motorcross11396":5ca83 said:
My beardie can get up to 6 inches to the uv light... Also, my basking light is a small light, covered in something that's blue, which makes it invisible... The basking light is kind of circled by the uv light.. By the way it's a compact... I couldn't find a picture for you on google, but hopefully I described it so you can understand what it is
Is it this one:
http://www.petco.com/product/109791/Zilla-Mini-Desert-50-UVB-Reptile-Fixture.aspx ?? This is the Zilla Desert Series 50 Compact/Mini that we were using (although I wouldn't recommend a single Zilla bulb). If you are adamant about using this bulb (or any other compact), I would highly suggest that you get some more distance between it and your beardie. At 6 inches, this bulb can do some serious damage. And, by the sounds of your basking bulb, I would say it's not one that will go far in protecting your beardie's eyes. Sufficient and safe basking bulbs for beardies should offer BRIGHT WHITE LIGHT. The brighter the enclosure/basking area, the safer it is for your beardie's eyes. The basking bulb should be placed right next to the
UVB light so beardie has benefit of both bulbs while basking, for reasons I've already explained and in addition, for proper calcium absorption, and thorough digestion. Even a household
incandescent will do, so long is it's bright white and giving you proper temps, which for a juvie should be basking (DIRECTLY under the bulb/on the basking surface): 105-110, ambient: 85-90 and cool side: about 80. You didn't mention your size of tank, and wattage of bulb... also, with what and how are you going about gauging temps?
motorcross11396":5ca83 said:
My beardie is also growing very well... But Is it life threatening with this bulb? Well now I think I'm overreacting because I looked at all the symptoms and my little spike doesn't have any of them.. I'll keep an eye out though
I'm glad your beardie is growing well. But yes, I would stay keenly aware of any symptoms (slowing appetite, growth, sleeping more and more, one or both eyes closed often). I am still kicking myself for allowing our girl to stay in her enclosure under those early conditions as I knew in my gut something wasn't quite right. In participating on the boards here for a number of months now, I have learned that she was one of the lucky ones. Poor lighting is rather epidemic I'm afraid, and it's a common reason beardie owners tend to seek out bd.org in the first place. So much so, that when I first came here looking for help on the symptoms, I never even had to make a post about our individual situation because there were so many threads that already covered the territory, and offered me the information/advice I needed.
Our beardie was seemingly doing quite well at the first; eating, growing, active, shedding, etc. But by the end of the first month, we noticed the eye issue. A few more weeks in, her appetite started to wane, and by the time we were three months in, it occurred to us that she hadn't shed in quite sometime. When we checked the growth chart I provided, we realized that along with everything else, she was way too small for her age. It was a real eye opener (no pun intended
). By this time, she was awake perhaps 5-6 hours a day, retiring earlier each day, and she was eating maybe 4-5 crickets a day, 7-8 on her best days. When I saw that beardies her age should be consuming 50-100 live feeders a day, it was quite a shock. It was at that time, I found this place and was able to make proper changes to her environment, and as I say she was lucky, and is recovering well... eating like a horse and growing like a weed, making up for lost time, thankfully.
As I said before, I do hope that your beardie does not end up with any of the above issues. Indeed, if let go, our girl's symptoms would have developed into metabolic bone disorder, attributed to poor light/lack of proper processing of calcium. Poor UVB is a direct result of a poorly made bulb which from the get go, emits
LOW LEVEL UVB which for beardie, is a problem in and of itself (they need much more UVB than many of the bulbs emit). However, this is exacerbated by the fact that low level UVB will allow UVCs to be emitted which are the extremely hazardous rays that can cause the all the symptoms I've described, and at worst radiation poisoning which, along with unchecked MBD, can certainly be life threatening.
I've talked a blue streak here, apologies. I suppose in that you can sense how important this issue is to me (and many others here on the board). :wink: The only thing I might offer to you is to do some research of your own. Here on the board you can type in "Zilla" "compact" or "coil" (which carry similar risks as the compacts) in the search feature up top and you will likely come up with some very useful information on which to base your decision. Here are some places you may wish to start:
[ Invalid URL Removed / p= t=65424 f=1 ]
viewtopic.php?f=45&t=104658&p=817669&hilit=Zilla+compact#p817669
viewtopic.php?f=45&t=102465&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=Zilla+compact
viewtopic.php?f=45&t=93294&p=727522&hilit=zilla+compact#p727522
viewtopic.php?f=45&t=102532&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=Zilla+compact
There are many upon many threads that deal with this issue... you could read for days (and I did, way back when). I hope this is helpful to you.
The best,
Em
