Need Information please

[FWK]

This has reached the point, and predictably so, where I'll just be repeating myself, so I will not post again on this topic unless real data is tabled. You continue to offer only your own anecdotal accounts of what you see as behavior modification as evidence of a benefit otherwise unmeasurable. I understand the benefits you are seeing, and they are entirely your own. You like to be able to see your animals. Humans are highly visual creatures, I get it. The increase in D3 production observed in the paper on Corn Snakes is exactly what we'd expect to see, but extra D3 does not necessarily denote a benefit. Excess D3 is exactly that, and will be filtered out by the body and disposed of. It's like suggesting I would be healthier simply by doubling up on my multivitamin intake. In reality my body would just have to work harder to dispose of the excess. Clearly much more research is needed, but based on decades of highly successful snake keeping by millions of hobbyist and professionals that do not offer UVB I suspect the benefits are likely minimal at best. If you'd like to make a rather silly comparison, for humans the negatives of UV exposure far outweigh the benefits.

It is also worth noting that snakes are largely instinctually driven animals. If they were so good at sensing their needs thermostats wouldn't be so critical as they are. It is demonstrable that certain species in particular (I'm looking at you Ball Pythons) cannot sense surface temperature and will therefor quite literally cook themselves if given the opportunity. Observing that they appear to utilize UVB basking opportunities certainly does not mean they derive any benefit from it. They bask because instinct dictates them, not because they are aware of a benefit. It is up to us to determine what they do and don't need, and provide the proper conditions accordingly. Thus far I have seen no evidence to even suggest that rodent eating snakes benefit from UVB exposure.