Mercury Vapour Bulb?

[peera]

I'm not sure if this is a stupid question or not, I did a quick search and couldn't find anything that answered it. When you switch over to an MVB, does it need to be a reptile-specific MVB, or will any MVB from, say, a hardware store do? My boyfriend is pretty sure we already have some (somewhere...) and I do't want to hurt Gibby by using the wrong kind. I think it would be a much better option for him because his cage is so deep it's hard to get the ReptiSun close enough to do him any good, and keeping up temps is very difficult. It would be nice to have a bulb that accomplishes both things, the poor guy has spent more than enough of his life without enough UVB! The woman I got him from had apparently found out what "experts" thought was good for dragons when she got him 8 years ago, and never thought there might be advancements since, so had him under a red bulb and an ancient full spectrum light, never once did I ever see her check temps, and she thought mealworms and romaine were the best things for him and nearly flipped her lid when I told her I was feeding him mustard greens and cactus leaves. It's a wonder he's such a healthy boy.

 

[Akeath]

No, normal MVB bulbs won't do. This is because, even though they have warning that say they produce UVB, there is not any substantial amount because since they are used for humans they are limited in the amount they can produce by law. It certainly isn't enough for a reptile. There are 3 Mercury Vapor Bulbs suitable for Bearded Dragons. They are, in order of best UVB output first: The Megaray, the T-Rex, and the Powersun. You can get them online at reptileuv.com for the megaray and places like llreptiles etc. for the T-Rex and the Powersun.

 

[peera]

Thank you.

 

[radaresurfac]

there is also Solar Glo from Exo Terra 125 watt and 160, people never seem to mention this!

 

[Akeath]

I didn't mention the Solar Glo because I've heard iffy things about its UV index possibly being too high. Until this is cleared up, I'm not recommending it. :study: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/UVB_Meter_Owners/message/5402

 

[LittleRob]

So I was just about to ask about the Solar Glo good thing I searched abit first. I found this ad and well it seems like a good price http://sacramento.craigslist.org/pet/904944790.html cancel that I just found out those are normal prices. But after reading this it sounds like a bad idea. Anybody have any luck with them thou, I mean to much UV maybe put it abit farther away.