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Who
are we?
In the
summer of 2004, a group of four reptile keepers in the UK,
Frances Baines, Andy Beveridge, Rachel
Hitch and Rob Lane began to study the use of UV lighting
in reptile husbandry. We all keep species of lizards which
require UV light, including bearded dragons (Frances and
Rachel), chameleons (Rob and Andy) and collared lizards
(Rachel). When Rob arranged the importation of our first
UVB meters from the USA, the idea for a Survey, and for
UV Guide UK, just grew from there....
We launched
the website www.uvguide.co.uk on 26th July 2005. It had
well over 100,000 visitors in its first 4 years, from 146
countries.
Recent
involvement with a number of zoos and research groups worldwide
has greatly broadened the scope of the project. Contacts
include veterinarians, zoo keepers, herpetologists, conservationists,
most of the major reptile lighting manufacturers and distributors,
and many enthusiastic amateur keepers and hobbyists who
are working with us to improve the lives of reptiles in
captivity.
Over
the years Rob and Rachel have moved on to other things.
Andy is our technical expert, and owner of our two new spectrometers;
Frances has now taken over almost all the lamp testing.
We now
have a range of meters as well as the spectrometers, and
it's not just UVB we are measuring, but the whole solar
spectrum and its artificial equivalents. Reptiles are quite
literally "solar powered", the heat and light they receive
from the sun affects every aspect of their lives.
This
project is entirely voluntary. We are completely independent
from all companies producing reptile lamps or related products.
We accept no sponsorship from them. We
do not promote or sell any products, either.
All the lamps we test are donated to the project, and many
have been sent by fellow reptile keepers from all over the
world - to whom we are very grateful. We also gratefully
welcome any small financial donations from individual reptile
keepers, clubs or groups to help keep us up and running...
please see our "donate" link on our home page
nav bar.
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Acknowledgements
We
would like to thank all those who have assisted in the project
and donated lamps and equipment for testing, including (in
alphabetical order):
and
all those who have kindly offered their advice and support,
contributed their research data and forwarded scientific
papers, including (but not limited to):
- John
Binns, David Bird, Henry Brames, Michele Buono, Gary Ferguson,
Greg Fyfe, David Gardiner, William Gehrmann, AJ Gutman,
Andy Highfield, Michael Holick, Lance Jepson, Horst Köhler,
Hans Dieter Lehmann, Jukka Lindgren, Steve Mackin, Chris
Newman, Peter Nunn, Shannon Plummer, Douglas Sherriff,
Matt Versweyveld, Laura Wade, Dave Weldon, Sarina Wunderlich,
Douglas Wise.
- Chris
Davis, who is also our current web host.
-
Paul Williams, who kindly hosted our website for the first
4½ years.
- the
members of UVB_Meter_Owners
internet mailing group.
- the
members of the Facebook group Reptile
Lighting
Plus,
last but not least, our long-suffering friends, family and
fellow herp keepers who have seen us climbing in their vivs,
testing their lamps, and talking about little else for many
years.
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Data
from this project has appeared in the following publications:
Baines,
F. M. (2017) UV or not UV? An In-Depth Look At UV Light
And Its Proper Use With Reptiles. In: Reptiles magazine,
Jan-Feb 2017 16- 25. Available online at http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/An-In-Depth-Look-At-UV-Light-And-Its-Proper-Use-With-Reptiles/
Baines,
F., Chattell, J., Dale, J., Garrick, D., Gill, I., Goetz,
M., Skelton, T. & Swatman, M. (2016)
How much UV-B does my reptile need? The UV-Tool, a guide
to the selection of UV lighting for reptiles and amphibians
in captivity. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 4(1):
42 - 63. Available online at: http://www.jzar.org/jzar/article/view/150
Baines,
F.M. and Brames, H. 2010. Preventive Reptile Medicine and
Reptile Lighting. In: Sabine Öfner, Friederike Weinzierl
(editors). Proc. ARAV 1st Int Conference on Reptile and
Amphibian Medicine, Munich Mar 4 - 7 March 2010 . Verlag
Dr. Hut, 80538 München, Germany. p 3 -13
Baines,
F.M. 2010. Photo-kerato-conjunctivitis in reptiles. In:
Sabine Öfner, Friederike Weinzierl (editors). Proc. ARAV
1st Int Conference on Reptile and Amphibian Medicine, Munich
Mar 4 - 7 March 2010 . Verlag Dr. Hut, 80538 München, Germany.
p 141 - 145
Ferguson,
G., Brinker, A., Gehrmann, W., Bucklin, S., Baines, F. and
Mackin, S. 2010. Voluntary Exposure of Some Western-Hemisphere
Snake and Lizard Species to Ultraviolet-B (UVB) Radiation
in the field: How Much UVB Should a Lizard or Snake Receive
in Captivity? Zoo
Biology 29 (3) 317-334
Gardiner,
D. W., Baines, F.M., and Pandher, K. 2009. Photodermatitis
and photokeratoconjunctivitis in a ball python (Python regius)
and a blue-tongue skink (Tiliqua spp.) Journal of Zoo and
Wildlife Medicine 40(4):757-766
Baines,
F.M. 2009. Catching Wavelengths: How natural and artificial
lighting affects reptiles. Reptiles
17 (May 2009): 26-35 Available online at: http://www.reptilechannel.com/reptile-health/reptile-natural-artificial-light.aspx
Baines,
F.M. 2008. Photo-kerato-conjunctivitis in reptiles. Autumn
Meeting Nov 2008. Stretton, Cheshire, UK. Proceedings of
the British
Veterinary Zoological Society: 43
Baines,
F.M. 2008. Everything under the Sun - Natural and Artificial
Lighting for Chelonia. British Chelonia Group Spring Symposium
March 2008. Available online at: http://www.britishcheloniagroup.org.uk/caresheets/lighting.htm
Baines,
F., R. Hitch and R. Lane. 2005. Looking at UVB in a new
light (Parts 1 and 2) Herptile,
Journal of the International Herpetological Society 30 (3)
100 - 124.
Baines,
F., R. Hitch and R. Lane. 2005. Looking at UVB in a new
light (Part 3) Herptile,
Journal of the International Herpetological Society 30 (4)
148 - 172.
Baines,
F., A. Beveridge, R. Hitch and R. Lane. 2006. Looking at
UVB in a new light (Part 4) Herptile,
Journal of the International Herpetological Society 31 (1)
4 - 21.
Baines,
F. 2005. Some Preliminary Results from a Survey of the UVB
Output of Fluorescent Tubes for Reptile Vivaria. The Natterjack,
Newsletter of the British
Herpetological Society 121: 3-7.
Baines,
F., R. Hitch and R. Lane. 2005. The Light Stuff. Reptile
Care 10 (March/April 2005): 52-59.
Baines,
F., R. Hitch and R. Lane. 2005. Light Fantastic. Reptile
Care 11 (May/June 2005): 50-59.
Baines,
F., R. Hitch and R. Lane. 2005. Indoor Sunshine. Reptile
Care 12 (July/August 2005): 45-49.
Baines,
F. and C. Davis. 2005. Using Natural Light in the Vivarium.
The Natterjack, Newsletter of the British
Herpetological Society 127: 9-12.
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