Which snakes need UV lighting? I've been told corns don't because they're nocturnal. Someone I know says they need it anyway.

I have also read conflicting reports about whether Children's Pythons need it or not. Some say yes, some say no.

Does anyone out there know for sure whether corns and Children's Pythons require daily UV exposure? If they do, what source of UV do you recommend?

Thank you for your help!

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~Juliane~

I would not use UV for either of those snakes. Some species can benefit from UV (Joe, species?? - e.g. diamond python?) but others don't need it and in fact it can cause some harm, for example by harming their eyes.

It really isn't necessary in your case.

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"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004

Corns do not require UV nor do childrens pythons. As Rach said the Uv will do more harm than good.

Yes Rach Studies have shown UV to be benificial to Diamond Pythons (Morelia spilota spilota) as well as Rough Green Snakes (the latin name escapes me at the min.) I believe there are others that could benifit from low levels of UV but again I can't recall what they are right now....I'll post again when I remember/look it up.

I think Vine snakes were another not 100% on that though, the reason behind this is because they relay on their eye sight alone to hunt their pray so would hunt during the day rather than at night....this to me would indicate some reliance on Uv for their well being...but again not sure on that.

Don't get these mixed up with daylight bulbs...these can be used with all reptiles as long as they are positioned on the roof of the viv/tank etc so that the light is not constatly in the snakes eyeline.

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Yeah, negative on the UVB exposure. In the wild they wouldn't get any, so they don't need any in captivity either.

Are diamond pythons diurnal then? I'm not that fluent with most boids. Both smooth and rough green snakes (Opheodrys vernalis and O. aestivus) require UVB cause not only are they diurnal, but they're insectivorous, meaning the don't eat whole prey items like other species.

As for vines, I'd be interested to find out whether they require UVB. They do hunt by site, but I wonder what their nightvision is like. After all, big cats use eyesight to hunt, but they do so at night. Ivy seems just as happy to eat at night as she is during the day. They also eat whole prey items, just as other snakes. Currently Ivy does not have UVB exposure, but this may be something I'll want to consider.

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"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." - John Benfield

I believe them to be diurnal....don't get me wrong they don't require high levels of UVB but it has been shown to benificial to them...I'll try and dig out the article I read on it.

Like I said I don't know 100% if Oxybelis Fulgidus do or not....I was speculating, I figured as they are equally active during both the day and night and eat a wide range of pray from diurnal and nocturnal lizards as well as small birds etc..that they would be exposed to quite a lot of UVB in the wild...it would be interesting reading if you do find anything on this subject regarding Oxybelis Fulgidus or indeed any of the Oxybelis sp.

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So then Children's Pythons are completely nocturnal like corns then? Thank you for the help! I feel better now

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~Juliane~

Yes, many snakes are nocturnal. There are ongoing debates about the possible benefits of UV for snakes, but most people are in agreement that at the moment, without further investigation, UV can often do more harm than good for many species in many cases.

If you really want, you can consider putting vitamins on some of the food items once a month to get extra vitamins and calcium into the snake, however again the benefits are debatable and most snakes do well on a diet of rodents without added calcium, vitamins and UV.

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"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004

Thank you!

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~Juliane~

Yeah, but your speculation has a good foundation, it makes sense that they might benefit. However, my vine is an asian vine, Ahaetulla prasina. Entirely different genus. Same lifestyle though, so hmm....

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"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." - John Benfield

Doh! there I go mistaking species again Although having read up a bit on the Ahaetulla genus their lifestyle is very similar to that of the Oxybelis genus. From what I can gather both are predominatly active during the day, so IMO, as with diurnal lizards maybe UVB could be benificial...
....but going on their diet, if you compare it to Opheodrys genus and that of diurnal lizards, both of which eat alot of invertabrate prey items, it would suggest that UVB would be of no use what so ever to both Ahaetulla and Oxybelis as the UVB plays a big part in metabalising (sp) calcium from a diet that is relativley low in it. Whereas the diet of Oxybelis and Ahaetulla are relativly high in calcium as their diet is mainly lizards and small birds......but then where would Morelia spilota spilota fit in to the equation??? And why would it be specific to the spiecies and not the whole Morelia genus?

More reading will have to be done me thinks

Hope all this made sense wrote it while at work and had to keep breaking off when my boss was near

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