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Re: Newbie lighting question. 5.0 Flourescent or ???


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Posted by charm_paradise on April 10, 2003 at 16:58:53:

In Reply to: Re: Newbie lighting question. 5.0 Flourescent or ??? posted by sjenkins on April 10, 2003 at 16:37:17:

Hi- No you cant just get a mercury vapor bulb from home depot, these dont have the proper glass and arc to produce UVB light and not filter it out. You need one made for reptiles. There are a few diffrent brands, the ones I would recomend would be the Zoomed Powersun bulb or the Big Apple capture the sun bulb. The T-rex active UV bulb is not a good bulb, they dont last very long before they need replaced. There is not to much as for info on these bulbs because they are new. The big apple web site has some great info on there bulb and they are the cheapest. The mercury vapor bulbs can penatrate UVB light down to 6ft max. much better then the floursent bulbs. Hope this helps!

John


:Thanks for clearing this up. Is there a particular mercury vapor bulb that I need or just any 100 watt from Home Depot? Would this be better than the 2 48" 5.0 flourescents that I am using for my iguana as well or do you know? If it gives off more UVB it should be. What is the best distance from bulb to reptile? I know with the Iguana 5.0 flouro's I must stay within 12" of the reptile. Anyone know of any good links that contain specific info on the use of mercury vapor lights with reptiles? Thanks for the info.
::Hi- The best bulb would be a 100w mercury vapor bulb. The floursent is the second best 5.0 or higher is good, but they MUST be replaced every 6 months, wvwn if they still light up! Metal Halide bulbs get way to hot, are VERY epensive to buy both the light bulb and the ballast, and most bulbs if not all, are made more for a reef or plant tanks, and there is no UVB rating on them! Incandesent bulbs dont produce UVB. The mercury vapor bulbs combine both heat, UVB&UVA. I use them on all 6 of my panther chameleon cages! Hope this helps.

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::John

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:::Will be recieving my 1st chameleon, a young male Veiled next week. Have kept numerous reptiles including my current family member, a 4 foot female iguana. When I purchased her 4 years ago everything I read pointed to the 5.0 UVB fluorescent bulbs as being the only choice for proper lighting next to actual sunlight. Was prepared to offer my newest addition the same but have been seeing alot of info arguing that mercury vapor, metal halides, and even some incandescents were better. Now I know the difference between a full spectrum light and a basking light, but is it true that you can have them both in 1 bulb? Anyone know any facts or test results to help me with this problem? Is there a better way than keeping my tubes 6 inches from the perch for proper absorbtion? Are my lighting techniques now outdated? Any help would be greatly appreciated by me and my "family".

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