Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

I have recently moved and my Bearded Dragon's cage is in a slightly cooler area. My cage has a false-ceiling design so I'm limited to what light/heat sources I can use. The 60 watt Pearlco Ceramic Heat Emitter I'm using is now only getting the basking spot to 90*. I'd like to add a MVB to provide some additional heat and light.

I used to have a 160 watt MVB installed but had to use it horizontally to get it to fit. Unfortunately this caused the ballast to heat up and burn out quickly, even though I was told the product could be installed this way.

So I'm interested in some of these externally-ballasted MVB's and have a few questions.

1) What is the lowest profile product in a vertical installation? How much space do I need in inches?

2) Can the non-flood versions be installed horizontally without significantly effecting the lifespan of the product?

By non-flood I mean the bulbs with the basic shape shown in the link below?

3) Any product recommendations?

I also plan to use these in some plant boxes for orchids so I'm especially interested in a product that can be installed horizontally and have an external ballast.
MVB bulb

I would check out the uvheat.com super 60watt spot/flood bulbs. These so far give off the highest UVB of any other uvb bulbs available at this time, but I'm not sure if they can be set up the way you need. Give them a call at (775)573-2353 and they will have all the answers for you. If you have a small enclosure these may not work cause they do pump out some strong uvb rays at farther distances. They are an external ballast mercury vapor bulb, so you need to buy the ballast $30 and bulb $30 as your inicial purchase but the bulbs last forever compared to the self ballasted ones by t-rex or zoomed powersun and give off a lot more uvb. The ballast will not need to be replaced for another 2-3 years and the bulbs can last up to two years and still put out double the UVB then any other companies self ballasted MVB. Just not sure of them being able to bre attached horizantal but I do not see why not due to the fact that they do not have filaments like the self ballasted kind that burn out so soon. I've been using some of these bulbs on my babies and adults and I've found them to be the best thing available. They blow the self ballasted bulbs away!!!!. Give it a try, let me know what the company says. You can also contact the company Westron in New Jeresey that actually manufactures them for UVheat.com.
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