I'm with John on this one. If there are no references cited, take it with a grain of salt. If you talk to a few old timer herp keepers that had iguanas 20-30 years ago, ask them what the life span of a captive green iguana was. Keep in mind, this was before it was common knowledge that UV was necessary. I agree that fluorescents don't give out nearly enough, and that more modern bulb technology is needed - but the study also fails to take into consideration that iguanas (and many diurnal lizards) -mental- health is improved immeasurably by bright, clean lighting, UV or not.
I think the main flaw I see with this particular study is that iguanas are uncannily tough. I have seen them live for over two years with no UV eating only dog food. Three years on nothing but cheese. Two years on crickets and iceberg... etc. A few samples in a lab setting is doing nothing to test a real world situation, nor is it testing it over the long term - which is absolutely necessary with iguanas. This is usually why its so hard to explain to people that their diet is wrong and they need UV lighting, they figure that if they were keeping it incorrectly it would have died long ago. Iguanas just don't die that easily.
Rav
