How long with no UV?
- Thread starter York1
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Mike Fisher
Established Member
My chameleons haven't ever had UV bulbs. Never had a case of MBD either...shrug. I do have one fixture that Todd at lightyourreptiles.com sent me, and while real nice I have yet to see any difference in the health or activity compared to the regular plant lights I normally use.
Not using UV bulbs is not a sure road to MBD as long as you can factor in dietary D3, which must be provided anyway because the lights alone are not enough to convert sufficient D3 to keep them healthy without relying on either natural sunlight, dietary D3 or both.
Mine get a low dose of dietary D3 daily to make up for the lack of special bulbs. Never had a problem. Eggs are hard and fertile and go full term. YMMV.
Not using UV bulbs is not a sure road to MBD as long as you can factor in dietary D3, which must be provided anyway because the lights alone are not enough to convert sufficient D3 to keep them healthy without relying on either natural sunlight, dietary D3 or both.
Mine get a low dose of dietary D3 daily to make up for the lack of special bulbs. Never had a problem. Eggs are hard and fertile and go full term. YMMV.
xephyr17
New Member
That's good to know. Seems like it may be more expensive though, no?
Mike Fisher
Established Member
The bulbs and fixtures, or the D3 powder?
I buy the pure D3 from purebulk.com 50 grams at a time for about $10. It is 100,000 IU/gram. So if you do the math, when mixed with calcium carbonate in the right proportion for low dosage use, that's hundreds of lbs of supplement. Calcium Carbonate goes for about $0.25 a lb. when purchased in 50 lb. quantities. So roughly I can make my own calcium/D3 supplement for less than 30 cents per pound even with shipping included. Or put another way, for $50, I have more than I'll ever use in this lifetime, even if I had huge colonies breeding.
Now price the lights.
xephyr17
New Member
I think I just got served xDThe bulbs and fixtures, or the D3 powder?
I buy the pure D3 from purebulk.com 50 grams at a time for about $10. It is 100,000 IU/gram. So if you do the math, when mixed with calcium carbonate in the right proportion for low dosage use, that's hundreds of lbs of supplement. Calcium Carbonate goes for about $0.25 a lb. when purchased in 50 lb. quantities. So roughly I can make my own calcium/D3 supplement for less than 30 cents per pound even with shipping included. Or put another way, for $50, I have more than I'll ever use in this lifetime, even if I had huge colonies breeding.
Now price the lights.
Maybe I'll be switching to that method...
Mike Fisher
Established Member
Formulating/milling your own supplements is not to be taken lightly. The high resolution gram scale I use for weighing is an expensive piece of equipment, same with the milling machine and media. Then, try to get purebulk to sell you some D3 without jumping though hoops to prove you have a business and know what you are doing..... It's not for 99.9% of keepers. The few who do it usually try to get in on the supplement biz because they quickly realize that the markup is obscene.
I'm probably the reptile lighting and supplement industry's worst nightmare, but I do what works for me. Not trying to sell anyone on doing it my way, it's just when people just keep parroting the same stuff and treat it like gospel that gets my goat.
xephyr17
New Member
Yeah, I understand that. My dad is in the carpet cleaning business and makes his own chemicals for the cleaning and I've been in that feild for a while helping him out... the markup really is insane!
