Uv for my cham

Sephiroth

Sephiroth

New Member
I feel abit awful now as the uv i was using on frank (veiled/Yemen) was a 5.0 compact , ive since learned that these can cause blindness! o_0
Frank is fine and greedy as ever.
Yesterday i ditched his compact top and replaced it for a exo terra uv tube canopy instead.
Thing is though the 5.0 tubes were out of stock so i had to use 2.0 uvs instead, i got 2 x 2.0 uv's on frank will this be ok? ive ordered a 5.0 but it wont be delivered until early next week.
any advice on this will be greatly appreaciated
also the dual canopy i got only works with two tubes fitted and wont work if only one tube is in there, will it be ok to have a 5.0 + a 2.0 uv running or will that be too much uv output?
any advice will be greatly appreaciated :)
 
Im not exactly the best person, but I think I can shed some light. The PERFECT light is the reptisun 10.0. I think these are the best others do aswell. Now, since the total output of the Rept-i-Sun is 10.0 UVB I would guess that 10.0 UVB is ideal. If you have two 2.0 that would be 4 UVB, so I think it wouldn't be sufficient, maybe for a couple of days. You could put two 5.0 UVB. Or one 10.0 UVB. I recommend the Reptisun.

Hope I Helped and wasn't wrong

Elliot

P.S. If I was wrong, could some one please explain to me my faults?
 
re:

New here as well, but i've been doing the chameleon thing for a pretty long time. The repti-sun 5.0 is what you should be looking for with a chameleon. the 10.0 is a desert climate type bulb although i have heard of people using the 10.0 with their chameleons without having any problems. regardless of what you are using i would think the two 2.0 bulbs you have now are better than the coil bulb you had. As soon as you can, i'd invest in a repti-sun 5.0 bulb. again, if I'm off on my suggestions please feel free to correct me anyone.
 
It will be fine, some is always better than none.
Personally I beleive that wherever climate allows, artificial uv lighting should be considered supplimentary in the same way as dusting powders.
Natural UV will always be best, the more often the better.
:)
 
Way back the top bulb was the 2.0 and i used it with veils for a couple of years (1) so two will do fine. I use double bulbs (linear tubes) for all my set ups 1 10.0 and a regular linear tube for the light. The reptisuns are not very bright so when you use both you get nice light and uv.
 
You aren't the first one to do this and won't be the last. The problem is, a new product comes out and it takes a while for experience and issues with it to develop...and for the word about those problems to circulate.

About the idea that 2 2.0 bulbs will equal 4.0

I don't think it works like that. I don't think adding bulbs results in a higher level of UVB, just more of the samelevel of UVB over a larger area. Please correct me if wrong. Still using 2.0s until you can get the 5.0 is the better idea and it certainly won't hurt.
 
i have neaver herd of a 5.0 causeing blindness. Where did u get this information?... im using a 5.0 uva/ uvb output from exotera. its a compact swirly bulb :)...not a tube. it does nice it puts out heat aswell ....then i have my nightime red light on all the time wich keeps the cage at about 80-86 during day, and 75 at night
 
OOO, I have a rescue beardy that is almost totally blind from the use of a compact UV in a white melamine enclosure (10). Note that had it been a screen cage, or other dark, light absorbing wood, it may have been fine.
Unfortunately, the high output over a short angle, intensified by the reflective properties of white melamine, cause an effect akin to snow blindness.
Go out on the snow on a bright sunny day without sunglasses, and imagine months of that 12 hrs a day.

In the case of chameleons, their eyes are more sensitive, they magnify, so the effect of high uv output over a narrow band/angle as given off by a compact, as opposed to the much wider distribution of a linear tube, can and apparently has caused serious eye damage.

The poor lizard naturally begins to close its eyes against it, which means it dosent move about or catch food, or even drink perhaps, this in itself is bad. Conjuctivitis like problems also occure. A broader area of uv dispersal is better for a few reasons.

The effect of high level (intensely focused) UV is that it kills cells of the cornea/eye surface) faster than they can regenerate. Sunburn, where skin cells are killed is the same effect.
 
OOOst16 said:
i have neaver herd of a 5.0 causeing blindness. Where did u get this information?... im using a 5.0 uva/ uvb output from exotera. its a compact swirly bulb :)...not a tube. it does nice it puts out heat aswell ....then i have my nightime red light on all the time wich keeps the cage at about 80-86 during day, and 75 at night
Click to expand...

OOOst16-Your setup is VERY wrong. Here is something you posted on another thread:
"i want to show you my cage but i cant figure out how to upload it ...becasue its not on a URl its on my computuer....Its a exotera tropical encloser vented glass sides...and screen top with hood...ive got fake plants... woodchip bottom bark ( wich is ment to hold humitity)plenty of climbing vines and foliage...a hydrometer and thermometer of course and a uvb/ uva output light ....and a heating lamp"

First off-get rid of the bark-you must have read on here several times that it is an impaction danger. The Exoterra tropical enclosure is not meant for chams either, but may work for awhile if your cham is young. Hopefully it is one of the larger sized ones, and since you are coming into winter in Ohio there might get you through to Spring. Hopefully you also have a digital thermometer to measure your temps as those glass setups can heat up very fast. Too much humidity plus high heat is a recipe for respiratory infection. Coiled compact bulbs are dangerous as already stated. Real plants are far better than fake and help with humidity. Maybe you could post some pictures so we can help ensure a healthy life for your cham.
 
Sephiroth said:
...was a 5.0 compact , ive since learned that these can cause blindness!
Click to expand...
Sephiroth said:
...i got 2 x 2.0 uv's on frank will this be ok?

...will it be ok to have a 5.0 + a 2.0 uv running or will that be too much uv output?...
Click to expand...
Howdy Steve,

All CFL UVB light sources continue to be lumped together in the "dangerous" category even though some manufacturers have corrected the problem of producing non-terrestrial UV (the most dangerous issue). Why are they still lumped together? It is easier/safer to do so since using a ZooMed Reptisun 5.0 linear tube has almost no issues to worry about (dangerous if you place it waaay tooo close). For example, even the new Reptisun CFL 5.0 and 10.0 that have had their non-terrestrial spectral content "fixed" with reformulated phosphors; they can still end-up producing overly high levels of "safe" spectral content if placed too close. "Too close" for a CFL is significantly farther away than a linear tube's safe operating distance. (One of these days one of us with our Solarmeter 6.2 and the new ZooMed CFLs will measure the levels, with and without a reflector, and post some rough guidance numbers for safe distances for chameleons.)

A single fixture containing 2 of the Exo Terra 2.0 (or probably even the ZooMed 2.0) linear tubes will produce something in the realm of twice the level of a single 2.0 tube (think about two sprinklers overlapping their spray). Unfortunately, the Exo Terra 2.0 tube's UVB uW/cm2 levels are, at best, only 1/10th the level of a ZooMed Reptisun 5.0 linear tube when measured at the same distance. For example:

Reptisun 5.0 vs. Exo Terra 2.0
At 2" 130uW/cm2 vs. 10uW/cm2
At 6" 50uW/cm2 vs. 4uW/cm2
At 12" 20uW/cm2 vs. 2uW/cm2

Noting that a distance of 6"-12" from the basking spot is the typical setup range for a Reptisun 5.0 linear tube, the Exo Terra 2.0 linear tube delivers what is considered inadequate UVB levels at virtually any distance.

Based on those UVB levels that I've listed, you can definitely run the 5.0 and the 2.0 tubes in a dual tube fixture without any concern for overdoing the UVB . In the meantime, your chameleon can survive without adequate UVB levels for the week that you are waiting for the Reptisun 5.0 linear tube to arrive. (Got sun :)?)
 
Thanks for the advice guys, managed to get a 5.0 tube today on my lunch break, cant seem to find any stockist of reptisun 5.0's local to me , i will order one online instead. but at least i have the exo 5.0 tube running now :)
once again cheers people :)
 
Sephiroth said:
Thanks for the advice guys, managed to get a 5.0 tube today on my lunch break, cant seem to find any stockist of reptisun 5.0's local to me , i will order one online instead. but at least i have the exo 5.0 tube running now :)
once again cheers people :)
Click to expand...

Somebody please correct me if i'm wrong, but a reptisun 5 won't fit in an ExoTerra Dual Canopy Top if thats what you were hoping to do. They are designed for ExoTerra tubes, which as far as im aware are just a slightly different size :(

I was told this once i had purchased my dual canopy, but have not tried another tube out yet.
 
frankie-gush said:
Somebody please correct me if i'm wrong, but a reptisun 5 won't fit in an ExoTerra Dual Canopy Top if thats what you were hoping to do. They are designed for ExoTerra tubes, which as far as im aware are just a slightly different size :(

I was told this once i had purchased my dual canopy, but have not tried another tube out yet.
Click to expand...
Howdy,

I think you'll find that all of these linear UVB tubes (15" 18" 24" 36" 48") adhere to industry standards for fluorescent tube fixture compatibility. Just make sure that the fixture that you buy supports the wattage as well as the length. The wattage issue comes-up mostly regarding the 48" tubes that are either T8 (1" dia.) or T12 (1.5" dia.) and vary in wattage.
 
i would just like to state that the substrate i am using is LARGE chips about the size of the palm of ur hand. he will not be able to ingest any of them
 
You'll need to watch that type of substrate as it breaks down being wet most of the time...the other major reason we don't use substrates is the tendency to grow bacteria and mold. It will have to be sterilized regularly.
 
so since i was ignorent to the hole compact ordeal.... is there anyway i can reduce this tendancy^^ to reduce blindness? if not abvously i will get a tube 5.0 uv bulb
 
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