Uroplatus UVB Data Project

Scott F

Scott F

New member
This statement has been added to the thread after the initial post..........First off let me start by saying I am a private hobbyist and have no affiliations with any group. I have focused on keeping and breeding Uroplatus species for the last 9 years. I am in no way an expert, but have had a good amount of success with these little demons. My goal is to establish strong, self-sustaining, captive populations.

This project is well on its way to becoming a reality. There has been much interest from experts to novices alike in reguards to the Uroplatus UVB Data Project. I welcome you to read through the material presented in these posts and return to check up on how it is progressing. This is an ongoing endevor, and I will be updating the thread frequently over the months to inform you on our progression! I also encourage you to actively participate in the formulation of this project (be it a monetary pledge, helpful insights, web page design/formating assistance, etc.). WELCOME!

Sincerely,

Scott



Last Updated: December 10,2008

1. Scott $20
2. Lawrence (Calfircap) $20
3. Mike Martin (miguel camacho!) $20
4. The Gilpins (L.A.C. Herps) $20
5. Jed (jeepboy 90) $20
6. Doug (D.B. Johnson) $20
7. Marty and Geckos Unlimited $100
8. Sarah (Lunar Gecko) $20
9. Derek Dunlop (DDReptiles) $20
10. clint545 $40
11. redtegu $20
12. Matt (Phantasy) $20
13. Rickard (Rotto) $20
14. Pierre Fleuret (Pierre) $20
15. Ed Watson (MonteQ's) $20
16. WhyteLocust $50
----------
Total Pledged: $450.00
Please do not hesitate to pledge a donation.
Thanks again to all of those who have contributed already.


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ORIGINAL THREAD STARTS HERE -


Would anybody be interested in participating in.......

A project that would require a reliable and trustworthy member of the forums who is going to be traveling to Madagascar for eco-tourism in the near future to be given a UVB meter to take UVB readings of Uroplatus species in situ while sleeping during daylight hours. The species name, location, hour and UVB reading (within inches of the animal) will all have to be recorded and freely shared via the forums.

The results will determine how much UVB is actually available for synthesis to these animals near the dark rain forest floor, during day light hours. This will allow us to better understand the supplimentation and simulated UVB lighting demands of captive Uroplatus.
The study could ultimately result in more consistent reproduction within our captive colonies.

If we find a serious volunteer to conduct the experiment, it would be necessary for us to raise the funds via donations to buy and ship the UVB meters and related equipment to the "researcher".

Is there any interest in this project........volunteers, donors?
 
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Grep

Grep

New member
Mad

Contact Mr.Bill Love in USA. He is constantly going to Madagascar and he will
in future also make project on Furcifer pardalis to collect some data in nature-also measure UVB as I know. So I think he is the right man if he has time and if he is ready to do these.
 
Scott F

Scott F

New member
That's great Lawrence.

If you would contribute to the fund in order to buy the equipment needed (UV meters,water proof tote bags).... add your name to this thread so when I find a researcher, I can quickly get a hold of pledges to collect the donation. Only add your name to this list if you seriously will donate 20 dollars via paypal, when requested. The more of us interested the cheaper it will be.
Also if a lot of people join the list I can point potential researchers to this thread for them to see all the interest which may play a big roll in somebody high profile helping us to get the readings.
So that makes two so far. It is a start.
 
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Scott F

Scott F

New member
Ok people, I got an awesome response from Bill Love. I am just making sure it is ok with him that I can post our email dialogue via the forum for you all to read. Check back later for the update.
 
Scott F

Scott F

New member
You are on it Lawrence. This will be the list. I am trying to get serious pledges now..........but the actual donation will not be collected until october. I will post more info tomorrow.
 
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miguel camacho!

miguel camacho!

New member
even out of the hobby, this is a concept that has intrigued me for a long time.

i would be more than happy to donate $20 out of the little bit of spare money i have, and bill is such a great guy i am not surprised he has been so accepting of the idea!

let me know when the time comes to actually submit my check!

awesome idea, scott!
 
Scott F

Scott F

New member
First off, thank you for your pledge Mike.


The following is the email message sent to Bill:

Date: Mon, 3 Mar 2008 08:48:36 -0500
Dear Mr Bill Love,

There is a big debate of captive care in this species regaurding UVB and D3. I and many others believe that these misunderstandings contribute to the very sporadic success we are having producing healthy hatchlings. Many of us would prefer to us UVb lighting and cut out the D3, as it is widely thought that they are sensitive to it the Vitamin D3.

We are looking for a person that travels to Madagascar to take some UV readings in situ, for us when a Uroplatus is discovered sleeping out in the open during stronger daylight hours. This person will be sent a UVB meter if he/she does not already have one. The documentation would be very simple and take hardly anytime away from the researcher. What we are looking for is this person to take the UVB reading within inches of the sleeping animal during the day. All that needs to be recorded is the species, general local (forest stand or preserve) time of day, and of course the UVB reading. Obviusly the animals are easier to find at night but may not be discovered during the day. If one is in a forest stand where they have found Uroplatus before, a reading may be taken in such habitat with similar lighting in the abscence of live specimens. It all boils down to getting some readings in the dense Madagascan jungle close to the forest floor to see generally how much UVB wild Uroplatus recieve. These results can be directly used to set up correct lighting in ou naturalistic breeding terrariums.

If you can help out in any way it would be benefitting the Uroplatus community world wide. Any interest or input in this simple project is not expected of you, but would surely be absolutely fabulous.

Best Wishes in all your endevors!
Scott



This is Mr. Love's response via email (posted with his permission):


Date: Mon, 3 Mar 2008 16:18:40 -0500
Hi Scott, March 3, 2008

I’d be happy to help with that, although it may be next January before I’m there again. I’d personally find it interesting, as I’ve long suspected that UV is important even to nocturnal herps. To be able to take part in proving it would be great.

I don’t know what else I can do at the moment except to say to please contact me next October – November-ish when I’ll know if I’ve filled a tour and will be ‘going Mad’ again.

Sincerely, Bill

*********************************

Bill Love


BLUE CHAMELEON VENTURES
WEB: Blue Chameleon Ventures - Madagascar Tours & Travel, Reptile Photos & Photography




So there it is..........short and sweet.
As stated above, if you would like to be part of this little project and pledge to contribute to the fund, add your name here. I will contact Bill again in the fall to confirm he is traveling to Madagascar in January. If I get the thumbs up from him, I will then get in contact with the pledged participants in order to request the funds. Before I do so I will have Bill directly post on the this thread so that everyone knows that this is not a scam. After the funds have been collected I will purchase the meter and send it directly to Bill. Who knows.......maybe the results could appear in a future Reptiles Magazine.

I am doing research now on what meter to purchase. I think I may go with the same unit that is used on the UK UVB Lighting Guide's website. This is for a couple reasons. One is that the company of this meter is known for making a high quality accurate product. Since we will use the identical meter are findings can contribute to their website and ongoing research. Secondly this meter is also available in Europe. After the experiment, anybody can purchase the counter part of this meter (different model) and use it to develope correct lighting in their terrariums based on the numbers of the UVB meter readings. It is important to use the same brand of meter for comparisons as each companies products are calibrated a little differently (hence the nesscisity of one that is universal). Also I have discovered that Zoo Med brand manufactures a UV meter. Maybe we can get Zoo Med to donate a UVB meter or two, to the cause as they pride themselves as a leader in the involvement of cutting edge research within the industry.
 
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I

Ingo

New member
I am not sure, if that UV Meter ist the best choice for that purpose. After all, wavelengths of light are absorbed and scattered quite differentially by vegetation, clouds etc and the only part of the UVB spectrrum effective in 7-Dehydrocholestrol conversion is the small band between 295 and 305 nm. The slope of the peak ist very high and already at 285 or 315 nm you loose like 80% of efficacy.
Afaik the Zoo med UVB Meter has a relatively broad measurement spectrum which gives not much information about the relative contribution of the relevant wavelength peak. I thus think, one should invest in a more sophisticated device which in the best case may be able to exclude intensities outside the real relevant range.

BR

Ingo
 
Scott F

Scott F

New member
Ingo,

I am not nearly educated enough on the subject as of yet. These are the preliminaries........that is why I am starting now. It takes a lot to get a project together...........even a small one.

Ingo what is your suggestion in choice of a meter?

Anybody else who really knows their stuff in this area of subject matter (UV and getting accurate readings, products, etc) .......PLEASE contribute as I would really like this to be a collective effort.
 
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Scott F

Scott F

New member
I am in the process of contacting people about more accurate meters to use. They will be pricier, but if we are gonna do it, let's do it right.
Some of the really high tech ones can run around a thousand. I am in the middle of contacting experts in this field now to see what is the best affordable instrument for this specific apllication..... which has to be able to read low light intensities in deep jungle.

I want to publicly arrange something, after the project is comeplete, where Bill can donate the meter to an organiztion in order to further other reptile related UV studies. Complete in that maybe Bill would want to hang on to the meter for a while to use it over a couple trips to Madagascar......depending on how this progresses.
 
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Grep

Grep

New member
Hello Scot,

I am glad that Bill is willing to help. I will also contact some people in EU who are going to Madagascar these year and I am shure they can help to collect some UV data on Uroplatus.

Gasper
 
L

L.A.C. Herps

New member
Scott, Sarah and I can throw down $20, just let me know when you need it.

When you get an idea of what meter you are planning on purchasing, I can contact a couple of people I know as well.... The reason I will wait on contacting them, is because they may have conflicting interests in purchasing say a 'zoo med' meter, rather than one that is not manufactured by an actual reptile company etc. ( a company other than their own basically)
 
Scott F

Scott F

New member
Thank you JED for your pledge.

I recieved some great feed back from Frances Baines of the UV Guide UK, a whole page and a half worth. I think we may recieve a lot of help from this collective group. Possibly data sharing on there website, the formulation of data, and tech support for Bill (teach him how to use the meters accurately before he goes to Madagascar) is what I am pulling for. With their permission I will post the email of the response I obtained here tomorrow, for everybody to read.

Frances has provided us info on the equipment to use. The meters and water proof case will come to under $500.00. This is affordable for us!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let's get these pledges rolling people. A number of experts and well known people with connections are willing to help us. Lets not let this slip away.
 
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D.B.Johnson

D.B.Johnson

New member
Scott,
I'd definately be willing to contribute 20 dollars, or whatever I can to this project also. It's a great idea and I think all of us Uroplatus keepers have this issue on our minds at some point.

Doug
 
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