Mercury vapor bulbs

[rmichaelk]

Hello,
I was wondering if anyone out here uses mercury vapor bulbs as a UVB source for their chameleon. I have used Megaray bulbs with great success with my turtles and tortoises and I am considering using a 60 watt external ballaster Megaray bulb for my panther chameleon. Any thoughts on this from your personal experience?

Thank you.
Michael

 

[pssh]

People here have used them, but most recommend using a separate source of UVB than the basking spot as the UVB doesn't cover the whole top of the cage. (Or was that just coiled UVB bulbs? Correct me if I'm wrong!) I prefer the separate sources because I have to change the Basking spot bulbs according to the temps and I often switch back and forth between a 25 watt bulb and a 40 watt bulb...

 

[rmichaelk]

Spot UVB bulbs like most mercury vapor bulbs do focus the UVB rays and light on one spot. But I thought that was a good thing that way the chameleon can move away from the UVB rays if it wants to. With a flourescent tub bulb the animal might have to move away from the basking spot to escape the UVB rays.

With my turtles and tortoises I have always provided them the option to move away from the UVB source but still stay under a heat source to stay warm.

Michael

 

[pssh]

The animal has to move away from the basking spot regardless... Since the mercury bulbs creat UVB where the heat is. The lizard may only want to move away from the heat but still soak up UVB, but it can't do that with a Mercury vapor bulb... Chameleons dont need a second heat source as they should still have to option to stay up high and not so hot.

Just saying.

 

[hallenhe]

I've been using mercury vapor as long as I've had chams (since 2003). I have not had trouble either with the chameleons getting too little UVB nor with them getting burned. The "Chameleon Condo" I bought when I got my first chameleon is designed to take a mercury vapor; there's no place to put a linear UVB. That said, if I were starting fresh with new equipment, I would probably go the linear light + incandescent for heat route, as the temperatures the mercury vapors can reach worry me a bit (my bulb is caged, to keep the chameleon from getting too close, but the last time we replaced a bulb, we found the wiring and part of the METAL fixture holding the bulb in place burned clean through, and had to replace things), and they're not particularly cheap (~ $50-$60 for a bulb you're going to be replacing every six months or so).

 

[lucky]

i used to use mercury vapor. it worked fine. but for piece of mind i went to tried and true method of 5.0 and incandecent light combo. if you do use MV just space it up off the cage so your basking spot is at ideal temp for your cham. either way its up to you. whatever you choose will be fine if done right.

 

[summoner12]

MV lamps intended for reptiles are used by some people. I think you will find people stick to the linear tubes.

Issues with using a MV or MH lamp is that the output is kinda high... so unless you ahve a meter to determine the UVB levels at the basking spot they can be tricky. Not using a meter leaves a lot of guess work unless you have a good reliable chart showing you what UVB levels would be expected at a said distance.

 

[rmichaelk]

Yeh I have a UVB meter that I have been using since I use many of these bulbs for my turtles and tortoises. What is the minimum UVB output that chameleons need for their well being and what is the maximum UVB output that they can tolerate?

Hallenhe, a good mercury vapor bulb wouldn't have to be replaced every 6 months. The Megaray bulbs are just amazing. Their external ballasted bulb especially have a very slow decay rate and I have one bulb that after 3 years of use is still putting out about 40 micro watt/cm2 at 12" from the bulb surface. I have not seen such a performance in any other UVB bulb.

I do have to add that not all mercury vapor bulbs are made equal. Some of these bulbs do put out dangerous levels of UVB and heat so please use extreme caution.

Michael

 

[blamb]

mercury bulbs

I've used them for 2 yrs now and I think they are fine. All sources in 1 bulb, but they can get pricey.

 

[Dave Weldon]

...What is the minimum UVB output that chameleons need for their well being and what is the maximum UVB output that they can tolerate?

...The Megaray bulbs are just amazing. Their external ballasted bulb especially have a very slow decay rate and I have one bulb that after 3 years of use is still putting out about 40 micro watt/cm2 at 12" from the bulb surface...

Howdy Michael,

UVB Min/Max values are somewhat nebulous when it comes to chameleons but Dr. Ferguson's research (of Panther fame) and commentary would suggest that it isn't unreasonable to shoot for 25-50 uW/cm2 at the basking spot.

Bob MacCargar and his Mega-Ray MVs are highly regarded for Iguanas and Bearded Dragons etc. The externally ballasted ones like yours make it easier to balance UVB/heat since they don't really produce much in the way of heat (EBs don't have a heating filament) and thus, you would be using a separately positioned basking lamp with them.

The tricky part to MVs that are not of a full flood design is that they are a bit tight on their beam pattern for chameleons. For those who haven't used MVs, here is the link to the MV section on the UVB UK site: http://www.uvguide.co.uk/mercuryvapourlamps.htm and specifically, here's the link to the Mega-Ray http://www.uvguide.co.uk/mercvapournarrowfloods.htm#reptileuvmegarays. Figure 7 shows the beam spread. It is certainly better than the beam spread of the T-Rex MV in Figure 3 where the 50uW/cm zone is literally a pencil beam of about 1" in diameter .

It is perfect that you have a UVB meter (assuming it's the model 6.2) . A bunch of us love ours too .

MV pattern summary chart: http://www.uvguide.co.uk/spreadchartcombo.htm

Fluorescent tube pattern:
At http://www.uvguide.co.uk/fluorescenttuberesults.htm about halfway down the page is a chart labeled "Spread Chart 1". You can see the nice smooth, linear radiating pattern that typical fluorescent tubes output. There are UVB no hot spots to be concerned about which is especially important for those who don't have a UVB meter. If you extrapolate the “Spread Chart 1” beam pattern and power level of that Exxo-Terra tube to what a Reptisun 5.0 tube puts out (maybe 20% more), you'll see that it is pretty easy to have decent 20-40uW/cm2 UVB spread pattern between positioned 6"-12" away from the basking spot that radiates out over roughly a 1 square foot area. These characteristics are what have made the Reptisun 5.0 linears a safe choice for most chameleon keepers.

 

[hallenhe]

I'm not trying to hijack the thread, but Dave and other UVB meter owners, I've been meaning to ask for recommendations and places one can get such a device.

 

[sageghost]

I bought my meter from Solartech.

http://www.solarmeter.com/model62.html

One Plus, they are also in MI.

I'm not trying to hijack the thread, but Dave and other UVB meter owners, I've been meaning to ask for recommendations and places one can get such a device.

 

[rmichaelk]

Great info Dave, thank you. The only reason I was considering the megaray was because I have a few extra ones sitting around AND from my tests I have seen that I can adjust its height a bit and get very desirable results.

I do have a Reptisun at hand incase I need to make a switch so I have all the bases covered, hopefully .

Thank you.
Michael

 

[Dave Weldon]

...UVB meter owners, I've been meaning to ask for recommendations and places one can get such a device.

Howdy,

As was mentioned, you can go directly to Solartech but you can also try searching for Solarmeter 6.2 and see what pops-up. Don't buy any other model such as the 5.0 or the 6.0 types. The 6.2 is specifically aimed at the UVB levels and the spectral content that we are interested in.