*sigh* how typical.

7) The other day I purchased a few items for a Bearded Dragon enclosure, one of which was a 24" Repti Glo bulb. I installed it in a strip light that I picked up from a local hardware store and it would only fluoresce if I spun the tube. Is an incompatibility with the strip I bought, or is it a faulty tube?

The problem is an incompatibility between the light fixture and the light tube itself.

Most high intensity aquarium and reptile bulbs require a fixture that is often termed as a "fast start" fixture. These fixtures will have an electronic replaceable starter that essentially boosts the current of the fixture upon starting enabling the bulbs to fluoresce. Most fluorescent fixtures, at one time, had starters in them but with the advent of energy efficient devices the home market has moved to a straight ballast loaded device that is not compatible with most pet industry fluorescent bulbs. Some hardware stores do sell fixtures that will get this bulb to fire but you would have to experiment and find one with an electronic starter.
http://www.pettraders.com/faq.htm
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proud mama to:
1.0.0 ball python (mr snake),0.0.1 albino florida kingsnake (CK),1.0.0 leopard gecko (sebastian),0.1.0 colombian rainbow boa (luce),1.1.0 bearded dragon (kaipo and dulce), 1.1.0 colombian redtailed boas (adam and eve)

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