I am buying UVB bulbs for the reptiles again and I notice there is a 26 watt bulb and a 13 watt bulb in the 10.0 desert type. I have been using the 13 watt bulbs, but should I be using the 26 watt ones? What is really the difference, as they don't make heat, so is it that they emit more UVB or what? I will probably just buy the 26 watt ones, but I was just wondering.
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Repti Glo 13 Watt vs. 26 Watt?
ANIMALmenagerie
Jul 03, 2008 05:55 PM
Replies (1)
Chris_Harper2
Jul 03, 2008 10:49 PM
Technically a 26 watt CFL would produce more UVB and light intensity than a 13 watt with otherwise identical specs. However, both characteristics only increase logarithmically with watts so it's not like the 26 watt would produce twice the visible light or UVB than the 13 watt bulb. Of course the 26 watt bulb probably costs nowhere near twice as much so it's probably a better value for your money.
With that said, I can't forsee a need for a company to have both a 13 watt and 26 watt UVB CFL so I wonder if I'm overlooking something.
Thinking out loud, I wonder if perhaps the UVB output of both bulbs is the same and all of the extra watts go into visible light? If that were the case I'd say the 26W is the better bulb simply because we rarely reproduce the light intensities that reptiles and amphibians experience in the wild. You'll rarely produce light in captivity that is too bright.
If I were in your situation I'd probably wait until your current bulbs were near the end of their recommended us and replace them with 26 watt bulbs.
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Currently keeping:
6.10 Gonyosoma oxycephala (Javan, mixed colors)
1.1 Philodryas baroni
1.0 Rhodesian Ridgeback
