Vitamin D, how much?

[red608]

I was curious as to how much sunlight would be appropriate so that snails get enough vitamin D to be able to absorb calcium properly?

I work third shift and sleep during the day and keeping the curtains open just really isn't working very well while trying to sleep. I was wondering if I opened the curtains when I got up so that they got a little light before the sun went down and then had 2-3hours of sunlight before I went to sleep in the morning (possibly more or less depending on when sunrise was and if I got out of work on time or not), would that be enough?

I currently have 2- 20gallon glass tanks(and a variety of smaller containers with injured snail and then hatchlings) and only one window in my room that no furniture can go in front of because the heater runs underneath the window XD. I'm re-arranging my room once my new pieces of furniture get here so that I can have the tanks in the corner over by the window (as close as I can get them) so they may not get direct sunlight(does it matter?)

Should I buy a UV type lamp like they sell for reptiles and mount that above the tanks? I'd put it high enough to make sure it did not heat up the tanks too much, if at all.

Or would a supplement like Rep-Cal calcium with Vitamin D3 Ultrafine powder work? It is Phosphorus free and formulated with 100% oyster shell calcium.
link to product-->www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754048&lmdn=Reptile

Currently I do have the tanks on the floor underneath the window so they can get sunlight all day pretty much. I just want to be able to close my curtains to sleep better. And no the snails can not unfortunately be moved to an alternative room nor can they stay where they are. The kitteh is getting too curious

[Bumblebee]

To be honest, the UVB light from the sun, cant pass through normal glass, or at least, alot of it get blocked, so even if you let the curtains be open, it wouldnt do much good.
And yes, its important to make sure that they dont get direct sunlight into the tanks, since there is a risk of overheating then.

Id say that a UVB light would be the best, and as far as I know, they dont produce much/any heat. (Also keep in mind that you cant place the light TOO far away, since then, the rays might not be able to reach the tank.
I do believe that UVB light can do alot for the snails, if you look at turtles (I know, molluscs and reptiles arn't the same at all ), but they do require alot of light, and a good UVB light to have a good shell.

Just remember that UV lights need to be replaced within approximately 6months, since their rays get weaker

[red608]

I'll definately make a trip to the pet store for one then, thank you so much =] Do they have different UV bulb watts?

[ness]

Bumblebee's post makes alot of sense, however many snails (not all species) in the wild are nocturnal and will almost always hide in a dark place until it gets dark. I can't imagine that they will be getting much in the way of UVB. I'm not saying that sunlight definitely wouldn't be of benefit, but I'm not sure on the basis that many snails have evolved avoiding sunlight.
It's an interesting point of discussion, and I wonder if anyone has any data on this?

[lee2211]

I heard that it's only humans and reps/amphibians that have the cells available to transfer UVB/UV light into vitamin D
I'm not sure how true it is, it's just what someone said to me on another forum when I was pondering the idea.
Although I do think it's nice to have snails out in the sun on warm days, not for long or when it's really hot, it just warms them up.

[red608]

I've actually noticed my snails are sometmes still active in the earlier morning after the sun has come up. It's possible they've adjusted to my schedule since that is one of their feeding times but idk. So now i'm confused, do i get the uv lights or not? or would that supplement work?

[aerliss]

As always, mollusc research has focused on marine animals but some molluscs can use sunlight to synthesise vitamin D, while others can't.

I'd say it's better to assume that our snails can and do need some UVB light, even if it's just a little, from time to time.

If you do decide to get a UVB light, get a low on like Exo-terra's Repti Glo 5.0 or Arcadia's 2% light. These that simulate the low levels of light that would eventually get through the canopy. High levels of UVB can be damaging to snail, especially albino types.

A supplement would also work, but don't over do it.

[lee2211]

Well, it won't hurt them.
I was just saying what I'd been told.
They'd come across UVB type light or something similar in the wild, so it'd only help to make their environment more natural.

Red - My snails are awake in the morning to. I get up at 7 and they're awake 'till 8 in the morning and then I don't see them at night untill roughly 7 or 8.

[coyote]

In the wild, snails that sleep during the day under cover of vegetation still get a little bit of indirect sunlight. A snail would have to bury itself completely under the soil or seal itself up completely against a surface not to receive any daylight. So they do get a small amount of UV light from time to time. I would imagine that because of this normal behavior of theirs, they could not need a lot of UV light to make Vitamin D to assist with calcium absorption. But I am not a biologist and I may very well be wrong.

[aerliss]

There was one abstract of a study I was scanning over last night that was looking at the effects UVB had on a parasite that spends one part of it's life cycle in snails. Apparently, UVB gets through the shell (though in low levels) which surprised me... although when I think about it, holding a snail up to bright light, you can see some light through the shell, where the body isn't blocking it.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16996081

Hmmmm, I think I'm going to have to keep track of reports of tentacle problems and growths and see how many people use UVB lamps.

[coyote]

So if I understood the info at that link, UVB can have a damaging effect on snails, especially albino ones?

[aerliss]

It's dose specific (UVB in high levels will hurt any animal), but the abstract doesn't say what levels are dangerous to them.