are also called “on/off stats” or “mat stats”. They work exactly as you imagine given the name. They turn on until the probe reads a temperature (usually 1°C above the set temp) and then they turn off again until it gets below the set temp (usually 3°C or so below). This kind is usually only really usable for a heat mat. These tend to be the cheapest of the bunch. A Pulse Stat, also called Pulse Proportional Stat, is one that sends “packets” of power to the heat source. It’s more efficient in maintaining a temperature this way. This kind should only be used on a heat source that doesn’t produce any light, such as a heat mat or a Ceramic Heat Emitter. These tend to be slightly more expensive. A Dimming Thermostat can come in two types, Analogue and Digital. These both tend to be the most expensive… Analogue Dimming Stats use classic resistors and some small electronic chips to reduce or increase the voltage applied to a heat source. This creates a dimming effect. Many Digital Dimming Stats use variable resistors as a sort of voltage controller. This provides a much “smoother” dim and more control over temperature than the analogue type. Dimming Thermostats are absolutely essential for use with any heat source that also provide light - so Heat Bulbs or Heat Projectors. They’re also suitable for Ceramic Heat Emitters and Heat Mats but may be considered overkill for such items. HOWEVER… Dimming thermostats (as with all thermostats) have a “minimum wattage” requirement. And if your light bulb is below this wattage then instead of dimming, it could flicker the bulb on and off. So you could well have a dimming thermostat but a low wattage bulb which results in it turning on and off to maintain temperature.

Jasper Snowden Author Thomas Griffiths ah I see. Hmmm I will go ahead and stick with my CHE until I can look into those thermostats then. I have a ton of expenses coming up for him (mainly his surgery and bioactive set up materials) so even though CHE may not be as effective I'll wait until I know where im at financially after my big project since it does keep him warm enough rn. The bioactive is priority cause he's in a 12x12x18 and needs an 18x18x24 (the one I'm building the bio in) esp when he's fully grown.

Thomas Griffiths Moderator Julia Snowden to be fair, switching out the CHE for an incandescent bulb may be your best option. Even if it’s on the on/off stat. Or switching the Halogen for a “white light” one. Especially if it’s only cheap! Sorry, I feel like I’ve bombarded you with information and you’ve not been able to come to a conclusion because of it all. My comments are often word-heavy and go into detail explaining things rather than just getting to the point 😅😅😅. In short, recommend going to Home Depot and getting a basic Halogen G9 to replace the one you’ve got now. They’ll probably come in a pack of 4 for $10 or something. Keep it on the current thermostat if it’s working at maintaining temperature. Then after all the expenses are worked out you can look into changing thermostats etc. Also I hope surgery goes well on the little fella.

Ja Ra Fi Roman Muryn I use only LED and UVB with room temps and added UTH. Any other over head heat source would dry out the frogs viv a lot 2y

Roman Muryn Admin Are you saying that they don't need the infrared component of light, such as may be found in sunlight, for instance? The drying out of the viv is a matter of husbandry skills. All of the frogs I have kept enjoyed sunlight and all of the wavelengths it offers. I presume you mean under floor heatmats, If so that's not a heating process seen in nature as all heat mostly come from the sun above; as may be found with a tungsten lamp for example. Zoomed官方人员的回复

Jack Witwer As promised, spectrograph of the new ZooMed UV LED fixture. Taken with Ocean Optics Jaz UV-Vis spectrometer. I will keep this particular post without my personal conjecture, and I do not work for ZooMed, but my company is conducting extensive literature reviews and working on designing a study of UV LED safety and effectiveness in actual reptiles, with a local university.

Frances Baines Admin Thank you, Jack. My samples arrived today, as it happens, and I'm fully expecting my spectra to match yours, which look very much the same as those posted by ZooMed, in fact. Please try to get your company to consider a long-term study with blood testing for 25(OH)D3 - because this is the crucial aspect... In theory UVB LEDs may create much more vitamin D3 than sunlight at the SAME UV Index, because of their very different UVB spectrum. Fluorescent tubes have a more "sunlike" spectrum in the UVB range so making this effect less likely. 2y

Jack Witwer Author That is excellent to hear! Glad yours came as well. That is absolutely the plan for the study. We plan on basing the study similar to Cusack et al. (2017) and Oonincx et al. (2009). The plan is to regularly test for 25(OH)D3, 1,25 (OH)2D3 to determine plasma concentrations of D3, and to test iCa, TCa, and P levels, as well as perform radiographs and observation, to determine whether or not there is "hypervitaminosis" occurring. All Lamps and prototypes will be analyzed with a spectrogram and UVI recorded and compared. Our hypothesis is that targeted spectra of LEDs will allow for the lowering of total UVI and therefore total UV exposure, which will reduce the potential negative effects of photodermatitis and photokeratoconjunctivitis noted in your paper (2009), while also being able to provide healthy levels of D3 (and overall health) in living reptiles. Ideally, correct amounts of D3 production, the self-limiting aspects of the D3 cycle, and overall animal health can all be improved, while at the same time reducing total power usage and utilizing the benefits of LED technology. 2y

Frances Baines Admin Jack Witwer Excellent! The self-limiting aspects of the D3 cycle - or rather, their possible lack - are the main concern. I'm not expecting to see any photodermatitis or PKC if safe distances are maintained, because there appear to be no wavelengths below 295nm. All lamps where I've seen those symptoms have emitted non-terrestrial wavelengths, below 295nm. 2y

Sarina Wunderlich Jack Witwer

Our hypothesis is that targeted spectra of LEDs will allow for the lowering of total UVI and therefore total UV exposure, which will reduce the potential negative effects of photodermatitis and photokeratoconjunctivitis You say - and I and several studies agree here - that the same UV-index (=erythemally weighted effective irradiance) or the same total uv irradiance cause more vitamin D3. If that is the case (and it is), that shows that the UV-index or total irradiance is NOT a good measure for biological effects. So WHY should the UV index or total irradiance suddenly be a good measure for negative biological effects? Speaking about photoconjunctivitis and photokeratitis: UVB LED @ UV-index 9.9: 14.1 µW/cm² effective irradiance for photo keratitis 0.471 µW/cm² effective irradiance for photo conjunctivitis Very strong sunlight @ UV-index 10.4: 13.8 µW/cm² effective irradiance for photo keratitis 0.176 µW/cm² effective irradiance for photo conjunctivitis From pure calculations I see no sign that the LED spectrum might be significantly "safer". And this is for a "less effective" peak 305 nm LED. The more vitamin D3 effective 297 nm LEDs also have MUCH higher effective irradiances for photo-conjunctivitis, DNA damage etc. Data: http://lamps.licht-im-terrarium.de/spectrummeasu.../view/577 http://lamps.licht-im-terrarium.de/spectrummeasur.../view/18 2y

Edited Jack Witwer Author Frances Baines This is only in the ZooMed Lamp. One of our goals is to see if a LED at the ideal spectrum 295nm (multiple research) would still work, or if 300nm or 310nm is more appropriate. We know that as we get lower in the spectrum, risk increases, but we wonder if reducing output while still increasing effectiveness by targeting the ideal part of the spectrum would be the way to go. We certainly know that going below 290nm, we just want to see if by reducing total output, but targeting the ideal portion of the spectrum would yield safe and effective results. My guess, based on research: a mix of diodes between Lindgren's UVB-1 and UVB-2 will be absolutely ideal. I'm thinking either 295nm/320nm (potentially more dangerous, as lower in spectrum, but also maybe more efective) OR 305nm/320nm (maybe safer, but potentially up to 90% less effective for D3 synthesis, requiring higher total UVI than 295nm). 2y

Edited Frances Baines Admin Jack Witwer Why is it so important for the diodes to be "more effective" than natural sunlight (and far more risky) - when almost everything else we do in reptile husbandry is aimed at replicating natural features which the animal has evolved to utilise best? Everyone states "295nm is the ideal wavelength"... but in natural sunlight, it really isn't! There is hardly any of it in natural sunlight. It is quite hazardous to living cells. I did some primitive maths using the Action Spectrum for vitamin D synthesis. It indicates that Vitamin D3 production is greatest at 298nm. (Actually there's quite a lot of evidence that it isn't right, but lets ignore that for now..) Lets call that 100% efficiency. At 300nm, it's 95% efficient (compared to 298nm) At 303nm - 77% efficient; 310nm - 22% efficient; 313nm - 8% efficient; 314nm - 4.9% efficient. So 1uW/cm2 at 298nm would make the same amount of vitamin D3 as 4.5uW/cm2 at 310nm or 20.4 uW/cm2 at 314nm. Interestingly, sunlight (with a 60-degree altitude sun, equivalent to mid-day summer sun in the UK) has approximately 29.6 times more UVB at 310nm than it does at 298nm. And 51.1 times more, at 314nm. (Bernhard et al 1997) (radiation at 298nm = 4.88, at 310nm = 144.6, at 314nm = 249.6 mW/m2/nm) So, even though UVB at 310nm is only 22% as efficient, in mid-morning sunlight in tropical Australia the UVB at 310nm actually is responsible for 6.5 times as much vitamin D3 as that at 298nm! And the UVB at 314nm (4.9% efficient) is responsible for 2.5 times as much! Why not just use UVB at 310nm, then... it is much better and safer for making vitamin D3 than UVB at 298nm. You just need a bit more of it. That shouldn't be a problem, given the power of these new LED chips... Reference: Bernhard, G., Mayer, B., Seckmeyer, G., & Moise, A. (1997). Measurements of spectral solar UV irradiance in tropical‐Australia. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres (1984–2012), 102(D7), 8719-8730. 2y

Edited Jack Witwer Author Frances Baines I totally agree with the basis of your explanations, and especially with the empirical facts of percentages of natural sunlight wavelength that are responsible for D3 synthesis in our animal's natural environments. First let me describe what my ideal light would be: A significant range of diodes, spread over the exact spectrums of natural sunlight, at the same proportions and irradiance as would be found at noon on the equator, with an ability to dim said fixture to the required Ferguson zone of your animal, all run on a program that modulates up and down as you would find throughout the course of a day. This fixture would require at minimum 6/7 UV Diodes, plus the visible light diodes. All would need to be sufficiently powerful to accomplish their output as relevant in nature, and also be repeated over the length of the fixture, to best represent natural sunlight covering the entire enclosure. The enclosure would obviously have to have hides and shady areas, to also mimic nature. The main problem with my ideal light, for better or worse, is cost to produce and manufacture at scale. With the drop in UV LED prices in the past 2 years, it has made it possible to have a UV LED at all. The problem comes in replicating the full spectrum as described above. To have a full spectrum, at natural percentages, requires a significant number of different diodes. Pricing on bulk ordering of diodes does not favor this... Buying 5x of one LED is much much cheaper than ordering 1x of 5 different LEDs. Secondly, is the issue of power. Common wattages of currently offered chips are 0.6W 1W 1.5W and up. The more power a LED puts out, the more expensive it is. I completely agree with your percentages as stated above, but simply, a LED at 298nm would require 4.5x less power to achieve the same result as one at 310nm. 4.5x more power to the 310nm, whether it be individual LED power or multiple LEDs (which would be better for the animal and less of a spotlight) simply would cost more. The goal of being more efficient is incredibly important to actually producing LED UV fixtures. If we can be more efficient WITHOUT causing harm, we can reduce cost of manufacturing (through reduction in number of wavelengths of LED used, AND through reducing power needed per LED) and therefore reduce the cost of the product overall. It sounds callous to care about the financial side of development of these products and to only look for "efficiency", and I understand that. That's why the science is so important here. To make a product that is safe AND provides the required UV spectrum AND is also able to actually be produced is the goal. I would also like to mention. A targeted product designed around price and efficiency is a good start for bringing LED UV, should it be TRULY safe, into widespread use. What I would love to see is something like we've done in the reef aquarium industry, where we are able to offer a "Cadillac" product that does everything my "Ideal light" above does. In the aquarium industry, people pay in the range of $800usd for the perfect light, and we could make that ideal light for reptiles too, and the cost would probably be similar. It did take 15 years of development to even make this product possible, but starting by targeted spectra allowed the product to be adopted and trusted as safe. The goal for now though is to try to make a cost effective light that is just as good, per the biological markers of health, but lasts even longer and uses less power than current technology, at a comparable price. 2y

Sarina Wunderlich Jack Witwer I do not agree, but I find it really helpful and interesting to read a different perspective and I am so excited to see the results from your experiment. Thank you for the detailed response! 2y

Ruston Hartdegen Frances Baines Graham see Frances concern that led uv may create much higher levels of D3 then fluorescent tubes. 2y

Sarina Wunderlich Thank you, Jack! I would love to include the spectrum into the lamp database ( lamps.licht-im-terrarium.de ), if you can send it to me as data file. 2y

Jack Witwer Author Sarina Wunderlich Will get it to you as we can, this was the prelim test.... got a bunch more we need to do and should be able to send it over. 2y

Matthew Patrick Nagel Groundbreaking stuff here once again. What an amazing group this is. The influence it has had on the hobby and modern husbandry will be and has been beneficial to the nth degree. Whatever the outcome of this new LED debate is will just move us all into another level of husbandry. It's always a win/win here. Thank you! 2y

Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds Moderator watches the comment section excitedly to leaaaarn 2y

Len Geiger It’s absolutely fascinating and even exhilarating to be able to tap into this incredible expertise of the scholars in this group. Thank you all! ☀️🦎 2y

Kevin Jennings Could somebody post the same spectrograph that was produced by the VivTech LED UVB? And for reference, a spectrograph of a standard tube UVB light to compare to? Ideally with the same y-axis scale so as not to get too confusing, but if not, specify that because I can’t see the numbers in this image 😅 this is awesome by the way! Thank you! 2y

Jack Witwer Author Kevin Jennings Will try to get you one later today, and if not today, soon. Will post in the same format, or identify the differences. Sorry for the numbers not being super clear. Edit: See new post. All 3 posted. Scales are close, but not perfectly the same. 2y

Edited Herman Ivanoff Has anyone checked for hotspots and drop off of UV from these fittings. All of the samples (not branded lights) I've tested have had huge variation in UV reaching the target distance depending on the angle under the light. The most recent one gave me 38 µWcm-2 UVB under the light and only 4µWcm-2 UVB only 10cm to the side with the light 30cm from the test point. This was nowhere near the worst result for this I've had. All of my testing so far has yielded dangerous peaks directly beneath and almost nothing usable to the sides. 2y

Sarah Grannis Stewart Jack Witwer Sarina Wunderlich Frances Baines for those of us that aren’t too savvy with reading spectrographs, any chance we could get a summary of what this suggests? 2y

Sarina Wunderlich Sarah Grannis It’s very similar to the vivtech spectrum and I will publish my report of those with a detailed discussion of the spectrum soon, perhaps next weekend. 2y

Sarah Grannis Stewart Sarina Wunderlich I’m anxiously awaiting those results!!! 😉 2y

Tim Marks Sarina Wunderlich Based on the output of our Vivtech lights posted today, the zoomed spectrum is NOT in anyway similar to vivtech. 2y

Sarina Wunderlich Sarah Grannis In case you haven't seen it: Here is the report for the vivtech lamp: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ReptileLighting/posts/2422651351202780/ 2y

Tim Marks Sarah Grannis in my opinion, there is nothing that can be concluded relating to the long term effect on our animals based on this spectrum information alone. Zoomed changed the spectrum of their lamp after performing the available study, so we cannot assume this product will perform the same based on any publicly available scientific information. The existing studies that we (Leap Habitats) reviewed lead me to believe that this spectrum is more likely to be effective than it is to be dangerous. However, I believe some in this group may disagree. I look forward to science backed debates arguing both sides! 2y

Jack Witwer Author Sarah Grannis UVB is at around 308nm, UVA at 358nm, and a large spectrum of "neutral white" visible light. VERY long story short, it's an intriguing light and it's clear that UV LEDs are worth studying. I won't share a personal opinion/recommendation to buy or not to buy it... why? Because in the interest of full disclosure, the company I work for is also working to develop UV LED tech and I don't want to have the appearance of projecting any bias on the discussion. What I will happily say is that as we develop our technology, we very much are approaching our product from a scientific basis and highly highly value the experts in this field to help us move towards the best possible product, and look to be completely transparent into every thing we do in our work. 2y

Troy Brittingham So could someone explain to me what exactly I'm looking at in depth since it is a uv that is led 2y

Jack Witwer Author Troy Brittingham UV is a wavelength (or spectrum) of light, LED is a means of producing light. Right now, most UV lights on the market are fluorescent tubes, this is a new product by ZooMed that uses LEDs to produce UV light. What is posted above is the spectrograph (output of a machine that analyzes the spectrum (wavelength) of a light that is tested. 2y

Troy Brittingham Jack Witwer well I knew all the small details what I don't understand is how to translate what I'm looking at to how much uv is getting put out to much up to a certain animal if that makes sense 2y

Jack Witwer Author Troy Brittingham Did not intend to minimalize your knowledge, just wanted to start at the beginning. The height of the peaks shows how much of each wavelength the light is putting out. The scale at the bottom indicates which wavelengths are being output. Hope that helps! 🙂 2y

Troy Brittingham Jack Witwer I guess im gonna need to blow the graph up cuz im having a hard time reading it might be my other issue lol 2y

Josh Fastuca Chris Mathew this may be of some interesting to you potentially. 2y

Andrew Walker For my own peace of mind it seems that a lot of the initial concern and 'pre-negativity' surrounded the possible production of UVC. Has this now been settled, in this case at least? 2y

Jack Witwer Author Based on this spectrograph, it appears that there is no UVC radiation being emitted from this fixture. 2y

Edited Sarina Wunderlich Andrew Walker One reptile LED lamp I tested emitted a lot of UVC. So this concern is not only "pre-negativity". Especially no-name Asian LED lamps could emit almost any wavelength. You never know. EDITED: And the "most effective" LEDs that Jack Witwer prefers for his future product with peak around 296 nm MIGHT emit UVC, at least they will emit "non-terrestrial" UVB below 290 nm. The "most effective" LED in Barnkob2016 had a spectrum 284–308 nm. 2y

Edited Jack Witwer Author Sarina Wunderlich woah woah woah. “Could emit almost any wavelength, you never know”… you absolutely DO know when you run a spectrogram, and you DO know when you test the LED. I really don’t appreciate the second half of your comment. Unless you have spectrographs of EVERY UV LED on the market how can you possibly say a product that we haven’t even made a prototype of will emit UVC. I want to be clear. I would NEVER design or implement a product that would have UVC. Period. But here you are saying that I prefer something for a product and that it will have UVC. 2y

Edited Sarina Wunderlich

woah woah woah. you absolutely DO know when you run a spectrogram I know only a handful private reptile keepers that have a spectrometer. The rest have no chance to know of a no-name Asian uv led from Amazon or eBay will emit uvc. Unless you have spectrographs of EVERY UV LED on the market how can you possibly say a product that we haven’t even made a prototype of will emit UVC. You are right, I had been too quick here. I am sorry. I have edited my above posting. 2y

Edited Tim Marks Sarina Wunderlich Even stating "MIGHT have sub 290nm output" just doesn't strike me as a statement in good faith of bettering the community through research and technology. Why speak of a future that does not exist yet? We are looking forward to evolving and adapting our methodology until the time the test begins. One big question that remains is what will the bin width and tolerance of the LED's be that we ultimately select. Higher quality emitters from more well known manufacturers will have tighter tolerance bins and we can thus ensure the output fits a standard for safety over a reptile. The industry needs to select emitters that do not risk emitting energy below 290nm. However, no single currently available 295+ emitter that I have researched comes close to emitting in the UVC range. I think continued discussion of UVC from 295 emitters is not appropriate for this group. Your comment about generic UVB emitting reptile lights off of Alibaba or similar is very well taken by me. I think you have a good reason to be weary. That said, out of professional courtesy to others in this industry, I will reserve my opinion relating to this topic for private discussions only. 2y

Melissa S Graves People ask why I recommend this group and not just go based on advice in species-specific Facebook groups... SCIENCE. The fact that the recommendations here are based on studies and science not just legacy advice spread from keeper to keeper. Thank you all for what you're doing for reptile owners everywhere. 2y

Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds Moderator Melissa and this is the goodness we take back with us to share eh? It's awesome! https://www.nichia.co.jp/en/newsroom/2023/2023_120601.html

Maybe good news for our hobby? Nichia, the world's largest LED manufacturer and inventor of the high-brightness blue and white LED, is scheduled to launch two new UV LEDs in March 2024: UV-B LED with a peak wavelength of 308nm and UV-A LED with a peak wavelength of 330nm.

Matthias Eurich Sounds like an interesting thing to me. The prize will in the end decide whether such an entry into the hobby and how well adequate lighting can be realized.

Sarina Wunderlich Matthias Eurich if Nichia sees enough market potential for these LEDs and meets this potential, it could help with the price over the number.

Peter Errmann Sarina Wunderlich ca 50 USD/chip.

Sarina Wunderlich Peter Errmann Yes, I have also heard the numbers. Even with just 1xUVB and 3xUVA LEDs, this already puts us in the price range that owners currently pay for the Arcadia T5 Kit + annual tube replacement over 5 years. Together with the construction of an LED lamp, development, marketing, distribution, etc., it is unaffordable. But if Nichia sees the market potential for this wavelength and it is realized, hopefully, the quantities and competitors will increase and the prices will drop in the coming years.

Will this enable us to build a reptile-safe UVB-LED? The biggest problem of UVB-LEDs, besides unnatural UVB radiation, is the lack of intensity at 315~335 nm which risks hypervitaminosis D. I accidentally found this 330 nm UVA-LED on Nichia's website, which they just launched this year. Its spectrum sits in the D3 regulation region. The radiant flux is 100 mW, with an angle of approximately ±40°, it gives about 28 μW/cm2 at 40 cm. To make a UVI = 1.5 lamp, a D3-safe spectrum can be achieved with about 7 diodes (assuming UVI:UVB = 1:30, UVB:UVA2 = 1:4.5). So one or two 316 nm LEDs + seven 330s nm LED would do the job?

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Thomas Griffiths Moderator I spoke at some length to Nichia about these recently, and I’ll be looking further into this. Although, at this stage with this just being a component rather than a “finished product”, it’s unlikely the report will be made public

Sarina Wunderlich We have seen lamps with 310 + 325 + 340 nm LEDs in Prototypes and a few products announced or in the market. It is possible. But the price is just not what we want to pay. I guess everyone would be fine with 200€ for a lamp that lasts 5 years. But here it goes more into above 1000€.

Thomas Griffiths Moderator Henry Brames as an example, the individual diodes if high quality can cost about 70USD per diode, only if bought in bulk. (I’m not sure what Nichia sell theirs for, but this can be an indicative cost for well made diodes from a worldwide manufacturer such as those in US, Korea, and Japan) Then you’ve got the fact that we may need 5-10 of each diode on the lamp. Then you’ve got to put them onto a printed board, drive them, and then test it, and then market it, and certify it as safe, then ship it. Of course, these prices drop if you buy cheaper diodes. It can quickly get out of control! Vivtech LED UVB

Looking for some clarification. This group has two different studies on the Vivtech LED UVB bulbs: Dr. Sarina Wunderlich's study (under Guide 4) and Thomas Griffiths' more recent report (here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ReptileLighting/permalink/3143647122436529). The earlier study reports no UVC detection and calls the bulbs, in that sense at least, safe. But Thomas' more recent inquiry is very concerning indeed, saying that the bulbs will lead to hypervitaminosis-D and do emit a lot of UVC. So...which one is correct? Are the bulbs safe but useless or dangerous and useless? As a side note, I bought these bulbs recently before I knew about these reports and I haven't heard back from Vivtech despite emailing and messaging them on Facebook a few times. There's also no information on their website about a return policy. Concerning...

Thomas Griffiths Moderator We use different spectrometers. Mine is a bit more sensitive to UV. I would say that our findings do not totally contradict each other because we don’t use 100% the same equipment. (That’s not to say one is better than the other, they are just different). I also had my spectrometer recalibrated shortly before the testing took place. Either way, I don’t currently recommend the lamps for a few reasons:

  • Risk of hypervitaminosis-D. This remains for all current UVB LEDs on the market, though.
  • Disproportionate UVA1 which leads to an unnaturally tinted light colour.
  • There is evidence of burns in animals under these lamps. Vivtech have in their marketing and on podcasts said that animals can safely sit on the lamps and snakes can even wrap around the lamps when in use. I was also concerned with the lack of factory or manufacturer testing with WG-295. Instead they tested with Solarmeter 8.0 which reacts to wavelengths that we aren’t worried about here. This, to me, is indicative of the level of understanding. My report also lists reasons that the lamps are illegal to sell in the UK, as they are not safety marked etc. We both only tested a small batch. So this should be taken with consideration. One thing I HAVE noticed through my time testing prototypes is that these UVB diodes are pretty difficult to make with a consistent peak output. They are often +/-5nm. That said, I’ve seen plenty that are also decent and very consistent. My report primarily covers a worst case scenario situation. But if we also consider that the diodes by their very nature are often inconsistent (no fault of Vivtech), all it takes is one to be emitting a slightly shorter peak wavelength than the ones I tested and the problem is exaggerated exponentially. In terms of our wording of our conclusions, it could certainly be said that Sarina’s wording is more careful and conservative and my wording is slightly stronger.

Sarina Wunderlich Yes, the reports seem to contradict each other. But it is only on tiny details in the physical evaluation and a slightly different emphasis in the judgement. Thomas‘ spectrometer is a newer version, better (and more expensive) than mine, I must admit that. Still I consider my spectrometer good enough for its job. The better the spectrometer the more UVC you can distinguish from noise. There must be some limit below that the UVC is harmless, even though the spectrometer can measure it. There is a limit for tanning studios (0.3 uW/cm2 at UVI 12) which I consider too high, but somewhere it must be. I have not made up my mind on which level I consider still acceptable. Thomas thinks the vivtech bulb is above an acceptable limit and that is fine. Also the vivtech lamp was the first that I tested and it took me (well, all of us) some time to sharpen our judgement of the vitamin d3 issue. I would chose my words a bit differently today. I also see a strong risk of vitamin d3 overdose. Animal studies are needed to investigate this.

碳纤维加热灯

Carbon Filament Lamps

碳纤维加热灯是以碳纤维(而不是钨丝)作为发光原件的黑体辐射灯,灯丝温度只有一千摄氏度左右,基本不发出可见光(可以见到微弱的红光,在红外摄像头下很亮),它的红外波长分布结构也比较合理。加热的利用效率比较高III

欧美常把碳纤维加热灯叫deep heat projector(DHP),这是Arcadia给它的碳纤维加热灯起的商标名。

碳纤维加热灯上常标注IRA/IRB,这其实是错误的,DHP发出的光中IRA很少。国内国内市场把deep heat projector称作远红外加热灯其实比欧美市场更合理,但是又反映出另一个误区,就是人们觉得“远红外加热”似乎比近红外、中红外效果更好,但其实是近、中红外有更重要的生理意义。

DHP不发出可见光,在这一点上算是相比卤灯/白炽灯的一个优势,一是不需要调光型温控器,二是可以在夜间使用。可以把DHP作为备份热源,设为夜间最低温度(如18度)作为备份,以防止冬季夜间室温过冷。

Kaci Karrick · Hi! have a question. What is the significance between a deep heat projector from Arcadia and a Ceramic heat emitter? is one better than the other? both the same? I do know that the Arcadia “penetrates deeper skin” than a CHE does. Can a DHP be used for all reptiles like a che can? should a DHP be used for nighttime heating IF needed for that reptile or use a che? I’m being told a CHE isn’t the best so want to know more. 🙂

Thomas Griffiths Moderator Hi Kaci 🙂 Good questions! Ultimately, these lamps are marketed very differently. The DHP is the brand name given to the Arcadia carbon filament lamps. Carbon Filament Lamps are generally marketed (incorrectly) as a basking lamp which can be used 24/7. But ultimately they are only really suitable for heating up an enclosure, including substrate and air. Ceramic Heat Emitters are more like a central heating radiator in your home. They will also warm an environment (air). As a general rule of thumb, I tend to recommend a CHE for use INSIDE an enclosure, and a DHP for use if it’s OUTSIDE an enclosure (such as over a mesh). Although technically the radiation from a DHP does penetrate “deeper” than a CHE, it’s still not suitable for basking and any references to skin penetration is annoyingly bad marketing because it’s recommending that the lamp be used for something that it’s not good at - warning an animal. To answer the questions;

  • what’s the difference? They have different designs and are often better suited to different setups.
  • is one better than the other? No.
  • Can DHP be used for all reptiles? Yes.
  • DHP be used for night time? It can be, but depends on your setup if it is best suited.

Paddy Kelly Thomas Griffiths I originally state Thomas was wrong but was educated later down the comment section- leaving the comment so others can learn** Thomas is somewhat wrong- please disregard some of what was said. They emit different parts of the infrared spectrum. One is more bio available than the other. IRA and IRB are wavelengths that will penetrate deeper into your snakes dermis than IRC. Ceramics emit IRC DHPS emit IRA and IRB. When the heat from your DHP hits the enclosure around your animal it will be converted to IRC. This means that you will receive the benefits of a CHE even if you don’t have one. Easiest way of navigating through the nonsense is this- what’s the most natural environment I can provide, whilst keeping my snake healthy and safe? DHPS are a more natural basking heat to provide for your animal and in turn will give you a healthier animal.

Thomas Griffiths Moderator Paddy Kelly Hi Paddy. I suggest you read our well-established information in the Files Section. And I fear you have fallen for the marketing hype. You are using Arcadia’s marketing terms like “bioavailable”, which is indicative. The truth is that Arcadia has actually retrospectively deleted much of its old marketing because they simply got it wrong. And you have been lied to by the marketing team. These lamps (DHPs and CHEs) are for all intents and purposes black body radiators. This means we can apply Planck’s Law. With this, and the approximation of a filament value of approx 1000k, we can be clear that DHPs radiate approx 6.5% infrared-A (it’s in the region of 5-8% depending on how you want to apply it). Around 45%-48% is Infrared-B, which doesn’t appear in such large quantities in sunlight. And around 45% is Infrared-C. This is merely what is radiated. In fact disproportionate amounts of the energy “in” to a DHP is conducted into the body of the unit and ceramic holder, and this is further radiated as IRC (compared to say a halogen). DHPs are, for the sake of replicating sunlight (Rule 5), just as “unnatural” as CHEs. And they are not suitable basking lamps and they are not recommended for this purpose. Neither DHPs nor CHE are suitable basking lamps. Note that they don’t emit ANY “bioavaialble” wavelengths in any real quantity, no matter how many times Arcadia says so. I suggest further reading on Power Density and Infrared-A. (in the Files Section). Here’s a favourite that gets shown a lot, and it does a great job of displaying the radiated output of lamps. Take the usual caveats and pinches of salt, but it’s a great display of it. Dr Howard covered it in under 6 minutes in this clip: https://youtu.be/1O912cykf08 I explained it a little bit in a podcast here: https://youtu.be/TqAVbP5ARVY Roman Muryn covered it here: https://youtu.be/7Kgx57c7xFY And here: https://youtu.be/02W_Ulu4cxQ

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Paddy Kelly Thomas Griffiths so you mentioned there that the IRB is converted into IRC by reflecting off of the ceramic holder. What percentage is this? How much IRB is emitted downwards to the animal based on what you have read? Because I never recommend a DHP as a basking lamp on its own. I recommend it be used in conjunction with a halogen.

Thomas Griffiths Moderator Paddy Kelly it’s not reflected. It’s conducted INTO the ceramic holder, dome, etc. - and you know this because those things get hot! weirdly enough, we don’t tend to see much IRB in nature. We see the vast amounts of IRA from sunlight, and then we see re-radiated IRC from the environment. It’s not just about what we have read, it’s about what we have shown in study. Essentially, the DHPs are good for warming substrate and air. They will certainly warm an animal, but in an unnatural way - arguably just as unnaturally as a CHE. Id argue that there is hardly any if any at all radiation that is “bioavailable” to the animals fron a DHP. To answer the question, of the radiative output of a DHP, around 45% is IRB. As I say, give those documents a read and watch those videos. There’s a good few hours of information there to take in. And it should do a much better job of it than I can in a single comment on a Facebook post. I’d HIGHLY recommend you give this post by Quentin Dishman a read: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ReptileLighting/permalink/2981754331959143/?mibextid=W9rl1R Also the video of my chat with Dillon on AaH has a nice little graph that shows it well. As much as I recommend watching the whole thing to get all the caveats etc, you can skip to 55:00 and watch for less than 5 minutes to see what I mean with regards to radiative output: https://youtu.be/TqAVbP5ARVY

Paddy Kelly Thomas Griffiths so if you measure that energy at a basking spot underneath a DHP- none of it will be IRB?

Thomas Griffiths Moderator Paddy Kelly 100% of the IRB irradiated will become IRC or another longer wavelength, if it all hits an object (say a rock) and gets re-radiated. That’s how it works. But the energy conducted is NOT IRB, it is conducted energy rather than radiated energy. A large portion of the ENERGY is conducted and output ultimately from the ceramic/dome/etc as IRC. But this energy was never IRB. It never got emitted as IRB in the first place. You put 70W in, but you don’t get 70W radiated out of the filament. There are losses (conduction, and in turn more IRC). I think there may be confusion here between conduction, irradiation, and emission. Those are not the same thing. As I say, I think reading the Files Section and checking those videos I linked to will be of great help.

Thomas Griffiths Moderator Paddy Kelly how are you measuring it? With a non-contact thermometer? If so then you’re measuring 100% IRC. If you measure the radiated energy from the lamp itself, ~45% will be IRB. But let me reiterate, IRB doesn’t exist much in nature. It’s not “bioavaialble”, and it’s not natural to bask under.

Paddy Kelly Thomas Griffiths sorry for all the the questions I’m just picking your brain. I’m aware that all of it ends up as IRC. But a percentage of it will be IRB when it hits your reptiles dermis no? Thomas Griffiths I use an infrared heat gun

Thomas Griffiths Moderator Paddy Kelly ~45% of it will be IRB, yes. But IRB doesn’t exist much in nature. It’s not “bioavailable” and not natural to bask under in such levels. It has a drying effect on the dermis, not a core-warming effect like the marketing says. IRB is a pretty vast grouping. Not all IRB is equal, most of the output is in the longer wavelengths which are completely unnatural. This makes it just as “unnatural” as a CHE as I say. It’s certainly worth watching my interview with AaH, as I’ve made a pretty beginner-friendly presentation on this very subject. An infrared heat gun (non-contact thermometer) measures only IRC. And using one tells us nothing at all about the radiative output of a lamp.

Paddy Kelly Thomas Griffiths will check out the info. Thanks for giving a new perspective mate. In your opinion- if you had to recommend non light emitting heat source for an animal like a carpet python for example- what would you say?

Thomas Griffiths Moderator Paddy Kelly that’s what we do here 🙂 If it was to be totally 100% non-light emitting then I’d go for a CHE or RHP as they’re the only ones with 0% visible light. BUT, again it depends on the enclosure. If it’s a mesh-top and your lamps are over a mesh then a DHP may be more effective at maintaining temps inside the enclosure with “minimal wastage” to the outside room. In an enclosed space (ie a wooden viv) then I’d go for a CHE on a thermostat. Appropriately caged etc.

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but the DHP is not a basking lamp, it is more typically used away from the basking zone as a 24/7 ambient and/or substrate warmer. Perhaps its position depends more on what species this is for and what the desired effect is?

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陶瓷加热灯

陶瓷加热灯的热质量是几种热灯中最差的,它就是把一个灯泡周围包上陶瓷,憋热了来发出红外线,发出的红外光方向性差,浪费严重,很多热都被上升气流带走了,同时造成湿度降低。而且因为表面温度低,波长组成也不合理 III

Frances Baines Admin All the inexpensive CHE sold for reptiles are likely to be Chinese made, but their quality depends on what quality controls the importing company requires from their manufacturer. This is expensive, which is why you'll see far cheaper "versions" on the likes of eBay and Amazon, shipped direct from China or from unfamiliar brands... I don't use CHE at all, over my terrariums. They are not basking lamps, just air heaters that work by getting seriously hot and heating everything touching them (sockets, fixtures etc) - and since hot air rises, having them in a dome above a vivarium heats the room as much as the animal below -if not more! If you need extra heat 24/7 with no visible light, a "deep heat projector" is a far better alternative, as although it's a substrate heater not a basking lamp, its mid-wavelength infrared is projected down into the vivarium, and it can be controlled on a dimming thermostat. But it's bigger than would fit in a Nano-sized dome. For daytime, though, for my geckos I use an incandescent flood-type basking lamp, only low wattage, about 40W max, placed next to their UVB (Arcadia Shade Dweller 8w 12" 7%UVB)

Quentin Dishman Moderator Hi Dylan, CHEs are neither particularly directional (they emit weak heat in all directions equally) nor do they provide much other than warmed air. While CHEs are a reasonable way to raise ambient temperatures—especially in solid-top enclosures since they’re better equipped to trap that warmed air—CHEs have no real relation to basking. The kind of heat they provide is more like a really hot rock than like sunlight. So they’re only good as supplemental devices and at night. Incandescent-type lamps are essentially the only way we can provide sun-like infrared for daytime basking, at a gentle intensity that’s just barely enough to feel with the back of your hand. Ideally we find a model of lamp with a very wide spread that provides just the right intensity at full power at a certain distance (neither too much nor too little). Then after a few hours we check to make sure we haven’t accidentally chosen a basking surface material that gets too hot—if so, just change it for something lighter in color until the desired range is reached. We have several recents posts on the subject in Guide 9, accessible via the homepage (shown below). We also have several videos and podcasts in Guide 5 that help introduce a lot of these concepts 🙂

Do you have CHE inside the enclosure ?

Quentin Dishman Moderator Hi Jess, Yes it’s possible to have a CHE inside a solid-top enclosure. That’s actually the ideal scenario for a CHE, since the solid top will help keep warmed air inside the enclosure. Depending on the animal you may need protective mesh to prevent them from touching the CHE. 🙂

加热垫

单独使用加热垫的效果差,如果要用,应该配合其他热源使用。

加热垫大部分只通过热传导提供温度,几乎不提供任何有生理作用的红外线。在室内基础温度特别低时可以用加热垫提升基础温度,然后再佐以其他光源,平时不需要用。平时的腹部热源可以通过在卤灯或DHP下放置岩板等深色物体模拟,用一个光源同时实现两种自然光源。

自然界的爬行动物有从腹部获得热量的习性(称为触温性动物,thigmothermy),晨昏动物、夜行动物从具有白天余温的物体上通过热传导和热辐射吸收热量。这被许多人用作使用加热垫作为热源的理论依据,但这个说法是偏颇的。 (Sinclair, 2021 III 

在自然界中,温暖来自太阳(上方),而不是地面(下方)。事实上,爬行动物会逃到地下来躲避太阳并寻找凉爽,而不是温暖。因此,像热垫那样从下方提供温暖是不自然的,会促使动物产生不自然的行为。热灯通过模拟太阳的效果并加热空气和下方的地面来解决这个问题。

暖风机

“就是一个商品名叫宠物暖风灯或者暖风机的东西。”

个人看法:如果是电热丝+风扇的话,如果能配有温控,我觉得比加热垫合理,可以用于维持冷区/夜间温度,避免腹部的低温烫伤,还能弥补很多栖地通风不足的问题。但是用于热区的晒灯还是不能取代卤灯,因为它就是热对流,没有热辐射,缺乏IRA。另外我估计热效率会低一些,维持同样温度的功率可能高一点。

Radiant_Heat_Panel

Ryan Taylor · Hi need help with a radiant heat panel so my enclosure is 5ftx2.5ftx2.5ft, I have a 125w RHP along with 2 halogens for day time. However once night comes the RHP is struggling to hold temps above 26. Even when thermostat is set to max setting 46c it still won’t go above 26 c This is first time using a heat panel, has anyone got any advice thanks. Frances Baines Admin RHP are very-long-wavelength heaters (IR-C) which basically just warm the air. They are not basking lamps and should not be used to create a basking zone; but they are ideal if mounted in a vivarium with restricted ventilation, which traps the warm air, for raising the ambient temperature - e.g. for rainforest species. I am not sure what species would need air temperatures above 26C / 78.8F? But if you added a basking lamp - which warms substrate but NOT air - the warmed substrate can reach much higher surface temperatures, e.g., 40C/ 104F, in the way that sunlight does, and this "patch" of sunwarmed substrate will further warm the air close to the ground. Combined with warm air from above from the RHP, this should achieve your higher daytime temperatures... and if this is a snake such as a ball python, it will probably be stimulated to bask by the light and short-wavelength infrared (IR-A) from an incandescent flood bulb. Just add low level UVB and you'd have a reasonable simulation of a "patch of weak sunlight".

地暖

兰道三上13:43 自己回复瓦泥的专栏

卤灯/白炽灯灯下放岩板

只要在卤灯/白炽灯晒灯下面提供有一定储热能力的物体(如岩块或粗树枝),它自己就可以变成一个被动的热源,就可以用一个光源同时提供顶部辐照加热(白天)和腹部加热(关灯后的夜晚)。这也更接近自然界的情况,既有上方热源也有下方热源,并且。阳光消失后热并不会马上散去。一块厚重的岩板可以储热半个晚上以上。蛇会趴在岩块或者树枝上晒灯,同时接收上方和下方的热源。 Sinclair测试发现白天被热灯加热到27~30摄氏度的岩板,在晚上9点关灯后,于凌晨四点还能维持20~24摄氏度,早上开灯之前会降到接近室温的18摄氏度。(Sinclair, 2020 III 

相比于加热垫,有热灯和高处的攀爬晒点可以让你更多的在白天见到蛇 (Sinclair, 2021 III 

爬宠加热石

爬虫加热石英文商品名叫Heat rock,这是个很缺德的东西。就是一块石头一样的东西里面填上加热丝,使用时直接放在栖地里面。因为heat rock在栖地里会被爬宠折腾、被淋水后腐蚀等等原因,经常很不可靠,有时会加热失控。又因为爬宠可以直接接触热源,一旦失控可能导致烫伤。并且它的加热通常很不均匀,可加热的面积太小,热点又太热,从安全性和加热效果上都还不如加热垫。不要用。

红光、红外激光

粉丝反映,王妍博医生于立德宠物医院推荐用于睫角守宫的手指被门挤了之后的愈伤,“所以推荐我做激光理疗。今天刚照完第一次,我再观察她情况,然后周末两天再带她去照两次!理疗的灯光,我问了医生,医生帮我看了机器,叫4类灯光,用的是950-1200,650-950的波长,因为我的睫角小,所以用的能量也是小的”

材料过滤性能

玻璃

卤灯挡片

2024年4月20日左右有自己测试

UVB-LED灯挡片

Silicone-Sheet

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The Zoo Med Humidity Plus Silicone Terrarium Cover is interesting. The box claims that it blocks UV, but I found a blockage of only around 30% in my tests. Although, my testing wasn’t long term and it could be that the silicone very quickly “solarises” and blocks 100% within a week or so. That said, I wouldn't use it under a UV lamp without a solarmeter just in case this is a fact about the material itself and there is uneven blockage between batches etc. (and, consider air… See more

Frances Baines Admin I think these mats are a great idea for reducing ventilation when it is needed to retain humidity (e.g. for rainforest species) but it seems they are designed to have cut-outs for the lamps (or just placed over areas of mesh where there are no lamps anyway). I think placing any UVB lamp on top of the mat would likely shorten its life considerably (regardless of the filtering effect of the silicone on the UVB) by blocking off air flow from around the tube, leading to possibly severe overheating inside the fixture. Placing a basking lamp on top of the mat would seem likely to be counterproductive too, owing to the same reduction of ventilation but also...... to what extent does silicone transmit short-wavelength infrared? 2d

Thomas Griffiths Author Moderator Frances Baines yeah, my main worry would be ventilation. Although if the UV lamp was high up enough (say, mounted up above the mesh using those 3D printed “legs”) then there would be plenty airflow for the lamp and it could be possible to use the cover. However, given that the box says that it blocks UV I’m still cautious. I’ve not actually tested it for IR at all! It would certainly melt it if was exposed to that at close range. But then if the lamp was hung above the enclosure similar to the UV example from above it may be suitable. Probably not within the recommended usage, though. 2d

Frances Baines Admin Thomas Griffiths If it's the same quality silicone used for baking sheets and cupcake moulds it shouldn't melt.... but I think the inside of any dome with the front sealed off with silicone would cook the glue seals on the light bulbs... 🤪 2d

Thomas Griffiths Author Moderator Frances Baines I’ll let someone else test that functionality 😇😇😇 2d

Tom Riccio Wow, I’m surprised it only blocked 30% that’s interesting. I have these silicone mats from Amazon I’ll try and test tomorrow May be an image of text that says 'PABUSIOR PaBUSIOr Visit the Store 4.6 文 1,736 Silicone Mats for Crafts, Translucent, Non-Slip Heat Resistant, 11.8x15.7In (2/Pack) Silicone Placemats for Jewelry, Epoxy Resin, Resin,Glitter ,Glitter Slime, DIY Sheet, Nail Art, Clear Countertop Protector Pad' 2d

Thomas Griffiths Author Moderator Tom Riccio let us know!! 2d

Tom Riccio These ended with similar results, about 30% blocked 1d

Thomas Griffiths Author Moderator Tom Riccio Interesting! I'm wondering what the solarisation is going to be like

PTFE

特殊玻璃

光源的选择和布置

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问灯

A message from our Admin team: Are you looking for lamp recommendations? If so, in your first post, it's really important that you tell us: (1) What reptile this is for! (2) The size of your vivarium (length, width and height) (3) Whether your lamps will be above a mesh screen or not (and if yes, what brand the vivarium is, as mesh thicknesses vary) and (4) most important of all, how close to the lamps will your reptile get? (5) Add a vivarium photo if possible! (6) What country you live in, because products on sale in different countries vary a lot. We ask this because without these facts, we find members will give you a lot of recommendations which may not apply to you because they assume you have the same set-up as theirs! Do also tell us if you have already bought lamps, that you're hoping to use, and whether you have a temperature "gun" - as this will be really useful to measure your surface temperatures with, as you set up the lamps.

影响UVI的因素

自己的专栏文章

紫外灯的选择和安装

【】【乌拉圭vs袋鼠 确实,目前测评还没有特别向好的。疫情时注意到线下有dragon那款在售,大概30欧,不过熟悉的店员不推荐(毕竟广受好评的其他uvb产品也差不多这个钱)。至今遇到的德区breeder/老人常用的大概就是:低uvb需求的上灯管、高uvb需求的上得配镇流器的HQI HID;在衰减上求稳的,也有给低需求爬用后者的,不过都有在距离上严格控制+晒区提供足够多落脚点;另外,对于肛吻长较大的物种,推荐用灯管的很多,毕竟这样uvb晒起来更均匀】【】

【】【紫外灯种类:去掉荧光剂的荧光灯管、金卤灯、紫外LED】【】

【】【给出一个具体计算的例子】【】

【】【紫外灯参数的含义】【】 T几,百分比

确定好紫外灯的布置方案,根据布置时晒点的位置、光源距离、光通量分布、光屏障的形状和吸收特性来系统考察动物实际能接收到的UVB计量如何,即可计算出需要把灯装在哪儿、买什么灯。

Reptifiles推荐了下面两种UVB灯给玉米蛇用(ReptiFiles III ,这也符合上述文献中的表格查询结果推荐(Baines, 2016 IV :

  • 60cm 18W Zoo Med Reptisun T5 HO 5.0
  • Arcadia D3 Reptile Lamp 6% UVB 60cm 18W 灯管应该每12个月更换一次,或者如果你有紫外光度计可以定时检测,不合格时及时更管。

Arcadia Reptiles有一个非常有用的照明指南,填写物种就会告诉要某个距离需要哪种灯泡。比如输入玉米蛇,可以从下面的图中看出使用阳光法的晒点需要UVI为2-3。用此方法时在25厘米的距离用8W/T5/7%的灯,但在45厘米的距离需要更强的24W/T5/6%d的灯。此处的距离不是箱子的高度,是灯泡到晒点的距离。垫高的晒点、悬垂的灯具等导致的距离减小应该扣除。

I was just looking up Arcadias recommendations and this is theres... it looks like they changed it from a 3-5 uvi range to a 4-6 cause the distance has shortened by a bit. Just curious what you all think of this?

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Thomas Griffiths Moderator This is interesting! The Arcadia website essentially just links to different pages depending on classifications of animals. If you check the URL when you get taken to the pages, you’ll see that there’s 4 different versions in total:

  • Crepuscular species (1-2)
  • Low UVI species (2-3)
  • partial baskers (3-4)
  • full sun baskers (4-6) It just seems that the beardies have been moved up a slot on their system for whatever reason. I can’t remember what the older numbering was like, so can’t say if their numbering has changed or not. I’ve checked over Zone 3 animals and some are labelled as UVI 3-4 and others as UVI 4-6. Even the marginated tortoise (widely considered Zone 4) is only UVI 3-4 on the Arcadia page. There just appears to be some small reclassification from their end. Wonder if they’ll ever release the data as to why the decisions were made.

Frances Baines Admin Thomas Griffiths Arcadia don't use the Ferguson Zone system. John Courteney-Smith designed Arcadia's system independently. The problem I find with these web pages is that there's no indication whether the lamps are in reflector fixtures or not. In the UK, the T5-HO were on sale for many years for use with separate ballasts with just end-caps, and the T8 are still sold for use with these. You had to buy a clip-on reflector separately. So I suspect this graphic was drawn up before the ProT5 Kits were available. So does this mean these distances are with, or without reflectors? I suspect they ARE for use WITH a reflector owing to the distances suggested for their T5-HO tubes. It would be nice if there was a silver line above each tube to represent the reflector though... But... how anyone could ever get UVI 4-6 at 10 - 12" from a T8 tube, even in the best reflector in the world, is still a puzzle! (The "UV Flood" is a very different product, it uses a long double T5 compact tube inside a wide reflector canopy)

Thomas Griffiths Moderator Frances Baines truer words have never been spoken

厂商自己对特定物种的指导可以作为起点,但最好还是去查Ferguson的文献和数据库确认一下。厂商的说法可能有误,比如Exoterra认为boa constrictors, crested geckos, leopard geckos, 和 pythons都不需要照灯,这是错误的。(Griffiths, 2023  III 

紫外灯有不同的标记方法。比如Komodo和Arcadia的灯用百分比标注紫外强度、Exoterra用星级、有的用什么热带型/沙漠型灯泡、也有概念比较先进的厂商像Reptile Systems开始用弗格森区。但这些都不用管它,最后都要做换算成特定晒点位置的UVI来选择,不要盲从。(Sinclair, 2020 III ,(Griffiths, 2023  III 

Facebook有个群组叫Reptile Lighting,很专业,不断更新测试灯泡的结果。(Griffiths, 2023  III 

所有栖地内的UVB灯都必须装在隔热网罩里。(Griffiths, 2023  III 

有些灯(比如FS太阳灯)不是给爬宠设计的,会选择性产生偏短波的UVB(280~290 nm),这会因波长太短造成伤害。不该使用不为爬行动物设计的UVB灯,所购买的UVB灯必须每个都(由厂家或自己)测试过。(Pinder, 2008 IV ,(Baines, 2009 III 

推荐的红外热源组合

使用卤灯/白炽灯作为主要加热热源提供IRA,晒点正下方提供岩板,岩板被加热后会释放IRC;增加一DHP作为备用,设置为夜间允许的最低温度,防止栖地过冷。(Sinclair, 2020 III 

栖地红外光源安装

注意加热灯座必须是陶瓷/金属的,不能是普通照明灯里塑料的。否则可能引发火灾 III

热灯必须有额外的安全罩。不能把热灯装在箱子里面、把热灯直接扣在顶网上面也不安全。要做到蛇能碰到的所有地方你都能用手指头长时间的放着(不至于烫的受不了)才行 III

蛇的皮肤覆鳞,热觉比人迟钝。网上有说法是“蛇知道热的表面不会接触,所以不必隔热”,这是错误的,有很多蛇用吻部碰灯导致烫伤的案例。III况且这说法就算是对人也不成立,农村小孩子去摸煤炉表面被烫掉一层皮的案例很多的。II

一种安全的做法是用支架把热灯悬挂在顶网上方5 cm左右的地方 【】【图】【】

如果必须装在栖地里面(栖地上方空间不足)就必须选择足够安全的灯具罩。我发现网上黑色的这种声称是爬宠晒灯安全罩的产品根本没法用,黑色会吸收红外线,导致黑色金属网极其热 II

注意隔离网的网眼大小和网格结构,隔离网的开门方式。比如有一种国内卖的灯罩有弹簧式易拆卸底网,这个弹簧不够强,蛇可能拱开弹簧钻进去(如下图一名Reddit网友的蛇钻到加热灯隔离网内(原帖)。蛇一般不会在灯热的时候往里钻,但是如果钻进去的时候是夜间,天亮了到定时时间一开热灯,你的蛇就熟了 III

注意玻璃会吸收部分IRA,不应该将红外光源隔着玻璃照射(见紫外吸收章节):

更好的选择是订购这种304不锈钢材质的消毒框,这种材料反射红外,因而不会很热,可以让卖家焊四个耳朵,用螺丝拧到栖地上即可。 【】【注意隔离网到灯的距离】【】 【】【图】【】

加热垫不能放在栖地里,要在底面以外。【防水不可靠】

非安全电压的不要放在栖地内部(如加热垫),防止打翻水导致触电

What am I doing wrong 🙃 I have a Ball Python, I have a 4x2x2 but no lid so I've been searching for one, I also have to move soon so if one of the slightly smaller tanks will work just for now that'd be great, it also seems like it should be easier to heat being smaller? Currently in a 24hx w17 x l36 (60 gallon), he is a climber he is almost never on the ground unless in his hide. I got a dhp, which got the ambient temp to 70. I also just added a halogen 75w, and the ambient temp is still reading 70 ambient temp? Is it just too high to heat? I have the thermometer probe right beside the hide on the hot side, about 2 inches from the floor. I have a 21h x 12w x 48l I could try instead but that seems like longer floor space but less wide floor space, and less climbing space? Do I have the wrong heat sources? Am I measuring wrong?

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Frances Baines Admin A 3ft long, 2ft tall vivarium isn't too high to heat; and if you have a good climber, the area that has the highest surface temperature, under the basking lamp, does not need to be down on the floor either, it could be 10-12" under the lamp - eg. a basking shelf or branch. Incandescent lamps like halogens don't heat air, they heat solids, like substrate and snake bodies. So if you are measuring the ambient (air) temperature in the shade, 22" below the lamp, with a vivarium with very good ventilation, you may not see much of a rise in air temperature... If you get a temperature gun -something like this - https://www.amazon.com/Inkbird-Thermometer.../dp/B08RNJHS6T you should find that the substrate or basking branch directly in the beam of the halogen (the illuminated area) will be much warmer than the air - and if your snake basks there, measure his surface temperature too.... But there are many different types of 75watt halogen. Some have narrow beams; only heating a small circle area below them. The DHP, likewise, heats solids not the air. It sounds like we might be able to suggest a better lamp with a wider beam, so what brand is it? Is it in a dome above a mesh screen? What brand is the screen? - some will block a lot of the heat and light. Post a photo? Also, do you have a deep substrate and lots of "clutter" like branches, hides, fake or real plants -to absorb and retain heat? Could you insulate the back and sides of the outside of the tank, with polystyrene sheets, cork tiles or plywood, to prevent heat loss? Cover some of the mesh top that's not near the lamps, to trapwarm air?

Thomas Griffiths Moderator Hello, Please can you amend your post to include pictures if possible? This will make it much easier for us to get an idea of how your enclosure is laid out. Take pics of the positions of the thermometer probes, as well as layout of lighting. Please can you also include details of the exact lamps, bulbs, and equipment you’re using? We like to see brands, and model codes if you have them (pics are often suitable). Armed with this information, we can better advise if you are measuring “wrong” or if something else is at play.

Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds Moderator Hi Kenzie! Welcome! Everything Thomas and Frances said is correct. If it assists you, here is my bare basics guide to help you out. I cover everything from minimum substrate depth to types of lighting and why we use it, temperatures, clutter and plants and prepping them if you're bioactive, and more! https://www.facebook.com/groups/ReptileLighting/permalink/2997081890426387/?mibextid=Nif5oz Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds Moderator · Hey everyone! This is my post for Ronan's (royal python) setup, now that he's moved into his new viv! I'm separating this into multiple sections under the same post to show the basics I use and the progression of Ronan's living quarters from Quarantine through Naturalistic to Bioactive! To begin, here are the basics I worked with across all three types of vivarium setup. Heat/Light -Halogen- +On a Dimming Thermostat for safety +BR or R type under 4ft tall +Par type for over 4ft tall +Center on the UVB bulb -T5 UVB- +Royals are Ferguson Zone 2 (FZ2) +Join @Reptile Lighting, check out guides 1-3! +No more than half the viv length for a T5 -+T5's are the most efficient! +The center is the strongest, center halogens on the middle -LED- +Aim for 6 or 6.5k +Overlap the basking zone -Deep Heat Projector (DHP)- -As-needed to keep night heat temps above below listed minimums Useful/Necessary Equipment for Heat/Light -Laser Thermometer -Solarmeter 6.5 +Borrow one if you can't afford to buy one! -2 Digital Hygrometers -Insulation panel cut to fit under the vivarium Temperatures to aim for: Basking spot, as measured by laser thermometer - 95-100°F Hot side ambient, daytime as measured by digital hygrometer - 88-93°F Cool side ambient, daytime as measured by digital hygrometer - 78-83°F Nighttime ambient across entire viv as measured by digital hygrometer - no less than 75°F in summer, no less than 70°F in winter Hides -Cool side -Hot side -Middle Optional: Sky hide, underground hide Water Dish -big enough for the snake to choose to soak in and submerge their body -water refreshed daily -dish cleaned as often as needed, at longest weekly Climbing Branches -Wide enough to be easily gripped -Lots, they're semi-arboreal! -No sappy woods, no pine or spruce; use hardwoods like grapevine or oak Plants -Real or fake, both work! -LOTS of plants for clutter and coverage! -Good live plants - Draceana, pothos, orchid, african violet, arrowleaf, monstera, swiss cheese monstera, bromeliad, snake plant -Clean live plants thoroughly before adding to viv- see below message on plant prep -Cork bark is also useful in flat and round Humidity -75-85% +Multiple ways to achieve Substrate -Paper towel in quarantine -Mixed substrate in Naturalistic and Bioactive Feeding -Rat fuzzies are edible right out of the shell; this gives you an idea of ths initial feeder size -See detailed notes below on feeding

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Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds Author Moderator Now for specifics to Quarantine! Ronan was 2 1/2 months when I got him. Vivarium size: 4ft x 2ft x 18in with a 35% block screen It has two screen panels - one to each end -and a solid glass in the middle. I used HVAC tape in two layers to cover about 80% of the top, leaving space on either end for air flow and about an inch around the edges of all the lights. Lighting/Heat: 75 watt Par30 Halogen* in a flukers ceramic-base dimming dome T5HO 5.0 24" ZooMed UVB bulb 2 4k LED's *I used par halogens before I found out that BR, NR, and R type bulbs provide a better light and heat spread in vivariums 4ft tall and under. Definitely use a BR, NR, or R type for short vivs! Digital hygrometers: Govee brand, I use the non-wifi/linked ones Hides: Hot side and cool side I used Zilla rock lairs - make sure it fits your snake snugly and has only one entrance. They don't like loose spaces (on all sides, top too!) when they hide, and one entrance makes it easier to keep an eye out for predators. They obviously have none in captivity, but they don't know that. In the middle I placed a cork tunnel, which he used both to hide in of his own accord and as a pass-through from one side of the viv to the other. Water dish: I started with a small one as Ronan was little and fit in it fine, but size to your snake so thsey can soak at will! Climbing Branches: I picked up two grapewood vine branches to start with, enough to get him off the floor of the viv and close to the screen on both sides (see photos). I made sure they were both small enough to fit in my oven to sanitize - see my below notes on how to sanitize branches and substrate. Plants: I started with half fake and half real in pots for easy removal. See my below post on plants for details of how I prepped them for use in the vivarium. For the real plants, I started with 1 snake plant, 1 golden pothos, 2 baby white jewel draceana, 1 arrowleaf, 1 swiss cheese monstera, 1 bromeliad, and 1 I can't remember the name of, starts with a P. Humidity: To keep it in the 75-85% range in quarantine, I soaked two flat corkboards weekly and put them in as insulation on the sides of the viv. This generally kept the humidity up, though if it dropped too low too quickly I also used sphagnum moss shoved into a nylon sock and soaked. Wring it out until it's not drippy but still wet and add that to the warm side where the heat can slowly evaporate it into the viv. Substrate: -Two layers of paper towel. A 2ft wide viv is slightly too wide to have two lengths of paper towel side by side, so three lengths of it doubled up. It makes spot cleaning pretty easy for those first few months of quarantine - just tear out the soiled sections daily as needed and replace, and replace all of it weekly or every two weeks with a deep clean of F10, properly diluted. Ronan was unlucky and needed a 3-month quarantine due to having mites. -If a vet check and fecal come back clean, you can come out of quarantine as soon as 1 month. -You want a minimum of 1 month to ensure your snake didn't pick up anything in its last few days at its previous home - reptiles are EXTREMELY good at hiding illness to avoid becoming prey to other creatures, and mites have a two-week cycle that takes a minimum of 40-60 days to break if you get them. -Please locate a reptile-specific ARAV-certified vet in your area if you can! Not only does your initial visit set you and your reptile up as a client, but it lets you ask all of the important questions such as whether thdy do emergencies, or after-hours appointments. If they do tele-visits or house calls to reduce stress on your snake. What they know of current husbandry, and if they need to join these groups to learn more. Not everyone has a good reptile vet nearby so these are important questions to ask! Feeding: -Ronan ate (almost) weekly up to 3 1/2 months - he did refuse one mouse (they gave me 4 tiny mice to feed him to start him out) because it was too squishy. -At 3 1/2 months we started to spread feedings out to every 7-10 days, then 7-12, then 10-14 over the duration of his 3 month quarantine. By 6 months old he was eating every 2 weeks regularly. -After the 4 mice we got, we switched to rat fuzzies. He ate those until 6 months old, and gained slow and steady weight as they should.

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Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds Author Moderator On to Naturalistic! After Ronan was mite-free for several weeks, we moved him to naturalistic. Some of the below information is the same, but a lot of the details are different! Vivarium size: 4ft x 2ft x 18in with a 35% block screen It has two screen panels - one to each end -and a solid glass in the middle. I used HVAC tape in two layers to cover about 80% of the top, leaving sapce on either end for air flow and about an inch around the edges of all the lights. For naturalistic I did swap sides for which was the hot side and which was the cool side. It was easier to keep the hot side at the right temp being marginally closer to the window of the bedroom. Lighting/Heat: 75/100 watt Par30 Halogen* in a flukers ceramic-base dimming dome T5HO 5.0 24" ZooMed UVB bulb 2 4k LED's *I used the 75watt during summer, and the 100watt during winter to counter the terrible windows we have in our apartment. Digital hygrometers: Govee brand, I used the non-wifi/linked ones Hides: Hot side and cool side I used Zilla rock lairs - I had to upsize to the mediums from the smalls with how much he grew! In the middle I rearranged the cork tunnel to be a bit more forward and he seemed to enjoy that. Water dish: I upsized Ronan to a medium-sized water dish after he outgrew the snall one. Climbing Branches: I kept the two grapewood vine branches as it made it easy to keep the right distance on the basking side, and he used the other to wait for his meals lol Plants: I stuck with the half fake and half real in pots until the real ones grew out, then we removed the fake ones. See my below post on plants for how I prepped them for the vivarium. For the real plants, I continued with the snake plant, the golden pothos, the white jewel draceana, the arrowleaf, and the bromeliad. The swiss cheese monstera and the other plant with a P name got spider mites and had to be removed lest they spread them to the rest. Those two now live in my bathroom. Humidity: To keep it in the 75-85% range, I'd spray down the cork flats and also pour warer into the new substrate until the bottom was wet but not soggy, and the top was just dry to the touch. You don't want to use misters or only wet the surface because that can cause scale rot. Don't tell Ronan that though, because he'd soak himself in his "pool" under his heat/lul8ght lamps every day for an hour or two 😂 I had to put the small water dish back in on the cool side so he had water to actually drink! Substrate: -With naturalistic comes substrate! If your heat and humidity are on par and you use the right stuff, impaction is not a huge worry. And if it happens, you're already in with your local vet to set up an appointment to get it handled! See how that works? 😃 -For Ronan, we started with a 70-30 of organic, no-additive topsoil with some forest floor, and cypress mulch. -Initially I did not do children's playsand for two reasons: 1, I did not need a 60lb bag, and it was the smallest I could find locally. 2, because I only had 18 inches from bottom of the viv to the mesh, I didn't want to make the substrate too deep and cause issues for Ronan. So while in some areas (on the cool side and back mostly) the substrate was 4 inches deep, in the basking zone it was closer to 2 inches deep. -If you plan on sticking with naturalistic and not going bioactive, spot clean as needed and change out 100% every 3-4 months with a deep clean and F10. This is also a good time to weight and measure your snake to avoid additional stresses - get it all done at once. Feeding: -Ronan spent from 6-10 months in Naturalistic before we went (accidentally hah) bioactive. During this time he ate every 2 weeks or so, changing it up from 12-16 days depending on the size of feeder. We stepped up from fuzzies at this time as well to rat pups, and did a nest raid of 4 rat pinkies for variety at about 10 months. -At 8 months old I started checking his weight and length, and he was just shy of 223grams with good muscle tone and shape, and a bit over 26 inches long. At 9 months old he was 261grams and at 10 months old he was 310 grams. From the time I got him at 2 1/2 months to just over 10 months he had shed 4 times. Then between 10 months and a year I discovered my banana plant that had come from Arizona with us had a springtail colony in it! I also discovered that most of my live plants (still in pots mind you) had rooted out of the bottom of said pots into the vivarium soil. And thus started our accidental trip into bioactive!

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Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds Author Moderator Bioactive All of the details of the first half of bioactive are ths same as Naturalistic. Below are the changes made to the existing setup. Lighting/Heat: -I swapped out the halogen par30 bulb for a 75watt BR bulb, and the difference was astounding - I no longer had issues keeping the cool side of the viv regulated during the day in winter! -At 1 year I tested the UVB light with a borrowed Solarmeter 6.5, and surprisingly my ZooMed bulb was still well within acceptable ranges of UVB! Otherwise I'd have spent more money to buy a new one I didn't need! -I added an insulation panel underneath the viv at around Ronan's age of 10 months, which helped keep the soil from cooling down too much at night. We're on the third floor of an apartment complex, and the carpet isn't exactly luxury-level. -I pulled out all of the fake plants as by now my gone-rogue plants had grown out all over the vivarium. The pothos even stretched a tendril two feet over ths back of the viv, two feet across to the front, and was working well into a foot across the front side, all on the Hot end of the vivarium. -I did several rearrangements of the viv to keep Ronan stimulated and enriched and each time he'd come out of his hide to explore for hours in broad daylight, bask, then find a new corner to tuck into for a while to watch us. -In addition to the springtails cultured from the banana plant colony, we had a rainy day in October/November that resulted in hundreds of isopods making a beeline into my workplace to get out of the drenched soil. Not wanting All of them to get smashed by big trucks or receive death by concrete, I took a plastic cup and collected a bunch of them. Some were pitch black, others had awesome yellow markings down their backs, and some were a lovely shade of pale grey with yellow speckles. These I brought home and fed and cultivated, then took their next generation (dudes bred FAST on veggie scraps of cucumber and bel pepper o.o;;;) and dropped then into the vivarium. Never saw another of Ronan's sheds intact after that if he wasn't using MY hand to shed 😂 Feeding: Ronan went from 10 months in early October to a year and a half in May in his bioactive 4x2x18" vivarium. In that time we moved between pups and weaners, and moved from 2ish weeks to between 2-3 weeks depending on size of the feeder. We also did another couple of nest raids, and began looking into quail chicks for more food variety. He also decided he liked adult mice enough to eat one for me when our supplier was out of rats one weekend heh. -In December he was 27 inches long and 347 grams. January saw him to 426 grams! March saw him to 508grams, and a solid 2 1/2 feet long and growing. -Between 10 months and a year and a half he shed another 3 times.

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Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds Author Moderator The second half of Bioactive was receiving my 4x2x4 vivarium in the late winter, and us prepping it for Ronan. He is now happily ensconsed in his 4x2x4 bioactive vivarium. Changes from the previous bioactive: -Halogen BR died about 3 months into using it, so swapped for the next one I had. Always good to have tons of extra on hand! -Added 2 orchids, a tradescantia, a new bromeliad (first one is still recovering from spider mites in my bathroom), a snow queen pothos, and a new swiss cheese monstera! During cycling I lost one orchid, but I think it was too close to the heat and got a little overwatered. The second one is thriving and blooming a second time! -Added an underground hide, a hidden-but-viewable "tree trunk" hide, and his log as a hide in a "cave". -Traded a water bowl for a water TUB. -Added in a stronger, longer, bigger LED. Much brighter! And saving up for a herpstat to run all my lights and heating, excited! Can't wait to ramp things up and down! -Added in two new driftwood logs for climbing -Mixed up a new 6-8" deep substrate including a 60-20-20 blend of organic, no-additive topsoil, children's playsand, and cypress mulch. (See below substrate details for cleaning and preparing it for the viv) -Had to add side vents to the viv, low on the cool side and high on the hot side (not visible in the photos) to create a proper convection current to combat a bought of mold that delayed Ronan's move in. Feeding: Ronan eats regularly every 3 weeks or so now except when he gets quail or a smaller-than-a-weaner feeding. Then it's 2 weeks till his next meal. Right now he's abouglt a week out from the next meal after the last rat weaner was a bit on the smaller side.

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Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds Author Moderator The following photos here are the building process 🙂 Some photos got lost when my last phone died, but they were mostly of it just before purchase and after getting it home. This first one shows the lighting layout we went with, though I wish I had switched the halogen and the UVB before we caged it all up.

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Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds Author Moderator I'm honestly not sure why I dumped the soil into here before I finished setting up the platform, but it all worked out in the end lol

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Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds Author Moderator A closeup. The burlap contains sphagnum moss to act as a grow pole for my golden pothos - it has small slits cut into it where the pothos is rooting into it, and I can pour water into the top to wet it down.

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Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds Author Moderator I realized the whole viv was going to have a liiiittle trouble with heat, so I added two dark grey paving stones underneath the soil beneath the basking shelf to act as heat sinks. This area stays warmer overnight and keeps Ronan's pool comfortable!

Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds Author Moderator I'm honestly not sure why I dumped the soil into here before I finished setting up the platform, but it all worked out in the end lol No photo description available. 32w

Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds Author Moderator A closeup. The burlap contains sphagnum moss to act as a grow pole for my golden pothos - it has small slits cut into it where the pothos is rooting into it, and I can pour water into the top to wet it down. No photo description available. 32w

Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds Author Moderator I realized the whole viv was going to have a liiiittle trouble with heat, so I added two dark grey paving stones underneath the soil beneath the basking shelf to act as heat sinks. This area stays warmer overnight and keeps Ronan's pool comfortable! No photo description available. 32w

Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds Author Moderator Testing background layouts. Decided to pull it all the way to the front on the left instead of this setup. No photo description available. 32w

Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds Author Moderator The background you see here is one printed on cotton fabric rather than vinyl. It'll fade in time, but then I can pop it out and put in a new one and no harm to Ronan. It's "glued" up with silicone #1 (Hubby for scale aha) No photo description available. 32w

Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds Author Moderator No photo description available. 32w

Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds Author Moderator No photo description available. 32w

Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds Author Moderator Testing branch placement. None of them are permanent so all can be moved and adjusted as needed.

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Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds Author Moderator How I Prepare Plants, Branches, and Substrate for a vivarium Plants If you can, get them from a source that uses no fertilizers at all. Bare-root them and wash the roots thoroughly. Repot in some of your soil blend you use in the viv and water thoroughly according to the needs of each plant. Water for about 6 weeks to flush any fertilizers out of the plant itself before putting into the vivarium. You can put them into pots with drainage holes for naturalistic (makes for an easy and great way to keep humidity up And plants contained but watered) or plant directly into the viv according to their heat/light needs. Branches If they are small enough to fit into your oven, give them a good soak in boiling water in your tub or sink, then bake at 250 degrees 45 minutes or until thoroughly dry. Do NOT leave the oven unattended while baking branches - due to differences in machines you may have to pull branches sooner to avoid over-drying. If they are too big to fit into your oven, rinse and scrub them with a stiff-bristled dish brush under running water to get off exterior stuff, then soak in boiling water until cooled. Repeat a second time, and make sure final rinse water runs clear. Dry in the sun or hanging until dry. Substrate TopsoilMulch: Sift through topsoil/mulch for sharp piecess or bits of plastic. Check thoroughly to ensure everything is clear, and return the topsoil if you find any signs of slow-release fertilizer balls - you want NO fertilizer in your topsoil. Place on baking sheets or in glass pans and bake in oven at 250° for 45 minutes. Stir and bake again if needed until completely dry. Do NOT leave oven unattended while baking soil/mulch to avoid potential issues. This process can take a while depending on how much you need for your viv, but it will kill any eggs or larvae living in the soil or mulch. Playsand Sift for anything that does not belong in it, and I recommend sifting outside on a breezy day or with a fan blowing past it to take all the really fine stuff away. Soak to rinse out anything else super fine, then bake the same as soil. Once everything is dry you can mix up your blends as needed! 5 gallon buckets or covered storage tubs with silicone seals make excellent storage containers for unused substrate. Used substrate can go outside and under/around trees and bushes if you are naturalistic and changing it out every few months!

Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds Author Moderator These are screenshots of posts about plants you can add to a vivarium. Philodendron! That's the other one I had, that didn't survive the spider mites. Evil bugs those. No photo description available. 32w

Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds Author Moderator I don't recommend cacti or jade plants, and bamboo need too wet of soil. The rest are pretty solid though! No photo description available. 32w

Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds Author Moderator I also don't recommend the evergreen - you don't want anything sappy that might break and stick gluey substances to your snake. This is also why stick-on ANYTHING in a viv is a big no-no, whether it be guages or vinyl. No photo description available. 32w

Sabrina Keaveney Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds for the cypress mulch do you recommend to bake that also or just the play sand and soil? Or if I get it from the pet store is it safe to just add to the soil and sand? Sorry 😅 27w

Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds Author Moderator Sabrina I sifted and baked everything to be sure, and some of mine came from a pet store. The worry with a pet store is possible transferrence of snake mites, or anything else that might be going around parasite-wise that doesn't necessarily need an immediate host 27w

Sabrina Keaveney Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds I didn't know snake mites could be transfered from new bedding .... I'll make sure to bake that too.... would that have to be dried out or is the 45 mins long enough? 27w

Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds Author Moderator Sabrina I get mine as thoroughly dry as possible without burning it. I do 45 minutes in a glass pan at 250, stir, bake again until dry. Usually takes my oven about an hour all told but it's also a cruddy oven and at sea level. 🙂 And, yea, unfortunate… See more Snake/reptile mite (Ophionyssus natricis ) – Biological Services, Australia BIOLOGICALSERVICES.COM.AU Snake/reptile mite (Ophionyssus natricis ) – Biological Services, Australia Snake/reptile mite (Ophionyssus natricis ) – Biological Services, Australia

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Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds Author Moderator His viv as of yesterday, with lots of good growth! Everything listed above affects your lighting, and your lighting affects everything! 🙂

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Andrea Hippauf-Reynolds Author Moderator A happy snek after a meal with his back end under his lights 🙂

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光照的控制

温度的测量

本节部分参考:(Sinclair, 2022 III 

栖地内的温度有多种数值,分别有其测量方法:

红外辐照度

对晒点来说,其实最可靠的表述方法是红外区的辐照度,与紫外的辐照类似。动物其实并不十分关心它身下的表面多热,而是关心它身体上方的红外线多强,同一盏灯下面放泥土 vs 放黑石头的物体表面温度能差很多,但其实动物晒灯的效率没有变。

但是紫外有弗格森区,红外没有对应的动物分区,红外灯的辐照度也不如紫外灯辐照度一样容易查到。测量晒台的物体表面温度(晒点温度)只是一种折衷方法。

【】【】【】 https://youtu.be/IjYGQ2vut1Q?si=mpfgQ3y6f-AUR5D4

物体表面温度

我们常说的晒点温度就是晒台的固体表面温度,不是晒台上方的空气温度。

物体表面温度一般用红外测温枪测量。测温枪瞄准了按按钮就能立刻测出温度。红外测温枪的原理是假定被测物体在相应波段是黑体*,测量一个锥角内特定波段红外辐射的总能量(注意它只是量能器,不是光谱仪;许多中文资料瞎扯淡,说测温枪是根据红外光谱测出来的,哪儿来的100块钱就能买到的手持红外光谱仪?),将这个能量发射角密度去求解黑体辐射公式。越热的物体辐射功率密度越大。把辐射功率拟合到黑体辐射公式上就知道温度了。

根据以上原理你能知道:

  • 【有外源红外线时不能用】“红外测温枪会受红外光干扰”,这听起来是句废话。但是确实很多人在远红外加热灯还开着的时候就拿着测温枪测温度;还有人栖地放在阳台窗户边上,大太阳光照着就拿枪测温度;显然都不靠谱。有外源红外线的时候一部分信号是物体本身热辐射发出的,一部分信号是反射红外灯的红外线的,这还测个毛?
  • 【隔着对红外不透明的物体时不能用】:空气对红外几乎是透明的;但玻璃、亚克力都不是,所以隔着玻璃和亚克力测量目标物体时,目标物发射的红外信号有一部分被玻璃、亚克力阻挡;另有一部分信号是玻璃、亚克力本身发射的,因此结果不够可信。【】【实验?】【】
  • 【不是黑体不能用】红外测温枪不测量空气温度,只能测物体表面温度。因为红外枪测的是黑体辐射,空气吸收能力太差,离“黑体”太远,空气的信号都淹没在空气后面的背景信号里了。一个有趣的实验是找个:气温很热 + 无云大晴天 + 大半夜的时候,拿红外枪对着天测一下,你会测到一个低的不合理的温度。比如我现在是七月份凌晨两点的北京,气温27度,但朝天测量时温枪示数是 -3 °C。这是因为从我手上一直到太空的空气层都几乎不发射黑体辐射,导致温度计测得的能量密度很低。

和气体一样,光滑的金属也不能用红外温枪测量,详见黑体辐射(#黑体辐射)一章的表格。

物体表面温度也可以用数字温度探头测量,如加热垫温控器的温控探头,但要注意必须加强固体导热(至少要有充分的固体接触,有时用热导胶固着),否则测到的一部分是周围空气的温度。

一个物体表面温度过热的例子:

https://www.reddit.com/r/cornsnakes/comments/17dx46t/basking_surface_too_hot/

空气温度

空气温度用数字温度探头测量。其原理一般是测量热敏电阻的阻值。

和红外温度计相反,空气温度应该排除红外辐射的影响。气象测量里的百叶箱气温计测量有如下要求:

  • 置于白色遮阳箱中避免阳光直射
  • “百叶箱”保证空气流通
  • 离地一定距离避免地温影响
  • 减少温度探头与其他固体的接触
  • 距离建筑物、树木一定距离(障碍物多高、就离它们高度两倍远的距离)

可以参照这个理想情况设置栖地的温度探头,比如:

  • 市售的探头通常是黑色的,会吸红外线和可见光,导致测量结果偏高(在我的测试中视位置不同会高1~4度,但这显然和光照环境有关系,别人不能直接参考)。尤其是开着热灯的时候。必须在遮荫的地方测量。
  • 气温探头接触物体时会受到热传导影响。就不再是气温了。所以想测气温时最好把探头吊起来悬空。

温控探头应该放在受加热器影响最快的地方。加热灯的温控应该悬吊在加热灯下面,加热垫的温控应该吸在栖地底面之上、垫材之下。 II

【】【图】【】

不要使用表盘式模拟(非数字)温度计。不准、有胶

【】【表盘温度计图】【】

温控必须等待充分稳定才能走开,更换温控系统的任意部件后应该在蛇不在栖地时充分原位测试、等待其稳定后再将蛇放入。

注意调节加热灯本身的功率限制,使得温控不过于频繁的开关,即节约灯泡寿命,又防止温控失效导致过热。

功率控制

减功率器

许多加热垫、加热灯座可以选装功率控制器。其原理是通过一个可变电阻和triac削去交流电的部分波形,改变了交流电电压。这样的控制器属于开环控制,没有测量反馈,单独使用很不可靠。 II

连续调整的功率控制器:

挡位式功率控制器:

数字温控器

另一类控制器是带有温度探头的闭环控制器,在单独使用时比单一功率控制可靠的多。但也有失控的案例。

数字温控器分两种

一种是市面上常见的on/off型数字温控器,其原理很简单,达到某个温度就完全接通电源,低于某个温度就完全断开电源。

另一种是调光型温控器(dimming thermostat),其原理可能是使用triac削去部分交流电波形,使有效电压降低,削去的量受变阻器控制,进而根据温度经PID之类的控制逻辑控制该削去多少电压。对于发射可见光的电器,只能用这种温控器来控制(不然就要闪瞎了),同时即使是不能发射可见光的用电器,比如DHP,用调光型温控器也能延长使用寿命,避免了on/off型控制器不断地升温降温导致的器件疲劳。

国内卖调光型温控器的店家非常非常少,而且很多不是为爬宠卖的。目前我只找到一个,是徐州睿德电器的DTC-130(绝无广告关系,列在这里只是因为确实找了很长时间才找到).

【】【】【】还有一种Pulse Proportional Thermostats?,https://exo-terra.com/explore/academy/heating/on-off-dimming-or-pulse-proportional/

注意温控器和功率限制器的瓦数限制,不要过载。

预防温控故障

所有的单一控制系统都不够可靠,有无数悲惨案例因为加热系统的温控失效导致蛇被活活烤死。

常见的加热失控的原因有:

  • 【控制器故障】比如可变电阻原件突然短路/断路,开关型温度计的继电器被电火花焊死在接通状态,
  • 【机械问题】比如温度探头脱落,吸盘型探头位置移动(有时能被蛇顶走),臂式悬吊的加热灯松动、导致直接搭在箱网上面。
  • 【加热电路】比如加热垫中相邻线路短路,导致等效电阻变低、功率变大。

增加可靠性的措施:

  • 【控制器冗余】每个加热电器必须受到至少两个控制器的控制。最廉价的方法是购买一个数字温控器+一个带功率控制的热源。在不用温控器的前提下调节热源功率使其即使长通也不会太热(不能在栖地里有蛇时做此实验)。然后再单独设置温控器。这样二者坏掉任何一个都不会导致过热。
  • 【热容/梯度冗余】大栖地、厚垫材本身就是一种冗余。如果把蛇养在抽屉里,温控失效时蛇无处可逃;如果栖地有一米长,热区通常在栖地的一侧,与冷区还有相当的距离,此时蛇会自己爬到温度更适宜的边角上。如果用报纸做垫材,加热垫一失效地面温度飞涨,蛇还没反应过来就快要烫伤了;但如果有几厘米厚的垫材,把垫材烤热需要好一会儿,让蛇有机会跑掉。
  • 【机械冗余】加热灯、加热灯罩、温度探头的机械固定都应该有一定冗余。例如用螺丝拧好之后再绑个尼龙扎带。
  • 【加热系统冗余】如果屋里会非常寒冷,应该配备两套加热装置。比如用一个加热灯和一个加热垫既能保证一套坏掉的时候还有暖和的地方,也可以在平时让蛇选择它喜欢的加热方式。

停电时的加热

应急预案-停电章节

光热一致性和时空梯度

自然界就一个太阳,光和热几乎总是在同一个地方出现的,所以有可见光的地方就有UVB和IRA。我们尚不完全清楚动物调节光照的感受器情况,但是保证光热一致性一定是更正确的选择。如果相反,很亮的地方不热,有紫外的地方不亮,动物可能经过一定时间之后或许也能学习到这个规律,但是这很反直觉,没必要这样折腾动物。(Griffiths, 2023  III 

光照应该有阴影区(或者暗区),应该有梯度、有遮挡。提供的选择越丰富越不容易出错。

例如下图是Liam Sinclair的墨西哥黑王蛇栖地(Sinclair, 2021  ),它通过布置光源的位置和遮蔽物提供了十分丰富的、交错的、有梯度的微环境。注意到通过这样的布置,栖地有1/3是明亮温暖的,并在另外的2/3范围内逐渐过渡到昏暗凉爽。并通过环境布置让蛇可以在有无UVB,有无光照,温度冷暖,湿度高低之间做出选择。在IRA和UVB灯下放置了木头,让动物可以选择更高照度的环境,向角落移动时光线强度逐渐衰减。灯下方有热区躲避,使得动物可以选择不接受日温性加热,转而接受岩板和躲避被晒热后提供的触温性加热。同时,因为垫材够厚,蛇通过挖洞还可以在地下创建新的微环境。

图中软木树皮卷放置的位置经过设计,上方有灯,可以通过吸热后的二次辐射创造一个阴暗温暖的微环境。

图中从热区到冷区都有遮蔽,可以让蛇在不觉得暴露的情况下从热区移动到冷区,不用在安全性和温度之间做妥协。否则如果只在栖地两边放冷区躲避和热区躲避,蛇就会因为要跨越中间的开阔地而感到压力,从而使蛇不倾向于直接选择适宜的环境,而是实在受不了了才换。

中间的树让蛇可以爬高接收紫外线照射,也可以在较低的位置减少紫外线暴露。

好的饲主不应该想“我要给XX温度,XX湿度”,而是“我要建立这样的温度和湿度梯度和微环境选项。”饲主的工作不应该是帮蛇做出决定,而是应该尽可能在大环境中提升环境复杂度,让蛇自己选择它想要的环境。蛇知道自己想要什么环境,它不傻,你提供选项,它们就会做选择。

Chris Phillips Admin I'm surprised nobody offered help here.. yesterday I noticed your post but I was busy working and I just wanted to say... how large is your snake and approximately what distance from the ceiling will he climb when given the opportunity.? If you're going to place your lamps and fixtures on the inside you're going to have to consider protecting the snake from touching them by using lamp guards. Arcadia T5 Pro kit with 6% forest lamp and a lamp guard for UVB 1 or 2 lamp holder sockets for a basking area combined with the UVB closely..approaching 90-95F daytime basking area with cooler retreats elsewhere. Possibly a radiant heat panel for night time ambient temperatures 75F 100 watt 1d

Edited Chris Phillips Admin A simple diagram showing a basking area + led daylight... on the far opposite side you might place the radiant heat panel attached to the ceiling just to keep temperatures reasonable at night with no visible light

img_44.png

季节变化

光照的变化是蛇感知季节变化的方式之一(除温度/冬眠之外),所以正确的提供每日光照时间的变化可能有助于调整激素水平,进而有助于繁殖。(Reptifiles III 

下一章节

《光照的测试》