Reptile & Amphibian Forums

(Posting this here because I figure you guys know MVB's well)

Has anyone tried the new T-Rex "UV Heat" bulb? Apparently it's a cheaper version of their Active UV, with lower UV output. It doesn't state a minimum distance from the animal. I'm using it on an open topped tortoise enclosure, and I'm not sure 12" away will heat enough, but I don't want to make the little guy radioactive. Anyone know the comparative UV output of these bulbs? Is it more similar to fluorescents? I'm surprised they didn't recommend a minimum (or maximum) distance...

Thanks!
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1.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boas Nico, Tally
1.1 Womas, Darwin and Emma
0.1 Pastel BCI, Hyacinth
1.0 Carpet X Diamond Python, Steve
1.0 Ball python, Stan (Rescue)
1.0 Blood python, Porthos
1.0 Hognose, Fang
1.1 Western Fox snakes, Thing 1 and Thing 2
1.0 Northern Blue Tongue, Jabbi
0.0.1 Red Tegu, Sushi
1.1 Mali Uromastyx, Ajani (rescue), Goober
0.0.1 Egyptian Uromastyx, Ahktep
1.0 Leopard gecko, Frank (rescue)
1.0 Red eared slider, Spunky (rescue)
1.0 African mud turtle, Francois the Tortois (rescue)
1.0 African bullfrog, Grendel
1.0 Husband (WC) who approves of my addiction

I put a couple of these into use 8 days ago and I've been checking their UVB output nightly with my solarmeter. The first night, after 2 hours of operation, they were putting out over 500 microunits of UVB at a 12 inch distance. They were also providing a basking temp of around 95 degrees at a distance of 14 inches. The UVB output has degraded gradually over the 8 days that they have been in use. Tonight's reading was 259 which is still a good reading. I'm convinced that they are providing adequate levels of UVB for my animals health. I just ordered 4 more and will continue to test their performance.