Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Has anyone tried this? Obviously LED's cant serve as a heat source, but a UV LED in conjunction with a basking lamp would definately be cheeper than changing out higher wattage UV bulbs every couple of months. With how cheep it is to run LED's and with how long they last for (the wavelength will never change and they'll go a couple of years without burning out), this seems like the ideal solution to the high lighting and energy cost for reps, in theory...

Here's the links:

www.superbrightleds.com/specs/uv_specs.htm

www.superbrightleds.com

I checked out the link and found no indication that these LEDs produce any UVA/UVB. Also, the spectrum shown at the bottom of the page would seem to indicate if they do produce any UV it is well outside of the range where D3 absorption occurs [UVB 260 - 320 nm UVA 320 - 400 nm]. In fact the LED in question is producing its light from roughly 375 - 450 nm with the peak at around 400 nm meaning the bulk of its output is in the visible spectrum of light not UV and any of its negligible output in the UV spectrum would be in the range of UVA which is of little use to reptiles in terms of metabolic processes. I'd say just stick to fluorescents and mercury vapor bulbs.
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Matt Campbell
Animal Keeper, Small Mammal/Reptile House
Lincoln Park Zoo Chicago, Illinois

Assistant Curator
Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, Illinois