Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know that different people prefer different lighting. I am getting new lights and I was thinking of going with both the reptisun 5.0 and mercury vapor. Does anyone see any problems with this combination. My cages are big and need more than one light.
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Thanks Dawn
1.1 Veiled (Kermit and Moe)
0.1 Helmeted Iguana (Louie)
0.1 Leopard Gecko (Velvet)

There's not a problem with that combination, but if you're using a Mercury Vapor bulb, you won't need the 5.0 bulb. It would just be $20 you could spend on some other lights. If you want to use florescents, you could just get the cheap ones at a Wal Mart or somewhere for a few bucks. The Mercury Vapor will make all the UVB you need. I would use the MV bulb for the basking spot and put a few other spot bulbs or regular bulbs in other parts of the top of the cage (leaving the lower areas cooler). Check the temperatures well before putting in a cham. A few bulbs and a cage can get pretty warm without enough ventilation.
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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV

My cage is 4x4x2.5. I could put a mercury vapor on one side and then just a cheaper light on the other side? This would be enough?
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Thanks Dawn
1.1 Veiled (Kermit and Moe)
0.1 Helmeted Iguana (Louie)
0.1 Leopard Gecko (Velvet)

Yeah that would be fine. I would put the mercury vapor one on whatever side he's using more, so that he's getting the UVB from it. Other than that, just check the temps in the hot and cool parts of the cage and you're good 2 go.
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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV

I just got my january issue of reptiles and it had an article about lighting. They made a point that I never knew about mercury vapor bulbs; they said that they last longer when they are facing directly down instead of at an angle (maybe this could be some of the problems that people are experiencing?) so if you get a MV bulb, have it facing dirctly down (as if resting on top of the cage) maybe this will help. I don't think you should put it directly on the top if they are too hot (someone in another post said 140 degrees at 3 inches away, so directly on screen could deffinetely burn a cham) Just a few thoughts to think about, I've thought about using a MV bulb several times, but the risks and cost diddn't compensate for the benifit compared to a normal flourescent light in my opinion. I think that for the people that get them to work, thats great, but it's not for me personaly right now. Just my opinions on the matter. Good luck!

Reptisun 5.0 is a good light. A little expensive for us as we currently use 25-50 tubes at any given time and its suggested you change these bulbs every 6 to 9 months. We have used several different mercury vapor bulbs. There were several tests done by Gary Ferguson at a Texas university on these bulbs and there were some negative results. Some of these bulbs can put out too much UVB. We have noticed after using them for over two years that we had a decrease in egg production in our panthers and the hatch rate was not a good as before we started using the mercury vapor. There was also a real concern as to how much heat these put out. 100 watt is the smallest MV bulb we were able to purchase. At 4 inches away we fround the temperature to be over 150 degrees, much too hot for our liking. They are also very fragile, bump it a little to much and there goes $40.00 We have gone back to florescant tubes and coil bulbs.

Just our opinion

Yosemite
Reptayls Ltd.

>>I know that different people prefer different lighting. I am getting new lights and I was thinking of going with both the reptisun 5.0 and mercury vapor. Does anyone see any problems with this combination. My cages are big and need more than one light.
>>-----
>>Thanks Dawn
>>1.1 Veiled (Kermit and Moe)
>>0.1 Helmeted Iguana (Louie)
>>0.1 Leopard Gecko (Velvet)

Do you have a link to the Gary Ferguson research?

thanks,
Joel Fish

Joel,

We have it saved in a pdx file. Send us an e-mail and will get it to you.

Yosemite
reptayls Ltd.

>>Do you have a link to the Gary Ferguson research?
>>
>>thanks,
>>Joel Fish

Just had another thought I forgot to share. If you are considering florscant light fixtures make sure what is required to light the bulb you are using. Most light fixtures from Home Depot and Wal-mart are only 36 watt fixtures. Most good UVB bulbs require 40 watts to light the bulbs properly. The 36 watt will light many of the lights, however, you are not getting all the UVB that the bul can produce and the life of the bulb is greatly shortened. Learned this the hard way.

Yosemite
Reptayls Ltd.

i use the 4' fixtures that wal mart carries, they have some that handle 2 40 watt bulbs. they are about 7 bucks.
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groups.msn.com/JEChameleons
1.2 Chameleo Calyptratus
1.1 Furcifer Pardalis (Diego Suarez)
0.0.1 Chameleo Melleri

We have also tried some of these. We have found that they don't work well with all bulbs. As they don't have a real ballast, they use a electronic circuit board in its place. For what ever reason the wire wound ballast seems to do a better job. However a fixture with a ballast is a lot more expensive. I am concidering finding a place that will sell me just the ballasts wholesale and retro fit all the fixtures we have (35 ). Hopefully this will be cheaper than replacing the fixtures.

Yosemite
Reptayls Ltd.

>>i use the 4' fixtures that wal mart carries, they have some that handle 2 40 watt bulbs. they are about 7 bucks.
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>>groups.msn.com/JEChameleons
>>1.2 Chameleo Calyptratus
>>1.1 Furcifer Pardalis (Diego Suarez)
>>0.0.1 Chameleo Melleri

I found this too, or else those cheaper fixures burned out every month or so and/or damaged my expensive bulbs in the process. I finally invested in good quality aquarium hood fixtures and they just last and last for years. Interesting that you have gone back to ReptiSuns. One of the main reasons I stick with them is too many bad results with MV types (exploding if sprayed, heat, erratic output, simple failures). I also keep "montane" species who don't appreciate the heat.

I have been using the HAGEN EXO-TERRA Repti-Glo 8.0 bulbs the last 6 months and my chams seem to like them better than the zoomeds. These bulbs seem to be brighter than the azoomed as well, thereby providing more visible light all over. I am currently buying the 24" bulbs since I use the 28" fixtures from K-mart at $8.00 each. The bulbs require 20w and the fixtures can handle up to 20w so I am covered.

I currently pay $12.00 per bulb from petguys.com. I use regular 60w bulbs for my basking lights on some of my chams. My Jackson male doesnt seems to like the basking light since he never went near it when I had it in there. I turned it off and now he seems happier.
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Raf

1.2 Jacksons Adults (Frank, Patty, Lucille)
0.0.1 Jackson's baby (George, R.I.P. 11/17/2003)
1.1 Nosy Be's - No Names Yet
1.1 Veiled - No Names Yet
0.1 Adult Sulcatta (POOPIE,I bought it from Victor at Kobey's in SD)
0.0.2 Baby Sulcattas (frick and frack)
1.0 Home's Hingeback Tortoise (SPEEDY, From Victor as well)
1.2 Red ear slider babies (Hingis, Dingis and Dorkus)
0.0.1 3 toed box turtle
0.0.1 Gulf Coast Box Turtle
1.0 Red Siberian Husky (Harley)
0.1 Black Lab (Krissy)
0.1 English Bulldog (Alice)
0.1 Blue Merle Great Dane (Wednesday)
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