GoPurdue28
Member
Okay, I know this is going to sound incredibly stupid, but I had to do it.
After three of my beardies became incredibly sick from using coil uvb Zilla lamps, I had to know for myself that this was what was happening and not something else. I pasted my previous post at the bottom of this one for further information about my situation.
>>This is how much I love my lizards!! lol DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!!
Anyways, I had purchased three bulbs, two Zilla uvb coil bulbs, and a ZooMed uvb coil bulb. I am sure beardie owners can relate to the shuffling and tweaking that goes on with the lizard tanks, trying to get them just perfect. The right amount of light, good uvb exposure, correct temps, etc.. So for a while when I changed the tank layouts (I have three with four beardies) it was kind of like musical light bulbs! Well, I suddenly noticed that every lizard that I put the Zilla coil bulbs on got incredibly sick, and very quickly, (read previous post).
After the last lizard went down hard and fast I had to know the bulb is what caused it. I had used the bulb on her for TWO DAYS that is only 32 hours. It has been three days since the exposure now, and she still will not open her eyes AT ALL, move, eat, grip on to things, drink, nothing. Before this she was the healthiest lizard I have ever seen. She ate like crazy, pooed all the time, drank like a banshee, and was ridiculously mobile. She would run off half the time and climb up the entire flight of stairs and be messing around in the kitchen, (probably trying to fix herself something to eat!) Now this.
So I said "Screw it. She was exposed to 32 hours of this thing, an hour isn't going to kill me" First I used the ZooMed bulb which did not seem to make any of the lizards ill. I clamped a light to the top of the laptop and pointed it at me while I was watching TV. I didn't really feel any different. The next day, I did the same thing with the Zilla bulb.
The first thing I noticed is my eyes. They started burning really bad. I am not just imagining this either. I was very objective in my experiment. I almost thought I was going to have to stop it got so bad. After it was over I looked in the mirror and my eyes were totally red and bloodshot. I couldn't even put in my contacts. I thought that was it, but that night my wife said "What's wrong with your face?"
I looked in the mirror and the right side of my face (which was where the bulb was pointed at me) was totally burned. I am very tan, and I don't burn. I have tanned with both uva and uvb bulbs a lot, so I was confusedd by this. The very next day my skin started to peel and it hurt really bad. I don't understand what happened, all that I know is I will never, EVER, use any coil bulb just in case it would do this to my lizard. I mean, could you imagine, if it burned my skin and made my eyes burn in one hour what it would do to you in 16 hours of constant exposure??!!
>>> Do Not Use Coil UVB Bulbs!!!
They are just not safe!!
I know that some brands are supposedly okay, but is it really worth the risk?
Just use the tubular kind instead.
If anyone has used the coil bulbs with their beardies and they have had negative effects I would love to hear about it!
Thanks for reading,
Jay
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
THIS IS THE pREVIOUS pOST
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Our friend went on vacation and left his adult female beardie with us for three weeks for convenience and also to breed her with our adult male. We have four beardies of our own, in gargantuan tanks with all the "stuff" they could possibly need. So her brought over a tank for her but he did not bring her uvb light because he didn't want it to break, "whatever". Now I will go back to the previous month. Our two sided 175 gallon tank has double uvb light bars left/right. They are the long tubes. Well one of the fixtures just stopped working (I think it was just older than ass) and I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. So I had bought these coil uvb lights on clearance forever ago and decided I would just use those instead for a while. I never thought anything of it and had never really read any negative posts about them.
Well, I put them in the right side of the tank which is princess's side. I noticed in the next week or so that she started to act funny. She became weak and lethargic. She used to literally plunge head first into her bath to drink and she would attack the greens as if she hadn't ate in months. She all but stopped eating and drinking all together. She slept all day long under her rock and if we put her back in the light she would crawl under it again.
I guess she was being poisoned? That is awful!! I had absolutely no idea what was going on with her.
Her eyes started getting gunky and she started not opening them very much!!
Well, we got some more money than usual and I was able to buy all four new bulbs and her fixture so she went back to her normal light tube and I put the other away. Gradually she returned to normal. I thought she had just gotten sick for some reason.
Now I go back to when we got Trado his new tank and didn't have a tube light for it. Well, I had just bought those stupid Zilla coil bulbs on clearance. He is my adult male we have had since he was an egg. I was using the coil bulb and worse yet it was only about eight inches from his head! He has a shelf that he is usually on all day so I put it above there.
>> I need to know from someone if this can cause permanent eye damage?
It has been almost a year since we got his tube light and he still has terrible eye problems! His eyes are constantly getting all crapped up. He had the stupid coil thing for almost six months.
Now this takes me to the present day. So my friend bring over his girl, Mango, with no bulb. I still do not know about this whole bulb ordeal. So I get out the evil poison coil bulb and put it over her, glad that I had a spare! I didn't put it on her at first because I didn't have a spare light fixture. The first week was without the bulb and then I bought a fixture and put it over her. I decided to use a brand new Zilla bulb so the poison would be extra strong!!
Well, then she started acting funny. Same thing, hiding all the time, not opening her eyes, not eating.
Then the "light bulb" went off in my head. I said, "wait a minute here. Every time I use one of these lights my dragons mysteriously get very sick. "
I did a search on this site and got about a million hits! Bingo.
Unbelievable!! They should not even be selling these!!!
>> My question is, how long is she going to be sick for? I can't give him back a broken down lizard!! He will kill me!
What do I do with her now? What can I do to make her feel better?
Thanks everyone!!
Jay
After three of my beardies became incredibly sick from using coil uvb Zilla lamps, I had to know for myself that this was what was happening and not something else. I pasted my previous post at the bottom of this one for further information about my situation.
>>This is how much I love my lizards!! lol DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!!
Anyways, I had purchased three bulbs, two Zilla uvb coil bulbs, and a ZooMed uvb coil bulb. I am sure beardie owners can relate to the shuffling and tweaking that goes on with the lizard tanks, trying to get them just perfect. The right amount of light, good uvb exposure, correct temps, etc.. So for a while when I changed the tank layouts (I have three with four beardies) it was kind of like musical light bulbs! Well, I suddenly noticed that every lizard that I put the Zilla coil bulbs on got incredibly sick, and very quickly, (read previous post).
After the last lizard went down hard and fast I had to know the bulb is what caused it. I had used the bulb on her for TWO DAYS that is only 32 hours. It has been three days since the exposure now, and she still will not open her eyes AT ALL, move, eat, grip on to things, drink, nothing. Before this she was the healthiest lizard I have ever seen. She ate like crazy, pooed all the time, drank like a banshee, and was ridiculously mobile. She would run off half the time and climb up the entire flight of stairs and be messing around in the kitchen, (probably trying to fix herself something to eat!) Now this.
So I said "Screw it. She was exposed to 32 hours of this thing, an hour isn't going to kill me" First I used the ZooMed bulb which did not seem to make any of the lizards ill. I clamped a light to the top of the laptop and pointed it at me while I was watching TV. I didn't really feel any different. The next day, I did the same thing with the Zilla bulb.
The first thing I noticed is my eyes. They started burning really bad. I am not just imagining this either. I was very objective in my experiment. I almost thought I was going to have to stop it got so bad. After it was over I looked in the mirror and my eyes were totally red and bloodshot. I couldn't even put in my contacts. I thought that was it, but that night my wife said "What's wrong with your face?"
I looked in the mirror and the right side of my face (which was where the bulb was pointed at me) was totally burned. I am very tan, and I don't burn. I have tanned with both uva and uvb bulbs a lot, so I was confusedd by this. The very next day my skin started to peel and it hurt really bad. I don't understand what happened, all that I know is I will never, EVER, use any coil bulb just in case it would do this to my lizard. I mean, could you imagine, if it burned my skin and made my eyes burn in one hour what it would do to you in 16 hours of constant exposure??!!
>>> Do Not Use Coil UVB Bulbs!!!
They are just not safe!!
I know that some brands are supposedly okay, but is it really worth the risk?
Just use the tubular kind instead.
If anyone has used the coil bulbs with their beardies and they have had negative effects I would love to hear about it!
Thanks for reading,
Jay
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
THIS IS THE pREVIOUS pOST
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Our friend went on vacation and left his adult female beardie with us for three weeks for convenience and also to breed her with our adult male. We have four beardies of our own, in gargantuan tanks with all the "stuff" they could possibly need. So her brought over a tank for her but he did not bring her uvb light because he didn't want it to break, "whatever". Now I will go back to the previous month. Our two sided 175 gallon tank has double uvb light bars left/right. They are the long tubes. Well one of the fixtures just stopped working (I think it was just older than ass) and I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. So I had bought these coil uvb lights on clearance forever ago and decided I would just use those instead for a while. I never thought anything of it and had never really read any negative posts about them.
Well, I put them in the right side of the tank which is princess's side. I noticed in the next week or so that she started to act funny. She became weak and lethargic. She used to literally plunge head first into her bath to drink and she would attack the greens as if she hadn't ate in months. She all but stopped eating and drinking all together. She slept all day long under her rock and if we put her back in the light she would crawl under it again.
I guess she was being poisoned? That is awful!! I had absolutely no idea what was going on with her.
Her eyes started getting gunky and she started not opening them very much!!
Well, we got some more money than usual and I was able to buy all four new bulbs and her fixture so she went back to her normal light tube and I put the other away. Gradually she returned to normal. I thought she had just gotten sick for some reason.
Now I go back to when we got Trado his new tank and didn't have a tube light for it. Well, I had just bought those stupid Zilla coil bulbs on clearance. He is my adult male we have had since he was an egg. I was using the coil bulb and worse yet it was only about eight inches from his head! He has a shelf that he is usually on all day so I put it above there.
>> I need to know from someone if this can cause permanent eye damage?
It has been almost a year since we got his tube light and he still has terrible eye problems! His eyes are constantly getting all crapped up. He had the stupid coil thing for almost six months.
Now this takes me to the present day. So my friend bring over his girl, Mango, with no bulb. I still do not know about this whole bulb ordeal. So I get out the evil poison coil bulb and put it over her, glad that I had a spare! I didn't put it on her at first because I didn't have a spare light fixture. The first week was without the bulb and then I bought a fixture and put it over her. I decided to use a brand new Zilla bulb so the poison would be extra strong!!
Well, then she started acting funny. Same thing, hiding all the time, not opening her eyes, not eating.
Then the "light bulb" went off in my head. I said, "wait a minute here. Every time I use one of these lights my dragons mysteriously get very sick. "
I did a search on this site and got about a million hits! Bingo.
Unbelievable!! They should not even be selling these!!!
>> My question is, how long is she going to be sick for? I can't give him back a broken down lizard!! He will kill me!
What do I do with her now? What can I do to make her feel better?
Thanks everyone!!
Jay
