Re: Lighting

[Todd Stockwell]

Todd Stockwell

September 7, 2001 at 10:00 pm #15575

I don’t want to stir up the seemingly unresolvable debate over UVB lighting, but I think some of the discussions on alternative brands are on the verge of getting confused. Rick recommends General Electric-brand full spectrum bulbs. These are available at places like Home Depot, but they are not an off-brand, mystery product. My local Wal-Mart also carries them. They are in bright orange and yellow sleeves with a sun on them. GE also makes aquarium bulbs and plant growth bulbs. They are different products from the full spectrum “sun” tubes Rick and I use. Rick tried these after talking with lizard breeders who have been using them for quite a while and have multiple generations of cb animals to show for it. As Rick has said here, the proof is in the eatin’ (or very close to that – he, he). Rick has used them for several years and longer than me. I have personally used them on all my setups for over two years now and see no differences in turtle development compared to Reptisun or other brands. I have noticed that these less expensive GE bulbs have lasted substantially longer for me than Reptisuns and ESU brands which burned out on me in what seemed like a premature period. The GE bulbs seem to last a long time. I would recommend replacing them to keep up the UV output, but I don’t really know how often they need to be replaced to truly keep up with the UV output. The Tortoise Trust list seems very sold on the new UV heat lamps that combine UVA and UVB output in a basking lamp that fits in an incandescent brooder lamp socket. The manufacturer’s web site (www.uvheat.com) seems to have some pretty thorough and convincing comparisons of UV output). Several other manufacturers are now advertising comparable lamps. They are running around $59.00, but maybe the price will come down with the competition. UVheat’s smallest lamp is 100 W and is intended for a larger tank set up with some distance away from the basking area. They recommend a metal riser to use them on small tanks to keep from cooking the critters. They also have spot bulbs that they recommend for placement a considerable distance from the basking area – up to several feet at least! So, I have not bought one yet as I fear melting something on my tank setups. I plan to research their web site more and give one a try soon, though. According to the UVheat web site, what is truly important in a UV bulb is different from the characteristic that Reptisun promotes their bulbs with, so this is a really debatable topic! Todd in Texas Reptileszz wrote: I only use Reptisun 5.0’s as I think those Home

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