Quick question...

[Wpaoli]

About a week ago I got a Zilla 25 UVB bulb for my cham. It came with some clear plastic but I removed it for fear of it melting on the cage.

Anyway, about two days ago my cham (maybe 3 months old now) started having eye problems... almost like it was blind. It was reaching for branches that were not there and when I put my finger close to its eyes it wouldn't react. It even stopped hunting because I noticed crickets in the cage- an that has never happened before. My cham would also appear to be asleep in the middle of the day- again, something new.

Last night it was worse, but today, the cham appears to be fine. It can see my fingers and its not reaching for branches that aren't there.

Has this sort of thing happened to anyone else? Do I need to put the plastic between the light and the cage?

 

[Syn]

Did you have the compact UVB bulb? It shouldn't have done that much over a week, though... then again you never know.

Any who, can you fill out the how to ask for help form?

 

[summoner12]

DO NOT USE R-ZILLA LAMPS

These are also known as 'R-KILLA' lamps. They produce WAY too much UVB and are not healthy. If this is a linear tube fixture, take out the lamp and replace it with a Zoo Med Reptisun 5.0. If this is one of the newer fixtures that uses T5 lamps, return the whole thing to wherever you got it and buy the Zoo Med lamp and another fixture for it.

R-Zilla has new fixtures using T-5 lamps.... most brands use T8. This is the diameter of the lamp in 1/8". So a T5 is 5/8th of an inch across the diameter of the lamp. The T8 is 8/8th aka 1" a T12 is 12/8th aka 1.5"

Stick to Zoo Med lamps. If you have a big cage and the basking spot is farther than 10" from the top of the cage, use a 10.0 OR if you are using a cage with thick mesh like reptariums have, use the 10.0.

 

[Dave Weldon]

About a week ago I got a Zilla 25 UVB bulb...

Howdy,

As Summoner12 said: Return it to the store that you bought it from for a refund. Be sure that they return it to the mfgr/distrubuter to have it properly destroyed.

If this is one of their older models then they actually offered to take them all back for a refund via the store that you bought it from. If this is one from their reformulated line then additional research into what R-Zilla UVB tube you have will needed.

Here's where it started: https://www.chameleonforums.com/new-special-report-uvb-reptile-health-problems-6122/

A little more follow-up:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/new-special-report-uvb-reptile-health-problems-6122/#post43248

 

[Wpaoli]

Well...

You know what the funny thing is? I had the Repti-Sun 5.0 coil bulb and everything was fine. I removed that bulb because of the information I read here which pretty much said that coil bulbs were bad. I went to a Pet Co that's roughly 75 miles away and got a linear tube that specifically said it was made for chams. Again, I didn't get the 50 for desert reptiles, I got the 20 which is supposed to be tropical.

I'm sad to say that today my cham is looking pretty bad. It's not had anything to eat for about three days now and I don't know if it's drinking. It looks dehydrated and it's very lethargic. It squints its eyes and when it blinks the eyes seem to sink into its head- and it still seems to not know where it is and appears to be sleeping most of the day. It probably only has a few days left.

I wish there was something I could do for the poor dude.

 

[summoner12]

You know what the funny thing is? I had the Repti-Sun 5.0 coil bulb and everything was fine. I removed that bulb because of the information I read here which pretty much said that coil bulbs were bad. I went to a Pet Co that's roughly 75 miles away and got a linear tube that specifically said it was made for chams. Again, I didn't get the 50 for desert reptiles, I got the 20 which is supposed to be tropical.

I'm sad to say that today my cham is looking pretty bad. It's not had anything to eat for about three days now and I don't know if it's drinking. It looks dehydrated and it's very lethargic. It squints its eyes and when it blinks the eyes seem to sink into its head- and it still seems to not know where it is and appears to be sleeping most of the day. It probably only has a few days left.

I wish there was something I could do for the poor dude.

Having the light on is worse than off, I would suggest turning the UVB light off for a few days and see how things go. Three days without food is not going to hurt the little guy. If you are concerned about him not having food you could mash up some crickets and feed them to him.

I didn't know to change my lamp until it was too late If it has only been a couple of days of symptoms you should be able to turn this around.

Buy the zoo med linear tube and a light fixture to go with it, and things should be OK. And I would order online to save a couple of bucks.