Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am sure this has been covered more than once. I am wondering if anyone has links to studies done on different uvb bulbs. Also looking for information on do all fluorescent bulbs put out uvb? Any help is appreciated. Thanks

I think all florescent bulbs produce UVB, but what makes "UVB bulbs" different is the coating on the glass tube. Generic tubes have a cheap coating that filters out a lot of light. Plant bulbs have a coating that allows more UVA through, and reptile bulbs allow the even smaller UVB wavelengths through. This is why bulbs expire, the light eventually changes the coating's structure so that it no longer allows UVB passage. I could imagine that uncoated florescent tubes would see the harmfull UVC and smaller wavelengths.

I don't have any direct links to studies but google was very helpfull the last time I did such a search. Look up UVB meter, full spectrum lighting, UVB bulb ect. and I'm sure you'll find what you are looking for.

Ian

Thank you for that information that is what I was thinking just did not know. I will google to confirm. I take my lizards outside for natural sunlight at least twice a week anyway as long as temps are not too cold.
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Chris Warren

Do you ever get tired of telling people that being a herper is not slang for I have herpes

I have a borrowed UVB metre and am having a blast. Learning lots. Bulbs like the 2.0 ect, are essentally useless. Might as well go with the 10.0 every time, or the MVB's. A reflector helps. Sunlight has so much UVB my iguana gets more rays THROUGH GLASS than my bulbs put off. He's in a wire type cage though so no worries about overheating.

Ian

Thank you for that update. That is interesting how uvb comes through the window and how that works better than some bulbs designed for higher uvb output. Thank you again.
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Chris Warren

Do you ever get tired of telling people that being a herper is not slang for I have herpes

I think it's just a matter of glass filtering out "most" of the UVB rays. So if you are starting with only a few from a bulb then next to zero get through. I havn't played around to much as it's been cloudy lately, but one snap at the sun got me approx. 300 units of UVB and 40 or so got through the window to the lizard. His MVB only gives him about 20-30, granted it's nearing it's replacement time. I have 2 four foot 10.0's in a reflector tray and I'm getting 25 or so units. My 2.0 is almost a year old (say 9 months) and I"m only getting 2 units~!

Another thing that I"ve noticed, is when they say the lizard must be withen 12 inches, they mean it! Ray exposure drops drastically and is next to zero beyond this distance. MVB's have slightly more distance, but not much (maybe 6 inches. I'll try to map this more later)

Ian

Here is a link:

http://www.uvguide.co.uk/phototherapyphosphor.htm