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I just moved sid into a tank that is about 24" tall, yet he prefers to stay near the ground (only about 6" away from it). I have a 100 watt basking bulb and a reptisun 5.0 in there right now, and I also dust his crix every other day with the stuff with calcium and d3, so I'm not really worried about MBD whether he's close enough to the light or not (i measured, and the closest he goes is about 12", he's usually about 16" away), but I was thinking about replacing the basking bulb with a UV/heat bulb. Here are some questions:

-Will it be too much to have a powersun (or similar product), reptisun, and dust his food with d3?

-Can the UV/heat bulbs be used with a timer?

-Can the UV/heat bulbs be used with a dimmer?

-If I did add the UV/heat bulb, how long do those last? Could I get away with replacing both bulbs only once a year?

later

If you don't over kill it with the calcium with d3 then the bulb won't hurt. Body won't overproduce D3 if it get suffcient amounts from its diet.

Timers are good with merc vapor bulbs

No on the dimers, dimers don't work with timers same thing for thermostats.

No one knows for sure. They say up to 2 years. Probably more like 6-12 months. Only way to tell is with a uvb meter. This is why i think ca with d3 is neccesary.

Hope that helps.
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Derek Affonce
DeKeAff Exotics
dekeaffexotics.com

could've fooled me. I've been using a timer and a dimmer for over a year now.

later

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Derek Affonce
DeKeAff Exotics
dekeaffexotics.com

I wouldn't think they would work w/ MVP bulbs either. As far as getting one, I would, just make sure you have hiding spots in the enclosure so that he can get away from the heat should he want to. I would replace every 8 months or so, just to be safe. I should think about getting a UVB meter also, anyone know about what the cost would be? Just curious. Thanks!

That's what I figured you meant, because I thought someone had said something about that before. So do they make good intervals of bulb wattages? All I've seen so far are 100 watt and 160 watt, but I think it would only take about 75 watts, considering the zoomed basking lamp I have in there right now is 100 watts and it's turned up just above halfway. Maybe do they make 60 watts? I could always adjust his basking setup couldn't I? He likes his corkbark slab, and it's pretty easy to position those against walls and stuff.

I'll probably end up staying with my setup. He gets enough vitamins and d3 probably from just the supplements, though I would never take away his UV bulb. Why would you want to take away something that can do nothing but help your reptile?

later

A 100w bulb puts out about the same heat as a 60 watt standard basking bulb. the rest goes to making uv.
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Derek Affonce
DeKeAff Exotics
dekeaffexotics.com