I have heard that Mercury vapor bulbs provide good uv, is this true? and what brands to you recommend? what are your personal experiences with these bulbs. :dontknow:
Yes, they do provide a good amount of UVB and are nice and bright. Not all are created equally though and it's worth investing in a good bulb and fixture. I've done testing with some of them and the lower end bulbs are pretty poor (especially National Geographic brand). The best I know of are MegaRay and Arcadia. These bulbs are good for providing heat and UVB to a basking area from about 12-18'' up depending on the wattage and brand. They have a limited range to the sides though.
Another good alternative for UVB is to use a T5 tube with a reflector. This allows you to create a gradient across the enclosure and provide basking level UVB across a large area which makes it easy for your dragon to regulate and bask. The heat and bright light comes from a basking bulb so it's a two bulb setup. This is what I use and it works well. Both MVB and T5 are very good ways to provide UVB to the enclosure, they are just different approaches.
If they are self ballasted bulbs they can fit in a 100w or 150w rated (I'd go with the 150w rated) dome fixture with ceramic base. You may want the deep dome unless you're hanging the fixture from a lamp stand and it doesn't matter if the bulb sticks out a bit at the bottom.