The reptile-keeping journal for keepers who treat husbandry like a science.
A weekly herpetoculture publication turning peer-reviewed research into field-tested protocols — every protocol run by three independent keepers for ninety days before it runs here.
Every Tuesday: this week's protocol, a short peer-reviewed study worth your time, one reader-submitted enclosure build, and a clinical note from our advisory veterinarians. No sponsored placements, no affiliate links.
The case for UVB in crepuscular geckos has moved from contested to consensus in the last six years. What remains contested is dose: how much, where, and how to measure it in an enclosure whose canopy is half live plant. This protocol walks through a three-zone gradient, the meter that actually reads it, and the four-week adjustment cycle that three independent keepers used to dial in basking behavior without elevating D3-supplementation risk.
Two of the three keepers in our review cycle had leopard geckos that spent the entire photophase under the cool-side hide. The third had the opposite problem — chronic surface basking, low ambient humidity, and shed retention around the toes. Same species, same fixture manufacturer, three different outcomes. The variable wasn't the lamp; it was the measurement.
A UVB gradient isn't a number — it's three numbers across one enclosure. The cool-side ambient should sit between 5–15 µW/cm² (roughly UVI 0.5–1.0), the mid-zone basking ledge at 25–40 µW/cm² (UVI 2.0–3.0), and the far basking surface at no more than 50 µW/cm² (UVI 4.0). Above UVI 4.0 in this species, keepers in our review cycle began to see photo-avoidance and reduced surface activity within ten days.
The meter matters. We recommend a Solarmeter 6.5R for keepers who need a numeric reading, and a printed UV index card as a sanity check during weekly maintenance. Both are used in the field-test protocol; both are referenced with model and calibration date in the Appendix.
Each of the three keepers logged basking duration, shed quality, fecal consistency, and ambient humidity at the same three points in the enclosure, every Monday and Thursday, for ninety days. We pulled the aggregate into the appendix; keepers who want to replicate the protocol can fork the field log and adapt the species target columns.
Primary sources: Baines et al. (2016), Journal of Herpetological Medicine & Surgery 26(3); personally communicated data from the IguanaNaut Mortality & Morbidity Database, case cohort M-2025-LEO-114.
Every protocol we publish maps to one of these three systems. Pick the system you're refining this week; the latest peer-reviewed work in each is below.
Basking surface temperature, UVB gradient, photoperiod, and the seasonal shift — measured with a Solarmeter and an infrared gun, not assumed from the lamp box.
Calcium-to-phosphorus ratios, dust cycling, prey size, gut-loading windows, and the supplementation protocols that don't silently produce hypercalcemia over three years.
All nutrition protocols →Substrate, ventilation, humidity envelope, microclimate layering, and the enclosure geometries that hold a thermal gradient across a 12-hour photoperiod without active intervention.
All enclosure protocols →
11,432 anonymized incident logs contributed by 2,100+ verified keepers across nine years. Each entry logs husbandry parameters, presenting condition, veterinary findings where available, and outcome. Used by 60+ exotics veterinary practices across the US, UK, and EU as a baseline reference for captive-incident pattern recognition.
We accept contributions from verified keepers only — submission requires a one-time husbandry attestation and a photo of the enclosure parameters in question. Entries are reviewed by an advisory DVM before publication.
A custom tool used by 22,000+ keepers to specify lamp wattage, fixture distance, basking zone dimensions, and humidity envelope from your enclosure's length, width, height, and target species. No account, no email, no tracking.
Enter your enclosure dimensions and target species. The calculator returns:
"Used it to size a 4×2×2 for a juvenile Varanus exanthematicus. The basking zone recommendation matched what I'd worked out by hand — and the humidity envelope caught a problem I'd missed."
— Verified keeper, contributor #2,041Recommended resource in 60+ exotics veterinary practices across the US, UK, and EU.
Sortable. Filter by husbandry system, citation tier, or last-review date. Currently indexed: 240 species across lizards, snakes, chelonians, and amphibians.
| Species | Common name | Last review | Tier | Systems covered | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eublepharis macularius | Leopard gecko | 14 Mar 2026 | Peer-reviewed | 3 of 3 | Open → |
| Pogona vitticeps | Bearded dragon | 07 Mar 2026 | Peer-reviewed | 3 of 3 | Open → |
| Python regius | Ball python | 28 Feb 2026 | Breeder-log | 3 of 3 | Open → |
| Varanus exanthematicus | Savannah monitor | 21 Feb 2026 | Editorial | 2 of 3 | Open → |
| Stigmochelys pardalis | Leopard tortoise | 14 Feb 2026 | Peer-reviewed | 3 of 3 | Open → |
| Dendrobates tinctorius | Dyeing poison frog | 07 Feb 2026 | Breeder-log | 2 of 3 | Open → |
| Pantherophis guttatus | Corn snake | 31 Jan 2026 | Peer-reviewed | 3 of 3 | Open → |
All 240 species care sheets are translated into 7 languages through a partnership with the European Herpetological Society. Browse the full index →
Every protocol we publish has been read by at least one member of this board. Every clinical claim has been read by at least one of our three reptile-medicine DVMs. Names are listed by board role; individual veterinary partners are not named without written consent.
Featured in BioReddit's Top 25 Herpetology Resources for the third consecutive year.
Cited in the Journal of Herpetological Medicine, Vol. 31, Issue 2, as a non-academic reference.
Featured in BioReddit's Top 25 Herpetology Resources.
Featured in BioReddit's Top 25 Herpetology Resources.
Recommended resource by 60+ exotics veterinary practices across the US, UK, and EU.
Founded in March 2014 by two AZA-affiliated keepers and a published herpetologist. 1,840+ peer-reviewed care articles and long-form protocols since launch.
Press inquiries: [email protected] · +1 (512) 555-0418
