lighting help!? petshop utterly clueless.

[Ethelia]

Hello,

I bought a set up viv for my first beardie Dexter. I have a heat bulb at one end (controlled by a temp probe + thermostat which only kicks in when the heat drops at night) and a REAL SUN 100w MVB bulb, which is her basking bulb.

This is the setup all the reptile shops in my town use and also is all they sell, however Ive been advised this really isnt a good bulb.
You also cant find this bulb for sale on the internet unless you dig really deep.
Obviously not a great sign.
The bulb costs around £50, so foolishly I thought they were giving me the best. Im sure its not doing Dex any harm as she loves basking beneith it... but i want her as happy + healthy as possible so change it is!

Could someone please advise me of the best bulb to buy her?
Because I have a ready-built hardwood (solid topped viv with glass sliding doors) viv and I am extremely bad at DIY I would really really like a bulb that can fit into the socket already there (i believe its like a megaray socket, can post a picture if need be), so I dont want a long fluresent tube bulb if i can avoid it.

Id love some input. I simpley cant trust the simpletons that work in reptileshops in my town so you guys are my only hope!

Holly

 

[zimbabwepegasus]

OK. The best bulb you can buy is the Megaray. I know Bob will ship to the UK.
Just a couple Qs.
In order to use a mercury vapor bulb, you need to have an enclosure big enough to get the bulb a minimum of 12 inches away (okay, umm... .3 of a meter). Any closer than that, the bulb can actually hurt the beardie.
Megaray bulbs are $40 USD. Not sure on the shipping. You can PM Aunty Lolo for specifics on getting the megaray to the UK. I think they might also be available there, although I seem to recall Laura (auntylolo) saying that it was cheaper to order from here.
Oh- one more thing- you absolutely cannot run MVBs on thermostats or any kind of dimmer... they explode.... trust me. :roll:
Often the set up you want will involve having the UVB source & the heat source on the same end, so the beardie doesn't have to choose and has a good temp gradient through out the tank.

Good luck!

- Kerry

 

[Ethelia]

OK. The best bulb you can buy is the Megaray. I know Bob will ship to the UK.
Just a couple Qs.
In order to use a mercury vapor bulb, you need to have an enclosure big enough to get the bulb a minimum of 12 inches away (okay, umm... .3 of a meter). Any closer than that, the bulb can actually hurt the beardie.
Megaray bulbs are $40 USD. Not sure on the shipping. You can PM Aunty Lolo for specifics on getting the megaray to the UK. I think they might also be available there, although I seem to recall Laura (auntylolo) saying that it was cheaper to order from here.
Oh- one more thing- you absolutely cannot run MVBs on thermostats or any kind of dimmer... they explode.... trust me. :roll:
Often the set up you want will involve having the UVB source & the heat source on the same end, so the beardie doesn't have to choose and has a good temp gradient through out the tank.

Good luck!

- Kerry

Hi there
Thanks for the speedy reply. Many hugs and beardie snuggles to you!

Size wise her basking rock top is directly underneath the lamp and is 16 inches away from it. Although not underneath the bulb, but on the hot side of her tank, she has a raised platform which is 9 inches down from the bulb, but is about 6 inches away from the "direct beam". Which bulb would you recommend with this in mind?

Sorry I dont think i explained myself well. The thermostat controls only the 'emergancy' heat lamp which is at the cool side of her viv. The basking bulb has its own on off switch outside of the tank which isnt connected to the thermo. That goes on for 12 hours a day.
The 'emergancy bulb' hardly ever kicks in, and if it does it is only on very cold nights when the temp has dropped bellow 75. It brings the temperature of the tank back up to 80 and then clicks off.
Its basically pointless.... but it came that way and stops me worrying on our freezing English winter nights.

Her viv is 4ftx2ftx2ft which I think is 120 gallons?

Holly

 

[zimbabwepegasus]

weeeellll.
Your options are pretty much either to drop the platform to get her to 12 inches away OR get a flourescent tube (reptisun 10.0 or the Arcadia D3 - i think the arcadia is more common in the UK).

You explained just fine! I thought you were only using it on the extra bulb, but I once blew up a MVB and it sucked, so I thought I'd make absolutely sure.

Nice big tank you've got for her there! Definitely MVB material.

What's your beardie's name? And of course, have you posted pics yet?

- Kerry

 

[Ethelia]

Hi there,
Well dropping the platform will be hard as its solid stone hehe!
ie.

you can see in the pic the bright brick at the bottom which is her basking spot. thats the one which is 16inches away.

so really my options are Megaray MVB and moving my platform or the dreaded DIY and the long reptisun tube?

Are there any other bulbs other than the megaray which would be good out of interest?

Her name is Dexter. She is a rescued disabled adult dragon who I fell head over heels for. I had to tame her from scratch and she frequently throws hunger strikes, but Im utterly besotted with my moodly little madame.

Pictures? OH YES! hehe.
This is the link to her photoshoot thread:
viewtopic.php?f=30&t=92149


Holly

 

[zimbabwepegasus]

awwww!!!
She's so precious! I love her name!

Umm. .Okay. With any Mercury Vapor Bulb worth it's salt, you want 12 inches distance. So if you want a MVB, you might need to adjust the platform, you could try moving it out of the 12 inch range, either the to right or the left depending on where you have room. That would be the option I would go with.

If you decide to do the flourescent tube- at least in the US, we can find fixtures at hardware stores, especially the big chain ones that also carry, carpet, tile, wood, etc. Building supplies basically. You can find one that would mount inside your cage. It really shouldn't be hard or too DIYish. Trust me, I'm not real good at that sorta activity myself. I still can't get my stupid flexwatt to heat up for my snakes.

 

[Ethelia]

Dexter was thrilled with your compliments!
We named her Dexter because of a silly joke i thought of because of her missing hand...
ie. She's Dexter because she's not (ambi)dexter(ous).
never gets a laugh. hehe.

I'll play around with her viv tomorrow when im lizardless to see how i can adjust her platform etc because I would like to get her a MVB.
Im dropping Dexter off at a reptile shop for 'bed and breakfast' for the weekend because Im going away.
SERIOUS separation anxiety!!!
She'll have the time of her life no doubt.

Thank you so much for your help.

 

[beardie parents]

great idea for a name! I wouldn't have thought of that one. I understand about the separation anxiety. I would have the same problem if I left my girls for a couple of days. Wait a minute, I wouldn't leave them as I don't have a place I trust that could watch them.

 

[zimbabwepegasus]

We named her Dexter because of a silly joke i thought of because of her missing hand...
ie. She's Dexter because she's not (ambi)dexter(ous).

LOL! Literally, I did. It cracks me up. I keep trying to figure out who else I know that will find it highly entertaining.
Ugh. I hate leaving them. My house sitters have literally a 10 page novella on animal care. I don't know if any of them have ever actually read the thing... they pretend well.

She'll be just fine!

 

[Ethelia]

OK. The best bulb you can buy is the Megaray. I know Bob will ship to the UK.
Just a couple Qs.
Megaray bulbs are $40 USD. Not sure on the shipping. You can PM Aunty Lolo for specifics on getting the megaray to the UK. I think they might also be available there, although I seem to recall Laura (auntylolo) saying that it was cheaper to order from here.

Wow this definatly seems the case. i can only find it online in the Uk for £50, so around $75 dollars! Eeeek!
Will be getting in touch with laura.
Could you possibly give me Bobs screen name too so I can contact him?

 

[zimbabwepegasus]

Bob is actually the owner/designer of Megaray. You can contact him at his website which is listed below.
http://www.reptileuv.com/

If Laura doesn't get back to you fairly quickly, you can also try Dantro or Mark Thorpe. Laura hasn't been online a lot lately and I think the other two are fairly active. Dantro has a ton of reptiles, so I'm sure he's got a good handle of the UK UVB situation.

 

[Ethelia]

Thank you!
ive pestered all of them with PMs now ^_^