Re: you gotta be kidding, haven't heard of Active UV heat bulbs???...

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Posted by Mac Myers on March 06, 2002 at 08:49:34:

In Reply to: Re: you gotta be kidding, haven't heard of Active UV heat bulbs???... posted by nathan on March 06, 2002 at 08:13:41:

Interesting. MY experiences have been just the opposite. Everyone I know loves them. The Active Heat brand does seem to have some burnout problems... but there are many other brands that do not. Ben Seigel has a brand for 36 bucks that he likes. He's a pretty honest guy.

Mac

: I haven't tried these yet, but every turtle/tortoise keeper I know who has used them has reported that they are not worth it. Apparently they burn out to quickly, between 3-5 months for most of them. One herper used a uv meter on them and at 3 months they were equal to a reptisun 5.0, at 6 months they were lower, and almost all effect was gone by 9 months on the few bulbs that lasted that long. Compare that with a reptisun 5.0 that holds the majority of it's UV output for up to a year and rarely burn out...

: the mercury vapor bulbs can't be used on small tanks, either (small being less than 70 gallons or so) or you risk boiling your animals.

: I think probably in a few years these bulbs will be working better, they are a great idea, just need refinement. In the meantime I'll just keep my guys outdoors, and keep reptisuns on my hatchlings.

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Re: you gotta be kidding, haven't heard of Active UV heat bulbs???... nathan 03/06/02 (1)
- hey Mac nathan 03/06/02 (0)

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: : Interesting. MY experiences have been just the opposite. Everyone I know loves them. The Active Heat brand does seem to have some burnout problems... but there are many other brands that do not. Ben Seigel has a brand for 36 bucks that he likes. He's a pretty honest guy. : Mac : : : I haven't tried these yet, but every turtle/tortoise keeper I know who has used them has reported that they are not worth it. Apparently they burn out to quickly, between 3-5 months for most of them. One herper used a uv meter on them and at 3 months they were equal to a reptisun 5.0, at 6 months they were lower, and almost all effect was gone by 9 months on the few bulbs that lasted that long. Compare that with a reptisun 5.0 that holds the majority of it's UV output for up to a year and rarely burn out... : : the mercury vapor bulbs can't be used on small tanks, either (small being less than 70 gallons or so) or you risk boiling your animals. : : I think probably in a few years these bulbs will be working better, they are a great idea, just need refinement. In the meantime I'll just keep my guys outdoors, and keep reptisuns on my hatchlings.

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