Mercury vapour lighting ?

[Arron]

I was looking at these lamps on line, they seem to combine uvb and heat ect in one.
However, i have heard reports they can effect dragons eyes if too close?
Anyone use these lamps and how do they find them ?
As they are expensive to buy, i am being careful.
Thanks.

 

[Taterbug]

Any UV or even regular lamp can hurt the eyes of its too close. Personally I prefer tubes since I can control the heat and light separate (some people still need a basking lamp with an MVB) and the quality of light from a tube is better.

 

[CooperDragon]

I like being able to control the UVB exposure separately as well. I also like that the tube style UVB lights provide a wider area of basking levels of UVB which I imagine makes it easier for them to bask under. Some MVBs have wider beams than others though.

 

[Arron]

Thanks. I think ill stick with the long strip UVB.

 

[Ed707]

I'm in favor of using a mvb, but that's just my experience and opinion. From the research I've seen a good strip light in a reflector can produce adequate uvb but not optimal, where a hq mvb can get you high uvb readings. I use both but I have a large viv and solarmeters to read what's safe and what's not. Arcadia does have a new 14% flourescent uvb bulb that I'd like to see some readings from, that might produce higher uvb then the other uvb tube bulbs.

 

[Taterbug]

I'm in favor of using a mvb, but that's just my experience and opinion. From the research I've seen a good strip light in a reflector can produce adequate uvb but not optimal, where a hq mvb can get you high uvb readings. I use both but I have a large viv and solarmeters to read what's safe and what's not. Arcadia does have a new 14% flourescent uvb bulb that I'd like to see some readings from, that might produce higher uvb then the other uvb tube bulbs.

T5 lights are pretty close to the MVB strength and can easily exceed the safe upper limits for UV exposure. They have the advantage of a much wider light spread and natural color as well. MVB tend to have a very "spot" light spread and a more distorted color (to reptiles).

The new 14% bulbs are interesting but I would speculate they are stronger than is OK to use in 40g tanks.

 

[Ed707]

Idk I checked my reptisun compared to my megaray and it wasn't even close... you might be right but I haven't seen it... especially when it comes to distances, my megaray will put off a whopping 180ish uvb reading with a 6.2, the reptisun I'd have to double check but I really don't think it's that much. Your right about the mvb's being spot lights though and it having a smaller basking area which is why I use both

 

[Ed707]

Maybe it's just the reptisuns cause I just watched a video where someone was getting 190 readings with a arcadia bulb in a reflector. I have to retract my statement lol... in a 40 gallon breeder I agree you shouldn't use a mvb but when you have a large viv it definately gives you more options. I would like to see tests with the arcadia 14% it might put off enough uvb for taller vivs making a mvb or multiple strip lights unnecessary.

 

[Taterbug]

From what I understand of the way the 6.2 works you can't accurately compare light sources directly, if you have a 6.5 as well comparing the UVI would probably be a better way to judge relative strength. Because of the different spectrums the bulbs produce the emmisivity will be different, which is part of why they use both a 6.2 and a 6.5 when judging the quality of lamps. I forget the details of it right now though.

I've been thinking about getting a Arcadia 14% as my next bulb, but my reptisun is still cooking over a year in.

Anyway, not trying to say MVB aren't good or have their place; it sounds like you have a pretty good gradient working with yours. I think in general strip lights are... more flexible and forgiving for folks learning the ropes of lighting.

 

[Ed707]

Idk about the 6.2 not being as accurate as a 6.5, I'd like to see some research on that if you have a link you can share. I do know the 6.2 judges only uvb rays and the 6.5 judges UVI in general meaning it judges uva and uvb combined. I also know that bearded dragons see in full color spectrum, so maybe you might be thinking the 6.5 judges the color spectrum? I don't think that's the case but I could be wrong. I believe there's 3 colors to the color spectrum that we and any animal uses to see in full color. Red, blue and I think green are the 3 colors? The halogen bulbs produce a reddish color and most flourescent bulbs produce a bluish color, while mvb's produce the green. At least this was my thinking and I could be wrong. I believe 5000k or 6500k full spectrum daylight flourescent bulbs are supposed to produce full color spectrum but ofc I could be wrong again. Reptisuns as far as I know aren't full spectrum lighting. Arcadia claims there bulbs are 6500k full spectrum bulbs and I see no reason not to believe that. I seen some page that said it's believed bearded dragons might even see a fourth color yellow possibly helpin them see heat waves or maybe uv rays.

 

[Ed707]

I'm going to make a post about some things I noticed with lizard and behavior/color change in direct sun light and under her basking bulbs. I've been thinking about a few things as I just made a few changes and talking about lighting in this post actually made me think about it more. Don't want to hijack the op's thread, I'll post another later on today.

 

[Arron]

Some great info their folks, thanks very much.

 

[Taterbug]

Idk about the 6.2 not being as accurate as a 6.5, I'd like to see some research on that if you have a link you can share. I do know the 6.2 judges only uvb rays and the 6.5 judges UVI in general meaning it judges uva and uvb combined. I also know that bearded dragons see in full color spectrum, so maybe you might be thinking the 6.5 judges the color spectrum? I don't think that's the case but I could be wrong. I believe there's 3 colors to the color spectrum that we and any animal uses to see in full color. Red, blue and I think green are the 3 colors? The halogen bulbs produce a reddish color and most flourescent bulbs produce a bluish color, while mvb's produce the green. At least this was my thinking and I could be wrong. I believe 5000k or 6500k full spectrum daylight flourescent bulbs are supposed to produce full color spectrum but ofc I could be wrong again. Reptisuns as far as I know aren't full spectrum lighting. Arcadia claims there bulbs are 6500k full spectrum bulbs and I see no reason not to believe that. I seen some page that said it's believed bearded dragons might even see a fourth color yellow possibly helpin them see heat waves or maybe uv rays.

Based on information published by Fran Baines and discussions I have had with her... My understanding is that the 6.2 measures total emmisivity, whereas the 6.5 is a weighted function that is based on the D3 cycle in human (and roughly reptile) skin. Different bulbs have different spectrums, with peaks and valleys at different wave lengths even within the "UVB" band, some of which is more effective at synthesizing D3. So, two readings on a 6.2 could be the same value but the wavelengths of light may be in different proportions. UVI is a bit more "universal" of a reading, so to speak. http://www.uvguide.co.uk/usinguvmeter.htm

Diurnal (day active) lizards are generally considered to see four "colors" including a portion in the UVA band. They probably have very remarkable color vision and see things we cannot. Some lizards even have markings that are mostly/only visible in the UVA band... (Google UV photography.... insects and flowers look so alien! Many animals see way more colors than we do, actually)

Your summary of the lights is basically correct, with the exception of... Lights are generally designed around the human eye and that's how they look to us. Fran has a really neat article about the relative "whiteness" of lights for reptiles that I can't find right now but I'll see if I can dig it up tonight....

http://www.exo-terra.com/images/shared/explore/human_vision_vs_reptile_vision.jpg
Basically In the image above not only do lizards see an additional "color" the ones they see are going to be different from the ones we see. Lizards have a "fourth" dimension to consider when it comes to the "full spectrum" needed to appear as "white".... aside from sunlight or UV producing bulbs the UVA part isn't going to be available.

Personally, my feeling is that with tubes we can help distribute more UVA through the enclosure than a spot basking lamp. Of course, used together it works even better as you get the benefits of both.

 

[Ed707]

I see that was a interesting read, a little confusing but interesting. So the solarmeter 6.5 is the more efficient way to judge proper lighting for d3 synthesis.

That being said your right about most artificial light is made for humans and not reptiles. So wouldn't you still want to provide the 3 color spectrums with the 3 differnce bulbs? Halogen for red, mvb for green and flourescent for blue? I guess it doesn't have to be a mvb but idk of any other safe greenish tinted lights. I would think it would make the health of your lizard better. Maybe not contribute to d3 synthesis but probably in other ways.

 

[Ed707]

I suppose you'd only be adding 3 of the 4 colors they use to see but 3 outta 4 is better then 2 outta 4. Idk how we'd be able to add the yellow. Halogen bulbs do give off a orangish glow and maybe that's enough maybe not idk