{"topic_id":"exotic_reptile_husbandry","category":"exotic-pet-health","context":"---\ntopic_id: exotic_reptile_husbandry\ncategory: exotic-pet-health\ntitle: \"Reptile husbandry essentials — UVB (290–300 nm) for vitamin D3/calcium, species-specific temperature gradients\"\nlang: en\nsource: \"Merck Veterinary Manual — Reptile husbandry essentials — UVB (290–300 nm) for vitamin D3/calcium, species-specific temperature gradients\"\nsource_file: pdf-raw/exotic-health/mvm_reptile_husbandry.txt\ndate_parsed: 2026-07-28\ntokens_estimated: 220\nverified: true\nverification: c1_substring\nsource_document: \"Merck Veterinary Manual (professional veterinary reference)\"\ncitation:\n  authority: \"Merck Veterinary Manual\"\n  title: \"Reptile husbandry essentials — UVB (290–300 nm) for vitamin D3/calcium, species-specific temperature gradients\"\n  url: \"https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/reptiles/management-and-husbandry-of-reptiles\"\n  retrieved: \"2026-07-28\"\n  ref: \"\"\n  doc_type: \"professional veterinary reference\"\n  needs_review: false\n---\n# Reptile husbandry essentials\n\nThe text below is reproduced verbatim from the first-hand source (Merck Veterinary Manual).\n\n> UVB light (290–300 nm) is especially important for most diurnal lizards and chelonians for vitamin D 3 synthesis\n> requirements shown are air temperature gradients\n\nSource: `pdf-raw/exotic-health/mvm_reptile_husbandry.txt` (first-hand professional veterinary reference, tag-stripped).\n\n## Claims (verified C1 substrings of source_file)\n- `UVB light (290–300 nm) is especially important for most diurnal lizards and chelonians for vitamin D 3 synthesis`\n- `requirements shown are air temperature gradients`\n","sources":["exotic-pet-health — Reptile husbandry essentials — UVB (290–300 nm) for vitamin D3/calcium, species-specific temperature gradients (retrieved 2026-07-28)"],"source":{"authority":"exotic-pet-health","title":"Reptile husbandry essentials — UVB (290–300 nm) for vitamin D3/calcium, species-specific temperature gradients","url":"https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/reptiles/management-and-husbandry-of-reptiles","retrieved":"2026-07-28","ref":"","doc_type":"official PDF","source_document":"Merck Veterinary Manual (professional veterinary reference)","verification_file":"pdf-raw/exotic-health/mvm_reptile_husbandry.txt"},"source_document":"Merck Veterinary Manual (professional veterinary reference)","source_file":"pdf-raw/exotic-health/mvm_reptile_husbandry.txt","tokens_estimated":220,"generated_at":null,"tip":"Use /api/v1/topics to discover more topics. /api/v1/nutrient for precise single-point queries. /api/v1/cross_compare for 2-3 standard comparisons."}