Sand Boa UVB Lighting

Video Preview

Introduction

UVB lighting is very important for happy and healthy sand boa constrictors. Learn how to properly light your sand boa cage with expert tips on owning snakes in this free exotic pet care video.

By: Cordell Jacques

Source: Expert Village

Length: 0:00

Comments: 0

Tags: pet care pets snakes

Transcript | Flag | RSS

All Videos In The Series, "How to Care for Sand Boa Constrictors"

Post a Comment

Post a Comment

Request a New How-To Video Article

Looking for more How To information? Chances are there’s an eHow member who knows how to do what you’re looking to do. Submit an article request now!

Video Transcript

"The next thing we're going to talk about very briefly, because some people will tell you it's unnecessary, personally, for me, I recommend it for all reptiles, is your UVB light. Now, UVB light comes in two different forms. It comes in a compact fluorescent like this, which is just like one of those energy saving bulbs that you use at home. All of these use a special coating on them to give off a special type of your light. You can also buy them in the long tube fluorescent bulbs, but those are going to be considerably more expensive. And they take up a lot of space. So I tend to stay away from those myself. Now, why are we talking about UVB light? UVB light is part of the spectrum of light. And what it does is it stimulates certain vitamins inside animals' bodies -- yours, too. Have you ever heard of Seasonal Affective Disorder? It's because you're not getting enough UVB light. Well, for reptiles, UVB light generates Vitamin D-3 in the bone in the body. That vitamin moves calcium into the bone structure. So, without Vitamin D-3, you can get problems like metabolic bone disease, sometimes called "spongy jaw" or "rubber jaw". So, it's a bone deficiency where their calcium isn't high and they start getting soft and malleable bones and their bones are also more easily broken. So, we want to stay away from that if we can. Again, some people will tell you that this is unnecessary for a snake, because they eat whole prey items, but personally, for me, I use it for all my reptiles. It doesn't hurt to be safe."

eHow Article: Sand Boa UVB Lighting

Expert Village: Cordell Jacques

Video Series: Pets

Related Ads

Our mission is to build a world-class repository of how-to videos and articles featuring advice from recognized experts in their fields.

ExpertVillage Videos