VivTech Products

Did you know hatching Dragons need UVA and UVB?! That’s right. Not all are born in the depths of the Earth! Know your Dragon’s natural history for epic success.

It’s time for SCHAUMBURG !!! Stop by and say HI plus talk our ear off about UV - there’s nothing we love more!!

Join us LIVE tonight as we chat with our friends Ryan and Erica McVeigh of VivTech Products. Come join the live chat and be a part of the actual conversation during the show.

Even heavily fossorial nocturnal species such as the Rain Frog utilize UVA and UVB when it suits them. This Rain Frog came up when the lights went out in the room to enjoy the last rays of the SurSun First Call UVA/UVB LED light for the day. She was under the light for approximately 2 hours.

Maintaining appropriate humidity is just as important as maintaining the temperature when it comes to the creating an ideal area for egg laying.

The VivTech Smart Monitor Gateway and Temperature and Humidity Sensor are a perfect way to monitor multiple parameters in your enclosures right from your smart phone with the VivTech App!

Monitorfest 2024 was incredible with some absolutely amazing people. You can catch Ryan on Mike's Monitors interviews of some attendees. Thanks to Bryan Waterloo for hosting such an incredible event!

Tomorrow Ryan will be at Monitorfest at Bryan Waterloo’s facility in Minooka, IL. Several amazing breeders, keepers, and enthusiasts will be there!

Ryan will have HySun Halogen bulbs available.

When: May 25th at 2 pm
Where: Minooka, IL at Bryan Waterloo's facility

If you are interested in attending, text Bryan at 780-670-0610. Hope to see you there!

A nice interview piece on Erica McVeigh with some unique questions!

Meet Erica Mede McVeigh We're excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Erica Mede McVeigh. We hope you'll enjoy our conversation with Erica below. Erica, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand? T...

This is important to understand, especially with the weather changing in much of the country. There is still a lot of misinformation about venomous snakes.

A simple rules for safe outdoor experiences include:
🌳Stay on paths.

📚Research what species may be in the area you are visiting including what the juveniles/babies look like and if they are often confused for other species.

🙋‍♀️Take someone experienced with you. It’s more fun too!

🩴 Wear appropriate footwear (leave the cute strappy sandals for the picnics).

☀️ Wear sunscreen! This has nothing to do with venomous snakes, just you know, be smart, skin protection is important!

What happens if you see a venomous snake?
Leave it be! Give it a wide berth to decide which way it wants to go and go the opposite, it won’t chase you no matter what your neighbor’s cousin’s uncle once told them.

What should I do if I hear the rattle?!
Take a breath, this sound will kick start most people’s heart whether it’s out of excitement, surprise, or fear. It isn’t like the movies. A rattle sound doesn’t mean impending doom. Quite the opposite, often it means “please don’t step on me” or rather “you are in my space”. If you cannot see where the snake is, don’t continue forward. Easy peasy. If you can, give the snake a wide berth and continue on.

As always, safety is paramount and if you are not sure, seek guidance from an experienced h**per in your area. Local h**petological societies are wonderful for this!

Graphic is courtesy of the Susquehannock Wildlife Society and the source for their information is listed in the graphic.

It's hard to own exotic animals during the best of times, but when you are unsure how legislation is going to impact your animal care it can be nerve wracking! The "Halogen Ban" was put into action in May 2022 and does impact reptile and exotic pet care but it doesn't prevent us from finding the products we need to care for our animals.

Why did Nikki Justice of Obsessed Exotics choose VivTech for her UV? 💛Trust💛

Cyclura, like Tank her Rhinoceros Iguana (Cyclura cornuta cornuta), are a species that thrive in high UV-B and UV-A environments! Using a SurSun UV LED ensures those animals have the UV they need for years rather than months. With a 2 year manufacturer warranty and the ability to create a well designed basking site for your pet to regulate their UV (and they can!) the SurSun UV LED may be the solution you’re looking for!

See for yourself at our shop at VivTech Products online

Thank you Nikki Justice of Obsessed Exotics for the photo and testimonial 🦎

We asked Northern Lights Reptile Imports why they use UV-A and UV-B on their imports!

Photo of Chironius scurrulus (Red Machete, Machete Savane aka Fire Snake) courtesy of Ashley Dezan of Northern Lights Reptile Imports.

Reptiles from higher altitudes especially in the canopy of trees, require more UVA and UVB to meet their needs. This is a requirement to provide the these animals the basic life sustaining support they need.

Understanding the Natural History of an animal you bring into your home is VITAL - always ask questions and look up information regarding the natural habitat, feeding behaviors, etc using the binomial (scientific) name and a search engine such as Google Scholar. Be curious. Be nerdy. That animal depends on it! 🦎

(Pictured above is a sleeping female Kinyongia boehmei, Dwarf Fisher’s Chameleon, courtesy of Erica and Ryan at Exergy Exotics 🦎)

Many reptiles and birds have tetrachromatic vision which allows them to see into the UVA spectrum and experience color variations we do not have an ability to perceive. Most humans, roughly 88-90%, are trichromatic, which means we cannot see into the UV spectrum.

Interestingly, research has found that women are the only ones with tetrachromatic vision when it occurs!

UV-B regulates vitamin D3 synthesis in the skin and serves as the main source of D3 in many reptiles and amphibians. D3 then becomes:

💛 Calcitriol is the bioactive form of vitamin D formed in the kidney which attaches to immune cells and stimulates production of antibacterial agents too! It’s also important to prevent low calcium levels in the plasma.

💛 Calcium which plays an important role in long distance immune communication, muscle function, and bone development.

UVA is often overlooked when UV is discussed in the captive care of reptiles. Some of the benefits include:

🍿 Appetite stimulation
💪 Agnostic behaviors (these are threat displays, aggressive actions, and acts of submission)
🍼 Reproductive behaviors
🕺 Social behaviors
🏡 Territorial behaviors

The range of natural behaviors that start emerge as animals are able to see their environments more naturally will never cease to amaze you!

Sunlight is incredible and it’s essential for almost all environments! Here’s a fun fact, when it comes to UV, the Environment is primarily receiving UV-A (315-400nm). In broad terms, it’s roughly 5 times the amount of UV-B if we are rounding up!

VivTech Products HySun Halogen lights have been inspected and approved by Barkley of MegaConda - Meghan likes them too 😅

If you have not already, go visit MegaConda and give her a follow to watch the great work she does!

ANDROID UPDATE: Good morning, depending on where you are in the world, it’s 5:30 am give or take a few minutes here and we have made some progress with the VivTech App for our Android Users!

We have narrowed the problem down to either:
1. Relatively easy fix
2. Moderately more frustrating and coffee intensive fix
3. We definitely go with Erica’s plan of 💥 and restart the app in Google Play - which requires WAY more coffee

Either way - we have a solution, we are just choosing which route our party will take along the adventure!

As always, those who already have the VivTech App in Android devices are perfectly fine and secure. Enjoy! Using other apps to control our devices is not recommended as we do NOT make any claims to safety of your information, etc since you never know who has the other end. For any Apple users, disregard, you get updates without issue.

For any questions and concerns, please reach out to: [email protected]

To all Android users who use Google Play to download our VivTech App this update is for YOU! Unfortunately, we became aware that there is a glitch in the app, only on the Android side (sorry folks!) that you can no longer download the app from the Google Play store. If you have it, there are no worries, it runs but it isn't as optimized as the newer version that the Apple users have and our Metadata Overlord, Jess, is working overtime for us to fix this for you!

Please be careful using any app that is not the VivTech App. There are a lot of apps out there that can control devices if you give them permission, this is not always the safest route as you do not know who controls the other end of the app. At VivTech Products we do not have access to your information, your credentials, financials, etc. We cannot say the same about other apps that are used to control our products. Please, use caution.

We will update you as soon as we have answers and will continue to pull late hours to resolve these issues for you. Your safety and animal safety is our primary concern!

If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected]

VivTech Products will be on tonight to celebrate the 200th epidsode of The Reptile Gumbo Podcast! Congratulations!! 🎊🍾

Join us LIVE tonight for our 200th episode. We will have tons of fun guest, including Shawn Gray of **pshow, Ryan and Erica McVeigh of , Chris Eaton of and many more. Come join the chat and be a part of the conversation.