**Mega Ray Issues** / Megaray RECALL

[Metalz]

3-4 days under a mega Ray is not going to kill any herp , there's stepping stones that are slow going ,it takes weeks for a bad buLb to kill a rep

 

[lilacdragon]

Hi, Figpucker.

I'm Frances Baines, I'm a retired vet and the primary author of UV Guide UK. (I'm also a beardie keeper, I have three at the moment, my eldest is now 11 yrs old.) I've been monitoring this situation from as soon as I heard of the problem, about 2 weeks ago, and ReptileUV are sending me samples to test, but shipping will take awhile as I'm in the UK.

From your description, Bella has photo-kerato-conjunctivitis.
The sudden catastrophic symptoms are because the short-wavelength UVB that problem lamps of this type emit kills the very delicate top cell layer at the very front of the cornea - these cells are far more sensitive than skin cells - and it feels like you've got sand or powdered glass in your eye. It is really painful. Humans get this sometimes in bright sun on snow at high altitude on ski-ing holidays if they don't wear goggles. I'm told it's really bad.
Fortunately, if the eyes stop receiving the light, the front of the cornea regenerates unbelievably fast - usually within 48 - 72 hours if only the very top layer has been damaged.
So the closed eyes are instantly protective - I am certain that's nature's way of stopping further damage and starting the healing process - and as long as you remove the light at once, her eyes will start to heal immediately.
Check out the whole of this thread, there's a lot of info near the beginning.
And for more information read the various pages on UV Guide UK starting here:
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/phototherapyphosphor-info.htm#help
(The cases are from compact lamp and fluorescent lamps from a couple of years back, but the condition and, I believe the cause, is identical)

The risks to her now are all to do with shock and inability to move, either from the shock or from the blindness. Her husbandry is the key issue.
She must not dehydrate. Many dragons will take slightly warm water from a dropper if the first drop is held against the front of the lips for long enough that a tiny bit gets through the closed lips. The tongue comes out to test it, and lapping is strangely automatic. With mine, I just keep dripping, and most of it goes in. An adult beardie will take up to 5-10ml. once a day. A small baby may only need 3 or 4 drops. Imagine the size of the stomach... these are tiny creatures.
She needs to be able to thermoregulate. They sense heat mainly from above - if she is fairly immobile, don't let her lie on a heat mat as her belly may overheat without stimulating her to move. I agree with the person who says heat mats are unsuitable for beardies. But you do need to buy a digital thermometer with a probe. Most garden centers and motor shops sell them as gadgets, you don't need a "reptile" one. Even better are "temperature guns" - infra-red non-contact thermometers - point, press button and read surface temperature. A common recommendation for beardies (which I use for mine) is a basking zone at 100 - 107F (38 - 42C) with gradient to a cool end of 77 - 82F (25 - 28C). It's not easy to achieve this in a small tank, and I'd say near impossible with a mercury vapour lamp in a small tank, because you can't put them on a thermostat.

Overheating would not cause photo-kerato-conjunctivitis. A problem MegaRay will; and actually, even a good one is a risk at 10 inches. The absolute minimum recommended distance for a 100W MegaRay is 12" and I'm pretty sure they suggest 14 - 16" as standard. The total amount of UVB rises very rapidly as you approach the lamp.
But overheating is a risk, if your beardie can't move out of the high temperatures. In the wild, they bask on much hotter surfaces, up to 120 - 130F, for just a few minutes then move into shade. This is completely normal and part of daily life for a beardie, just as driving on a highway is part of ours. But if one is trapped in the sun, if the centre of its body reaches 115F, which doesn't take long, the beardie dies. This is the critical lethal temperature.
So check Bella is able to move into shade if she needs to. Offer her drinks. But personally I wouldn't force anything down her - especially not food - because she's not going to digest food very well right now, and inhalation pneumonia is a risk, as you'll know from your veterinary clinic work.

As for ReptileUV; I am sure they are doing their best. I have always found them to regard the animal's welfare very highly, and in fact the owner of the company, Robert MacCargar, rescues and re-habilitates adult green iguanas, a species needing a great deal of patience and good UV. But I am going to make a guess here - he was not buying a car when you phoned. He runs two businesses. The second one is a car bodywork repair shop. I think he was probably at his other job. But I totally understand your frustration and anger. I'm sure I'd feel the same way too, if one of my dragons was taken ill like this.

Best wishes

Frances

 

[lilacdragon]

Hi, everyone.

Several people are monitoring the situation with regard to the replacement MegaRays, I'm one of them.
I'm concerned I may miss something if a whole mass of new threads spring up.

Please could I request that all new comments be added to the main thread in the Announcements section?
viewtopic.php?f=45&t=121986
So everything is kept together. I'm keeping a record of all new cases reported here, for example.

If anyone would like more information on photo-kerato-conjunctivitis, please look here:
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/phototherapyphosphor-info.htm
The cases described there were all from certain fluorescent tubes but I believe the cause in this case to be the same.

Thanks.

Frances

 

[danny662boy]

so after leaving it on again for 2 hours, havent noticed any Excitement, increased appetite, anything... except for his right eye beginning to get gray and his colors appeared stressed, so i switched back to a regular bulb as heat, and his reptisun uvb tube, and immediately his colors came out... guess this bulbs going back, and i'll get a t-rex after i get refunded

 

[danny662boy]

update: the reptisun has been in now for 40 minutes... soooooo much more active and running around his cage... just ate KALE! the difference without the mega-ray is night and day!

 

[kevindeeley12]

MegaRay's are not deadly, and are far from it. You may not be happy with it for certain reasons, I used one, but am now using a Repti-sun, I noticed better things with the Repti-Sun, but I used the megaray for atleast 5 months and my beardie did not get sick or something

 

[MALIBUSMOM]

I recntly stopped using my megaray..the one i ordered in oct. Malibu was refusing to bask when temps were accurate.....i stopped using 2 weeks ago n started putting the reptisun 10.0 n shes basking happily now.
It was not causing any health issues.

 

[acwood04]

I have a 4x2x2 and have it all set up to use a MVB bulb. I dont want to go back to the reptisun because it will be more difficult to set up the viv so she can get within 6-8 inches of the tube... I hope there will be a solution from reptileuv.. Does anyone know anything about the Exoterra solar glo MVB bulb?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

The Exo terra Solar Glo thus far, has had no negative reports. The output after a burn in is approximately 125uWcm2 at the respective distances, for the 125 watt. As far as I know, they are good bulbs & Frances has given a good report on them in the past & she does recommend them.
I would say you are good to go if you decide to purchase one.

Tracie

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Thank you Frances. Please do try to keep all the posts in one general area, because it really helps us sift through all of the data much more efficiently.


Tracie

 

[Twobeardieguy]

We should lock this thread!

 

[Livey]

i agree .if theres already an on-going thread it should of been posted in there.

 

[figpucker]

sorry guys.

 

[Livey]

sorry i forgot to ask, is the little on doing any better?
have you changed the bulb?

 

[diamc]

I merged all the threads with the subject being the Megaray into this one so that they can all be together in one place. Hopefully it will keep it less confusing and help with the responses that are needed.