Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does it matter what brand you use when it comes to 10.0 flourescent light bulbs?

I don't think anyone has tested the various 10.0 fluorescent bulbs against each other. The UVGuide only tested the Zoo Med 10.0

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

10.0 is supposedly 10% uvb... I have tried a few different brands with my solar meter uvb 6.2 meter.

I had this one uvb lamp that I tested made by zoo med for Igana's that was supposedly a full spectrum uvb bulb... it did not register any uvb on my 6.2 meter.

I have tried the full spectrum plant & aquarium bulbs from home depot... they emit little to no uvb as registered on the meter.

The full sun here in Florida last week at 1pm with no clouds was 340 nano meters on the meter.

The reptisun 10.0 bulbs at 10 inches put out 25-35 nano meters of uvb. They are 25 dollars apiece.

Dragons need over 50nm of uvb intensity for it to do any good for your dragon.

The mercury vapor bulbs put out the most uvb...

I have tested the following mercury vapor bulbs...

powersun by zoomed 100 watt mv bulb:

At 12 inches it is doing 90nm uvb intensity

(directly underneath)

125 watt exo terra mv bulbs:

At 12 inches the do 110nm uvb intensity

So the mercury vapor bulbs are where it is at for uvb.

I would recommend a nice mercury vapor bulb for uvb... the 10.0 reptisun puts out the most consistent uvb for florescent tube lights. 25-35nm worth

If you going to go with a 10.0 reptisun you may want to do two of them to get a fair amount of uvb. But, I think with that much intense light emission... you may run into eye problems because that is a lot of light. Typically they can not hide from the florescent tube lights as well as a spot beam projecting MVB and a lot of enclosures are white which makes it even worse.

The mercury vapor bulbs are fairly nice now. They need to have a good white coating and a silver coating all the way up around the side. Otherwise they are faulty. The good thing is that the dragon can avoid them if they want with the spot beam projection method they use.

I use the mvb bulbs and the reptisun 10.0s in conjunction but only one of each.

In one of the bigger enclosures I actually have an incondescent halogen uva reptile spot light, an 100 watt MVB, and a reptisun 10.0 I used my temp gun to get the temp perfect and where I wanted it.

This is a mostly open air enclosure.

Raz is in that enclosure and is doing amazing there.

Needless to say... if you're looking for good uvb output the 10.0's actually suck in my personal opinion.

You're better off with a mercury vapor for heat/uvb and an el cheepo florescent for just lighting purposes.

I could not believe that even a brand new reptisun 10.0 only puts out under 30nm at even 8 inches.

At 25 bucks a pop that is lackluster!

Oh yeah, I do have this one compact 9watt Zilla ESU Reptillian compact lamp setup. It has two 9watt desert series 50 compact bulbs. At 10 inches it does 55nm.

best regards

I will have to get the meter out and do some good tests with it one day and do a nice writeup.

I also tried a blacklight florescent bulb...

I have heard that blacklight florescent bulbs emit uvb.

It emitted no uvb at all according to my 6.2 solarmeter.

I was sure the blacklight was going to emit some uvb...

not any at all.

I found the Exo Terra Repti Glo 10.0 UVB Bulb for $6 less/bulb than the Zoo Med Repti Sun 10.0 Fluorescent Bulb?

Are they comperable? From what I read in the description they seem the same.

http://www.uvguide.co.uk/compactlamps.htm#output

The exo terra is a compact self ballasted florescent lamp.

The zoo med repti-sun 10.0 is a standard florescent bulb where the ballast is built into the fixture.

The unique aspect of the compact lamp is that a reflector (aluminum housing typically brushed aluminum) can be used.

When the housing is used in conjunction with the compact florescent bulb a very good amount of uvb (nearly double that of the use without the aluminum housing) is possible. This is a good thing if set up properly. A good thing really for BDs as long as you allow enough area for them to retreat from the light.

When you use the housing with the compact lamp make sure you have enough distance... about 8 inches.

Then you need to take into consideration if your are using this light through a screen enclosure or mounted within the enclosure itself.

Basically, in a nutshell... the compact is better in my opinion. Use it with a aluminum shroud. And give the dragon enough room to avoid the light if he/she wants.

The standard aluminum strip lights give negligible uvb and are basically worthless in my personal opinion.

They dont give enough enough uvb to worth a darn. 25-35uw/cm2

I have found my other compact reptilain double 9watt bulb to put out far more uvb than any of the florescent strip light type bulbs.

Go with a compact and a nice shroud. I like to put the compact and heat down near the same end of the enclosure so they are getting both heat and uvb if they so desire. The other end is cooler.

Hope that helps.

Exo Terra makes Linear 10.0's as well as compact as you probably already know.

Overall, I think the compact UVB bulbs are a bad idea. Like a mercury vapor they only emit UVB in a small area of the cage. Their light is intense and can damage the animals eyes. Linear tubes brighten the whole cage which encourages activity and appetite. I would either go with a linear fluorescent or Mercury Vapor depending on your setup. There is no spec. for the amount of UVB that is required by Bearded Dragons so measurements are somewhat pointless. Some even claim to raise healthy BD's without UVB which I don't advocate.

I have always used Zoo Med Linear 10.0's in all my BD enclosures and have never had an MBD problem.

Yes, I'm only talking about linear (long tubes) in my comparison of Zoo Med and Exo Terra. Don't have any interest whatsoever in using a compacy flourescent bulb.

Worthless, both of them... at 6 bucks for the bulb itself even.

These meager uvb emitting florescent tube bulb are the biggest crock of shizz going at 25 clams a pop.

Way overpriced.

Im going with full spectrum florescent for lighting and MVB from now on.

At least for 35 bucks (mvb bulb) Im getting some uvb production.

I WANT MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF UVB!!!!

A SMALL SUPERNOVA IN EACH OF MY FIXTURES!!!

LMAO, I want a small super nova too!!

whats the uvb meter for the 125 watt solar glo from exo terra measure at 16"?

This solar glow is a little over a month old.

125watt

Im measuring at under 8 inches here.

Unfortunately the bulb is mounted and at as less distance than what your looking for but I can tell you that 16 inches is WAY too far away for that bulb.

The bulbs need a three hour burn in time.

You will see minimal uvb at that distance.

At 8 inches my dragons lay right underneath this bulb.

65-100 uw/cm2 at 8 inches

This is ideal.

My bulbs aren't even on yet... I was checking the spot yesterday where this dragon was basking yesterday for several hours.

So it's funny you should ask for the solar-glow 125 watt as I just took these pics already.

Not to beat a dead horse here:

But...

At 100 uw/cm2 this is a decent usable amount of uvb for the dragon.

They need over 50uw/cm2 for it to be worthwhile.

If it is 340uw/cm2 on a bright clear day. The ambient outside temp could be 85 degrees... this high uv index would cause a ramp up in heat of the dragon.

If they have no way of getting out of the direct sunlight.

If it was very overcast and cloudy but a very hot day. Say 100 degrees but overcast (low uv index).

I personally would rather expose my dragon to the heat (overcast 100 degrees minimal uv index) with no intense uvb and electromagnetic radiation.

Then to expose the dragon to a clear day cooler but higher uv index.

The thing is usually you dont get this because if its hot the uv index is typically higher also.

On a hot overcast day Im getting between 50-100uw/cm2 from my meter. The dragon will not have a ramp up in heat from this type of situation like they would with an intense UV index.

If it was a 100 degrees on an overcast low uv index (overcast day) the dragon would have no problem.

High UV index with high heat... equals: BAD SCENARIO

Furthermore...

The uvb is different than uv index... the uv index is what measures the potential damage and true strength of the solar radiation.

And you're still wrong. There is no relationship between temperature and UVB. You can beat the horse as much as you want but it won't change a thing.

When I put my MVB solar glo 125W at 12" or less I get temps about 130F or higher. I'm going to switch to a 100w mvb probably the powersun just so I can get the bulb closer. Have you heard of Mega Rays from europe the sell US volt MVB they claim their uvb last for upto 18 months. I was going to buy some earlier this year but they had a problem with them and couldn't sell or had to put their sales on hold. I don't know why??

Maybe it's just me, but doesn't it seem a little crazy to have to have a 125 watt bulb less than 8" from a dragon?

My two biggest healthiest females dragons are thriving in that enclosure with that bulb at that distance.

One of which is...

Pancake:

She has had the power sun 125 at that distance for nearly two months. In the morning she basks in the light for two hours to warm up. Then she sits on top of that log. Out on top of it facing toward the light sunning herself just like she was doing when I took that shot. She goes into the log to hide and sometimes relaxes there. She gets weekly baths. That bulb is perfect there. Produces exactly what Im looking for uvb and heat production for my summer simulation. I phase them down too. They are in a hot phase. Eventually they will get a cool down phase.

I think the problem is that your not putting the dragon close enough to the bulb itself.

The enclosure my dragon is in is over four feet long.

I can stick my hand underneath it at 4 inches... it is not even that hot when it's been running all day.

Pancake is more ravenous and healthy now then she has ever been with that light.

Pancake is 360 grams... she will be a year old in August.

I agree. The bulb manufacturers recomend much greater distances. But Newbies do their own thing regardless of recommendations.

My dragons sit off and slightly to the side of the bulb (not directly underneath) after basking for the first couple hours.

Even directly underneath of it at six inches the most uvb intensity they are getting is 100 uw/cm2.

Stick with your crappy uvb strip lights bdlvr.

They are easier for a guy like you and require minimal observation and testing.

The great thing about the mercury vapor bubs is that they can move away form the bulb when they want.

The two dragons are in an enclosure that is over four feet long.

If you had a small enclosure where the animal could not move away from the bulb you would have issues. Either they would cook or get excessive exposure to the uvb/uva.

I also have three different hides in that enclosure.

The log closer to the middle near the light is only one of them.

Two more on the cooler side.

The cooler side is 80-85 degrees.

Always jumping at the chance to ridicule and critique someone.

How old are you bdlvr? You're are evidently retired or just dont work. Are you over 65 years old? Unable to work?

We teachers have this thing called, "a summer." I'm also renovating several homes, and finishing out my second masters degree going to college.

What do you beside troll and scower this forum 24/7?

Ive spent too much time here.

good day

UVB contributes to, and is indicative of: the UV index.

The UV index measures the intensity of the solar radiation caused by the invisible spectrum.

The uvb/uv index causes a ramp up in the heat effect.

One last time here:

the temp is 95 degrees out

I pull the dragon out of the direct sun. Uv index drops off majorly.

Ambient temp drops little, couple degrees at most.

The uv index measures the amplifying effect of solar radiation caused by exposure to the sun.

High uv index induces a quick kill.

Heat kills... heat plus a high solar uv index... kills faster.

When an animal receives light from the sun it also is exposed to cosmic radiation.

Cosmic Radiation:
A stream of ionizing radiation of extraterrestrial origin, consisting chiefly of protons, alpha particles, and other atomic nuclei but including some high-energy electrons, that enters the atmosphere, collides with atomic nuclei, and produces secondary radiation, principally pions, muons, electrons, and gamma rays.

High-speed particle (atomic nucleus or electron) that travels through the Milky Way Galaxy. Some cosmic rays originate from the Sun, but most come from outside the solar system. Primary cosmic rays that reach Earth's atmosphere collide with nuclei in it, creating secondaries. Because lower-energy primaries are strongly influenced by the interplanetary magnetic field and Earth's magnetic field (see geomagnetic field), most of those detected near Earth have very high energy, corresponding to speeds about 87% that of light or more.

The sun's heat amplifying effects through direct exposure are more complicated than just saying...

the dragon was killed by the heat.

The electromagnetic radiation and particles (electrons, protons, alpha particles, and rarer heavy atomic nuclei) emitted by the Sun. The electromagnetic radiation covers a wavelength range from x-rays to radio waves, that is, from about 0.01 nanometer to 30 km. The annual mean irradiance at Earth, integrated over the whole spectrum, amounts to 1365 W · m−2, and 99% of its energy is carried by radiation with wavelengths between 278 and 4600 nm, with the maximum at 472 nm. See also Electromagnetic radiation; Solar constant.

The Sun also emits a continuous stream of particles, the solar wind, which originates in coronal holes and the upper corona. Explosive events on the Sun, the solar flares and coronal mass ejections, emit particles that are much more energetic and numerous than those of the solar wind. Solar flares are produced by the most powerful explosions, releasing energies of up to 1025 joules in 100–1000 s and high-speed electrons that emit intense radiation at radio and x-ray wavelengths. They also produce nuclear reactions in the solar atmosphere with the emission of gamma rays and of neutrons that move nearly at the speed of light. Coronal mass ejections expand away from the Sun at speeds of hundreds of kilometers per second, becoming larger than the Sun and removing up to 5 × 1013 kg of coronal material. Both events are believed to be ignited by the reconnection of magnetic fields. If the emitted particles reach the Earth, they give rise to the aurora at high latitudes, and they can damage satellites, endanger humans in space, and on the Earth disturb telecommunications and even disrupt power systems.

I see your still confused about this.

You're right...

the uv index uva/uvb has nothing to do with ramp up in heat effect.

Just leave it at that level for yourself in you need to BDlvr.

It is far more complicated than your intellect can ascertain, and I have explained it for the last time to you.

This really makes your maturity level evident. Maybe you're still in Jr. High?

I thought you were done beating a dead horse and had realized you were wrong.

On another note.

I never knew they offered masters degrees in High School. You were the one that posted how you ate dragon poop in order to substantiarte that the white part was not urates but calcium. You have also posted pictures of you playing in the pool with your inflatable toys. Remember? You are certainly no teacher.

Hardly the things a person with any inteligence at all would do.

Had to push the dragons out of the way as they bask for their two hours under the light this morning to get a reading directly under the bulb.

The bulb has been on over an hour when I took that reading.

They are still there back under the light again basking under the lamp.

They are never on the opposite cool side with gaping mouth... EVER!!!!!!!!

thank you sir

First of all... that was a picture I pulled off the internet of someone on their dragon inflatable raft, not me.

Glad to see your keeping score though.

You're right I'm not a teacher:

You still bring up the joke I made about tasting the poo after you guys were harping on me about the white matter having no calcium in it.

I said (being sarcastic) that I tasted it, and it didn't taste like uric acid to me.

Joking

Bdlvr...

you belittle me and troll constantly looking for a response.

But then, Im... "the childish one."

Yes. I think you're childish. Your Jim Carey fetish is a good example. Plus you're the one who thinks this is the place to constantly post your daily pictures as well as your mindless uninformed blather.

Wayne you are wasting far too much time with the back & forth with BDmaster. Your mental capacity and comprehension seems much higher than his...let him waste his breath. And keep posting as much as you have time to...I know I'm not the only one of this forum who enjoys your threads and photos : )

Awww. I'm so happy you found a new buddy. And thanks for the compliment too.

thank you