iLik3LIzards
New Member
If you use ZooMed Reptisun 10.0 you way want to check out this link.
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/phototherapyphosphor.htm
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/phototherapyphosphor.htm
ZooMed UVB Hazardous
- Thread starter iLik3LIzards
- Start date
steviejcsc
New Member
This is interesting...... I have a 5.0 and the last chameleon that I bought had this happen with 2 day of recieving it. The breeder thought it was not lighting but something else. I wonder if it was indeed the 5.0 light....
bridgofaith
Avid Member
Again, as Syn said, this is about COMPACT bulbs, not the linear tube ones. The Repti Sun 5.0 linear bulbs are the safest UVB bulbs available. Even the compact Repti Sun bulbs have been remade and are supposed to be safe now. Read this thread:https://www.chameleonforums.com/repti-sun-cfl-old-vs-new-31927/ I still prefer to use the linear bulbs.
eppcheck
New Member
I'm glad you pointed this out because I have my female veiled on a reptisun 10.0 fluorecent. I had her on the 5.0 but moved it up to 10.0 because she is in a larger enclosure 24x24x48. This article almost had me running to the pet store.
by the way, I think she actually enjoys the 10.0 better but its kind of hard to tell since whenever I ask her she gives me the cold shoulder.
sexpanther
New Member
Most people don't realize that if you run a repti-sun 5.0 bulb and its over top of a screen cage( like most of us have) only 50% of uvb rays actually penetrate the screen!!! so a 10.0 Penetrating through a screen would actually produce the same amount of direct uvb from a un-obstructed ( no screen blocking it) 5.0...if u don't believe me call zoo-med yourself or read the side of the box on the bulb!!!
bridgofaith
Avid Member
That is true if you are using the darker, thick mesh reptariums. Most people suggest going up to the 10.0. But, in a regular screen cage such as the ReptiBreeze, a 5.0 is more than sufficient.
warpdrive
Avid Member
Hi everyone,
The main reason we don't need a 10.0 uvb bulb is because most common chams that we keep spend most of the time in the shade.
They only stay in the sun when they need to warm up, help with digestion of food, or for more UVB light to help utilize calcium.
The 5.0 bulbs put out about what you would get in UVB output if in the shade.
Btw, some chams live near the forest floor and almost never bask.
Harry
The main reason we don't need a 10.0 uvb bulb is because most common chams that we keep spend most of the time in the shade.
They only stay in the sun when they need to warm up, help with digestion of food, or for more UVB light to help utilize calcium.
The 5.0 bulbs put out about what you would get in UVB output if in the shade.
Btw, some chams live near the forest floor and almost never bask.
Harry
summoner12
Avid Member
Good scare tactic
. Check out this link to the UV Guide. It'll help you figure out a better solution.
Here is a thread I made about readings through screen. Some Readings.
Remember, a reflector is very very useful with the 5.0. The readings at 6" for the 5.0 is plenty of UVB at the basking spot. Remember chams don't need the UVB ALL day from EVERY angle and place in the cage. It is most important when basking.
Set your basking spot up like this for a good result.
eppcheck
New Member
Good scare tactic
Check out this link to the UV Guide. It'll help you figure out a better solution.
Here is a thread I made about readings through screen. Some Readings.
Remember, a reflector is very very useful with the 5.0. The readings at 6" for the 5.0 is plenty of UVB at the basking spot. Remember chams don't need the UVB ALL day from EVERY angle and place in the cage. It is most important when basking.
Set your basking spot up like this for a good result.
Since you suggested this to me in an earlier thread I've been using this technique. I really think my female veiled enjoys it. She has her one spot for basking and UVB and the rest of the enclosure ambient temperature keeps her confortable if shes had enough. She use to wander back and forth undecided. I would definanently recommend this lighting setup if you haven't tried it. Plus, with the heat coming at the angle they stand up straight soaking in the heat from the side instead of rotating on a limb and that just simply looks cool.
Back to the subject, what kind of early signs should I keep my eye out for her if the 10.0 is to much?
summoner12
Avid Member
It sorta depends. she could get a sun burn.... but not likely, most likely she wouldn't sit in the UVB long enough and I bet you don't have it close enough. It would really depend on how close she sat to the 10.0. If she were right under it, she'd be getting a lot of UVB.
If you are using a 10.0 with some sort of metal reflector, be sure the lamp is at least 8-10" away from the cham. After about 4-5 months you could maybe move it a couple of inches closer.
If you were using a R-Zilla desert 50 tube.... you could get a sunburn (you and I, as humans) after just 5 minutes of close exposure to the lamp.
I used to work for a theater lighting rental house. A coworker was doing a repair on a Cyber Light with the safeties disabled so he could have the lamp on while he performed some tests.... after working on the light fixture, with the lamp operating and uncovered, he had sun burns on his harms and around his face (he had sun shades on). Granted he is Irish so he is fair skinned..... but still ya get the idea. Lights that produce high levels of UVA/UVB and this lamp prolly made UVC.... you will get burned just like being in the sun.
Now I am not saying the Zoo Med lamp will do what that Cyber Light did to my ex-coworker... but it sorta gives you an idea of what can come of these lamps that are meant to produce UV radiation that normal household lamps don't produce. High output MV, MH lamps, incorrectly formulated CFL and linear tubes can cause serious injury and or death to your animal and to us humans if not handled correctly.
summoner12
Avid Member
take a look at the UV Guide website pretty sure there is a spectragraph showing the output of a UVB source and the sun. It will be very clear.
Chams don't spend all day in the dirct sun. The level of uv in the shade where they spend most of the time is closer to the level of uv we give them with our lamps.
pantherlover
New Member
this is interesting. my vet suggested to bump it up to a 10.0. ive read that chams in the wild often spend their time beneath the the canopy. i hear what your saying about the 5.0 & how it produces the equivilant of the uv beneath the treetops. my question is if i bumped up to a 10.0 would my cham actually regulate his oun uvb intake by descending to hunt or for whatever reason like in the wild. my vet also told me that it would be ok to cut down on the d3 suppliment if i did go with a 10.0. im scepitical of this even tho a vet suggested this to me since a 5.0 has worked out for so many people including myself.
Carlton
Chameleon Enthusiast
I don't think we know whether chams regulate their own UVB intake consciously. The UV we provide in captivity is so much different and focused on one part of the spectrum compared to the sun. It is a cumulative effect over time, not absolute from day to day. Also, remember a wild cham is moving in and out of many different levels of light exposure compared to a cham in a cage under lights and is also eating a completely different set of nutrients from a wide variety of sources. We are still guessing just how much d3 or other vitamins are necessary in indoor cage situations. If my chams were exposed to true sunlight multiple times a week I would feel OK to reduce the d3. They don't get this, so I use it. I have used the so-called "desert" lights (8.0 I think?) tube lights on some larger cages and didn't notice much of a difference in the chams. No burns either. Mostly I use the 5.0s and always have placed them so the cham gets both exposures while it basks. It works, so I trust it.
Todnedo
Avid Member
When I take my chams outside they bask for hours when the temp. is right.
they spend more time in the sun than in the shade.
It seems to me that the spectrum of the bulbs are so far off that if they were any stronger they will harm the animals.
summoner12
Avid Member
What is the right temp? ambient and body temp?
stronger as in? using a 10.0 vs. 5.0? or the amount of UVB in the lamp? I am not sure what you mean by stronger.
Todnedo
Avid Member
On a cool day a cham. will bask for a longer period of time but receive the same intensity of UVB 150-250 uw/cm2 as it would on a warmer day.
So why would a 10.0 be too strong if its output is only 35-60 uw/cm2 at 6 inches from the bulb?
stronger=higher UVB output from the bulb.
Todnedo
Avid Member
Here is a quote from an observation made in Nosy Be.
After Andasibe we went to the island Nosy bé.
Nosy be was so warm that it was nothing to do other than laying by the pool and drink beers.
Not exactly my type of place so i went along the roads to search for blue Panther chameleons and they were everywere, inside the forest i could not find them because they love sunligth. I measured 46 degreece celsius and the were laying with theire wide side towards the sun and basking all day long.
The UVB measured at incredible 370 and i was forced to were sunblock 60 and still i was sunburned.
Theyre colors was intense in both males and females and much more beautyful than captives.
Next time i cage Panthers i will use metal halogen to get a kick ass light sourse and heat.
summoner12
Avid Member
It didn't site how long he was observing these animals basking with any real detail. I can't imagine they basked all day long. Can you reference where this quote is from? If you read Ferguson, who studied UVB exposure for chams, he found that extreme levels were not needed. 370 is a LOT of UVB, did the author speak of what instruments he used to read this level? What time of day was it?
I don't find that observation to be very scientific, it is quite broad and general. IMO
