I have always supported my dwarfs with UVB and am the one of the largest supporters of UVB, to remove UVB is not good to say the least. Anyone who thinks UVB does not matter is a fool for believing so, I'm not saying you need UVB to breed but for the long haul of the varanids health UVB is a must. Why do you think some of these varanids like V. Pilbarensis remain so rare after being in the private sector for 15 years? Its because most peoples goals are to breed them and that they do readily but females can and will die from demanding to much calcium in a short time. To put it in layman's terms its like you wanting to start a family and taking a 13 yr old bride and keeping her bare foot and pregnant for production of 12 kids. After her 5th-6th kid maybe her teeth would start falling out or other signs of calcium depletion, hunch back? Who knows but she would ultimately regret having so many kids at such a young age when her skeletal development is not complete to start. I still have a female pilbarensis I hatched [ in 2001]and raised and bred many times over and she is still thriving, Its safe to assume the oldest specimen in captivity and a female to boot. You see I differ from many of the breeders that have puppy mill mentalities, first and foremost my herps are pets that I have high regard for not disposable experiments like many have proven . I have kept lights on 24/7 but mainly for heat, I now have them on a day/night cycle with hot spots they may sleep in. I have temps of 130 F but they tell me they don't need them because they very rarely utilize them. Heat is a motivator with all cold blooded fauna, fish included and as long as temps are high enough to metabolize food and daily activity they seem fine and will breed during our early spring,summer and fall [most heavily] but we get occasion clutches at random in any month. The rule of common sense really applies here, yes I have some 7-8 month old female kims I could put with a male, there size tells me that but knowing how young they are I am waiting a while. You see I want them to produce eggs but I also don't want the problems that come along with breeding at a young age either such as egg binding, kinked tails, bowed fore arms, ect. I have never taken a capitalistic $$$ value with my collection, general health and longevity is what I aim for. Breeding and good eggs is a by product of proper keeping, puppy mill mentalities work on a short term basis if your goal is $$$. I have seen the puppy mill mentalities at work here and I see it differently. As far as UVB for helodermas I think its a good idea but certainly not needed, they eat whole bodied prey that has fully developed bone and they get D-3 from the livers of the mammal. The dwarf varanids are better kept with insects and some rodents that are usually pinkie, fuzzy size, we have adult rock monitors with both species that will take adult mice but this is not a normal staple diet and insects are lower in nutrition. This is where UVB is leaned on to compensate a bit, not like the medium or larger varanids that are much like helodermas in getting all the goodies from adult mice and rats as a staple diet.

Bob

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