Hello everyone! Back with another quick question.
So I’m not the best at morphs, but I’d really like to provide my new BP some UVB although I think I will abstain from that if his particular morph isn’t good with it. Super Fires are leucistics, so I’m assuming they do not lack melanin like real albinos, but the red eye slits/pupils throw me off even though the rest of his eyes are pitch black. Would anyone be willing to weigh in with that? I’d love to give him some UVB opportunity if possible. Thanks!
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Ball pythons are nocturnal so they won’t really benefit too much from a UVB bulb. They will sometimes actively avoid the light and stay hidden until it’s dim enough for them to feel comfortable. Unless they have a genetic predisposition to vitamin deficiencies or an illness, they will get the nutrition they need from their meals.
BlkEL can still be a bit sensitive because of the red pupils, but again… Most BPs avoid light anyway.
That said… You still can provide a day and night light system. I would just keep it to a natural or slightly shortened cycle if it was my pet.
If you attempt a more bioactive setup or even just want to house a plant or two with your python then it wouldn’t be an issue at all.
Some keepers will still provide the cycle along with temp changes to allow for simulating natural seasons for breeding.
And while the benefits are still debated, some will provide a bit of extra UVB stimulation for when their pets are overcoming an illness.
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Thanks for your answer! He’s really new, so I don’t know his personality too well yet, but he seems to like his CHE and has been laying right under it in plain sight (even though his hide is right there) to gather the heat, so I figured offering him some basking opportunity would be good. I suppose I’ll wait and see and maybe experiment to find out what he likes best.
Thanks again for your in depth answer!
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Ball are, more properly ‘vespertine’ or ‘crepuscular’, so they are exposed to UV for short periods. And even fully nocturnal animals benefit from UV and will frequently cryptically bask to get exposed to it
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The pupil of a BlkEL is not actually red. The colour is an artifact of light reflecting off the tapetum lucidum and is the same phenomenon you see when a cat’s eyes flash green. The effect is exacerbated by the altered iris pigmentation, that is all. It does not confer the sensitivity to light that you get with albino-type mutations
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Leucistic animals still produce melanin (they produce both pigments) but they are not displayed because of dysfunction with deposition or packaging or the like. This is illustrated in the BlkEL complex by things like the SuperVanilla, SuperDisco, VanillaCreme, DiscoInferno, SuperEmber, etc., which all show various levels of pigmentation (and depending on who you speak with, some of us might validly argue that the BlkEL complex is more properly a second Pied complex and not a second Leucistic complex, but that is a whole other conversation)
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If you have him set up in a way that would allow for it, go for it. One thing I do advocate when using UV bulbs that is kind of contrary to the rest of the hobby is to not run the UV all day, every day. It is exceedingly rare for any animal in the wild to have constant UV exposure so all of my UV lights are set to smart timer systems that turn on/off for random periods of time between 11a and 4p (corresponding to the peak hours of UV during a normal day). I also tend to use lights that are a step down from what is commonly “recommended” for the species. For a ball, something like the VivTech FirstCall bulb would be good
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Thanks so much for all of that info! In that case I’ll provide him with some UVB - although I’ve never seen or heard of the VivTech FirstCall bulb before. I will definitely check it out, but would the 5.0 Reptisun bulb be okay to use for a ball too or is that too high? I have trouble finding anything lower, but I do also have a screen lid. I will definitely put this on a timer and won’t keep it on all day either. Thanks again!
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