Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I bought a exo-terra repti-glo 5.0 is that sufficient.I know everyone recommends the zoo-med repti sun bulb,but my bulb went out and my locale pet store only carried the repti glo.thanks in advance.matt p.s. anyone have info on breeding superworms

ReptiSun has been independently tested in comparison to many other "full spectrum" fluorescents and came out the best. I'm not certain if it was compared to to the ReptiGlo but think so. Your cham won't show problems for a week or so, so you have time to try to order ReptiSuns either online, or maybe through your shop?

I have been using a combination of Reptisun 5's and Reptiglo 8.0's for a year now to see if there was any noticeable difference in the chams.

Funny thing I found...My Panthers, under the "more reputable" Reptisun 5.0's developed a "slow, unsticky tongue issue" even though they were fed the same stuff and got the same vitamin regimen that my other chams got. None of the other chams developed any issues (they were under the reptiglo's)at all.

I have recently moved my panthers to the Reptiglo 8.0's to see if they tongue thing gets better or worse. They still eat, just have to chase down their food. Personally, i PREFER the reptiglo 8.0's because of 3 things:

1. They are WAY cheaper than the Reptisun 5.0
2. They put out more UVB than the 5.0
3. They last an average of 4 months longer than the reptisuns.

My friend has a UVB meter and we tested the brand new bulbs against each other and the reptiglo's had 3% more UVB output at 12 inches than the reptisun's did...granted, not a HUGE difference, but a difference anyway, considering they run around 12 bucks for the 24" bulbs thats a major difference in my book.

We tested the bulbs every month to see about degradation of the UVB and they all were the same levels until the 7th month when the Reptisun started to go down gradually. The Reptiglo's went almost a whole year before their levels lowered enough to warrant a replacement.

This was by no means a scientific test and your results may vary...but...In my honest opinion, Reptiglo's offer a better value than the Zoomeds. I did not test the reptiglo 2.0 nor the 5.0 because the 8.0 claimed a higher output of UVB...The reptiglo's put out 8.21% UVB radiation, by the way. The Reptisun's had a 4.87% meter reading

Just my 2 cents. I would love to hear other stories but I know not everyone owns a light meter (they are expensive) or knows someone who has one.
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Raf

1.2 Jacksons Adults (Frank, Patty 2, Lucille)
0.0.2 Jackson's baby
1.1 Nosy Be's (Mars and Roja)
1.1 Bearded Dragons (Diego and Consuelo)
1.1 Adult Sulcattas (POOPIE and George)
0.0.2 Baby Sulcattas (frick and frack)
1.0 Home's Hingeback Tortoise (SPEEDY)
0.0.3 Red ear slider babies (Hingis, Dingis and Dorkus)
0.0.1 Gulf Coast Box Turtle (Booger Jr)
1.0 Yellow Footed Tortoise (Alfred)
1.0 Red Siberian Husky (Harley)
0.1 Black Lab (Krissy)
0.1 English Bulldog (Alice)
0.1 Blue Merle Great Dane (Wednesday)
Saltwater Fish and Inverts too

Interesting! These were ALL panthers, right? Do you have readings for what part of the UVB spectrum the lights produced? That might be where some differences lie as the useable band I think is fairly narrow.