reptileuv.com = WTF are they doing?

[alewis0890]

All reptile companies want money.. thats a given. Some just spend a little more time and thought on they're product. If your having problems with mvb's maybe you should look into reptisun 10.0 tube's its a fantastic bulb IMO along with some others. I dont think tux meant it like that. but if he did you can ignore what i just said about it lol.

 

[PuffDragon]

The truth of the matter is if you don't have a UVB meter than all you can do is speculate how good you think a bulb is. Every bulb is different, even ones from the same company. They all decay at a different rate and some just fail for no reason. If you want to have a valid argument I think it is necessary to test your own bulbs and decide what's best for your animals.

Now lets play nice 8)

 

[mr.tegu]

I agee puff 100%.

 

[Kharnifex]

lol, quoted for truth:

The truth of the matter is if you don't have a UVB meter than all you can do is speculate how good you think a bulb is.

anyone have any thoughts on the 60watt metal halides that are supposedly in limited production? thats what i'm waiting for. external ballast means replacement bulbs are on the cheap, and since it's 60 watts with no heat it'll be a pure pleasure to just use halogen floods for heat. leaving the 60 on one side at the correct distance from the basking spot and forgetting about it, just managing a proper surface temps with like a pair of 75watt halogen floods or something similar that'll never burn out.

also they're supposing something like 3!! years of uvb output from the halide, but who knows since they ain't selling em yet.

 

[DaveDragon]

Here's a bit of light reading on the prototype. The info is a year old so they must be close to releasing it.

http://www.reptileuv.com/docs/MegaRayPrototypeMetalHalidesOct2008.pdf

I read in <!-- e --><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a><!-- e --> that the bulb can be very dangerous if not set up properly, a UVB meter is a must, you can't just guess what distance to put it at.

 

[Kharnifex]

wow, so does that mean it'd be dangerous for a tegu to be in the same room with say 600-1000 watt metal halides?

 

[Tux]

That would depend on the MH. the reptileuv one is specially designed, however this makes me think of a grow operation haha.

 

[Kharnifex]

well, it's not often you see metal halides but high pressure sodium bulbs are pretty common around here. anyone know if they put off uvb?

also, who's got the hookup on cheap uv measurer thingy's on the cheap?

 

[RehabRalphy]

That would depend on the MH. the reptileuv one is specially designed, however this makes me think of a grow operation haha.

lmfao I was thinking the same thing.

 

[Beasty]

That would depend on the MH. the reptileuv one is specially designed, however this makes me think of a grow operation haha.

lmfao I was thinking the same thing.

No doubt! Sounds like growing more than lizards! I used to have some tropical plants in my iguana room and they did wonderfully with just tube UV lights in there and the lizards were pretty awesome too.
That new MH bulb sounds insanely pricey unless you have call for a bunch of them, seeing you'd need a UV meter to go with it.

 

[Tux]

IMO you should invest in the uvb meter anyway no matter what UVB source your using, otherwise it's just guessing.

 

[RehabRalphy]

I found this to be interesting.

I generic Metal Halide bulb purchased from Homedepot puts out sufficient measurements of UVB even after 2 years of use!

Metal Halide (400 watt)

2 years old

12 ", 36"

35, 18 uW/cm2

 

[Beasty]

Did you measure that yourself?
I wonder what a 100-160W would produce. 400 is far too much electric and heat for my set-up. That is quite interesting though that a regular MH bulb puts out like that.

 

[Tux]

my concern would be what area of the spectrum that uvb is in, not to mention possible uvc.

 

[RehabRalphy]

lol I wouldnt try it, I like my megarays' lol.

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[RehabRalphy]

""Full-Spectrum" Hype
"Full spectrum" lights which look like incandescent light bulbs are incandescent light bulbs and so are good only for producing heat. They do not produce any UVB. Tungsten filament technology cannot produce UVB. The use of the term "full spectrum" is grossly misleading. Any pet store that tells you they produce UVB is either completely ignorant or lying to you to make a sale.

Problems with Mercury Vapor Heat/Light/UV Products
There are mercury vapor and metal halide lights which produce both heat and UVB. Unfortunately, they may be dangerous to your reptile. They put out very high levels of ultraviolet wavelengths requiring them to be turned off when you are near them and/or needing to limit their time in use with the reptile. (For my take on products such as the ActiveUV and PowerSUN, please see my article Mercury Vapor Lamps: Are they suitable or safe for typical home use?) It is safer, though more cumbersome, to use a heat source and a separate UV fluorescent tube if you cannot assure your UVB-dependent reptile access to sufficient sunlight on a regular basis.

Problems with Metal Halide Products
Metal halide products also produce visible light and ultraviolet A and B. However, they produce an excessive amount of UVA, which can cause skin and other cancers. Metal halides produce less UVB - less than Zoo Med's reptile and iguana UVB-producing fluorescents. Because of the danger to humans, many of these products contain shields which filter out the UVA and UVB...so much so that they can end up producing too little UVB for use with reptiles. "

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.anapsid.org/liteheat.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.anapsid.org/liteheat.html</a><!-- m -->

 

[Kharnifex]

what is a healthy range for reptiles as far as uW/cm2)?

like less than 50? less than 500?

can i use this effectivly?
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ambientweather.com/ta1491.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.ambientweather.com/ta1491.html</a><!-- m -->

are there any other places i can get a uvb meter for less than 100 bucks?

i'm starting to worry a bit cause my tegu joker uses a megaray for both uvb and heat and now i'm thinking i may be overdosing him on uvb cause his tank is too small for two basking areas so he only basks under the megaray.
he seems to love it though.

 

[PuffDragon]

what is a healthy range for reptiles as far as uW/cm2)?

50-250 uW/cm2 mimics the natural sunlight in most parts of the world. Anything under or over is deemed risky.

can i use this effectivly?
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ambientweather.com/ta1491.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.ambientweather.com/ta1491.html</a><!-- m -->

Doubtful.

are there any other places i can get a uvb meter for less than 100 bucks?

None that I personally know of worth purchasing. It's not something you want to skimp on. Do it once and do it right and spend the money, IMO.

 

[Kharnifex]

damn, ok just one of those things that need to be saved up for.

maybe i'll go back to flourecents till i can get a good meter.

 

[RehabRalphy]

eh even with florescents they are still not the greatest. I'm biased, I love MVBs