Lighting and Mis-information from Reptile shop

[DrunkOnCheese]

Hello all,

I'm just after a little bit of assistance from the people here to filter out the rubbish the pet shop tried to feed me.

First off they recommended me a ReptiGlo 10.0 tube, which I've been using for two weeks which I'm now aware isn't the best tube and should be replaced. So I gave them a call and asked if I could replace it for a ReptiSun 10.0. The first thing she tried to tell me was that I should only have the tube on for 6-8 hours a day (I'm sure I read somewhere on this site that it's a 14h day and a 10h night) and I should get a 5.0 if the lizard is within 18" of the light or a 10.0 if it is further than 18" away. Finally she told me that the ReptiGlo is the best brand you could get and to not trust everything you read on the internet (thats the bit that got me annoyed).

Is she correct? Obviously not in regards to the ReptiGlo being a good brand, but in the distance away from the light and the day night cycle? Also is it possible for a BD to receive too much UVB light?

Thanks

 

[Evin]

Repti-Glo 10.0 is ok bulb, not the worst but reptisun 10.0 is the best bulb for smaller enclosures and your dragon should be able to get to it within 8". Day/night cycle should be either 10/14, 12/12 or 14/10 as far as i know. It is up to you to decide who's advice you should listen to, the lady on the phone and sales associate in a pet store that possibly have never even had a lizard and only read what it says on the package or this website where you can talk to thousands of beardie keepers and breeders... but good luck anyways

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

The Reptiglo 10 is not a good light. I will not recommend it until the UVB meter results come out in 2009. It has been known to cause eye problems & other health problems too.
The light emits low wavelength UVB that is close to UVC. It also has less UVA emissions than it should making it harder on the eyes than the other UVB flourescent tube bulbs. It also does not have favorable wavelength which allows proper D3 synthesis which over time will affect the calcium absorption. We have had quite a few cases in which people had been using this particular bulb for awhile & their dragons were not doing as well as they should have been. There were also some whose dragons ended up having bone issues such as metabolic bone disease.
So that is why I don't recommend this light right now. Stick with the Reptisun 10 flourescent tube bulb or the Arcadia D3 12% tube bulb.
It is recommended to have either a 12 hour or a 14 hour daytime cycle with either a 12 hour or a 10 hour nighttime cycle. You need to leave the UVB light on in conjunction with the basking light for the entire cycle.

Tracie

 

[MetalMilitia]

Never Trust Reptile Shops or any pet store for that manner. I live in Columbus and we have a reptile store here "captive born reptiles" I talked to the owner who said he raises and breeds beardies. But at the same time tried to tell me the only way to tell if beardies are male or female is if they give the black beard or not, which we all know is WAY wrong. He then suggested that i bring my beardie in and put it in one of their beardie cages with a much much bigger dragon to see if it beards or not to sex it. He also told me that i can never trust anything i read online about bearded dragons because it is all wrong. My conclusion pet shops are full of ****.

 

[alyel]

WOW crazy. I hate pet shops too. They're all effin ignorant.
Why don't all of us loving beardie owners open up our own shops. Geez!

 

[DansDragons]

i have raised dragons on both the repti-sun tubes and repti-glo tubes. the only difference i notice is activity levels. the dragons i have raised on RS tubes tend to be very active and always eager to eat. the dragons i have raised on the RG tubes are still eager to eat but less active. growth rates have always seemed to be equal between both bulbs for me as well.

i personally would recommend the repti-sun tubes, but i don't see much wrong with the repti-glo's. just make sure you have a bright white light and stay away from the compacts and coils. another choice would be the mercury vapor bulbs which i use now. the best IMO are the mega ray from reptileuv.com and t-rex's brand.

 

[beardie parents]

From all I've read about the reptiglo 10 tube, no I've never used it thanks to this site, but I have read about what has happened with the use of this bulb. I've read about beardies that have had clear symptoms of metalic bone disease. Some have had eye problems crop up. The problems aren't as bad as with any coil or compact bulb, but apparantely there are problems with it.

 

[DansDragons]

well..any UV bulb can cause photo-kerato conjunctivitis(otherwise known as "eye problems" when placed too close to the reptile. this can happen with the repti-sun bulbs the repti-glo bulbs and the MVB bulbs. it also has to do with the quality of the bulb, repti-sun is made better and therefore IS better.

if you have no choice but to use a repti-glo tube, use the 8.0 brand but with all the internet herp supply stores out there there's no excuse not to use a repti-sun