Reptisun 10.0 uvb (and others) possible issues

[Monk21]

One of the first things I found in here is the strong belief that the reptisun uvb tube bulb 10.0 is the best possible uvb bulb for bearded dragons and not only. I had no reason to question it more than necessary and since anything else had the chance of harming my pet, I changed to this. What I find weird though is that ON the box of it there are some precautions that need to be taken even with this "super" bulb and I don't see anyone warning anyone about them! I would like your opinion on the following things since you are more experienced than I am.

1) On the box it says that "Do NOT mount the ReptiSun 10.0 any closer than 6'' to your animals as this can cause serious harm.
2) The bulb should be changed every 12 months

So, number 2 is actually something that members in here warn us about BUT they say 6 months and not 12 as the company suggests. And my question is "what to believe?"

Number 1 though is more important. I see many people that mount the light IN the tank somewhere in the top 1/3 of their tank. In my opinion there is NO way that even half of these people follow the "6" rule" that ZooMed strongly suggests. Also, they say that the uvb light should be close to the basking light. My basking light is exactly 6'' off the lid which may or may not be safe. If I had it inside, it wouldn't even be 2'' away! What are your thoughts on all that?

Thanks for the advice

 

[Claudiusx]

Hi there,

Remember, Zoomed doesn't make the reptisun 10.0 bulb exclusively for bearded dragons, therefor making their "recommendations" more of a general guideline for ALL reptiles that might be housed under one.

We know through years of housing them and research and testing with UV meters, that mounting the bulb 6-8 inches away from the BASKING SPOT is ideal, and that although the bulb still is producing uvb rays after the 6 month mark, the output of the bulb has greatly fallen and is no longer as strong as we would like for our bearded dragons.

-Brandon

 

[Monk21]

thanks for the reply.

Can you please explain to me how it can be safe to have the uvb light 6" or less inches from the animal? ZooMed clearly states that it is NOT safe. By default, by mounting the uvb IN the tank, the animal is not always 6" or more away from it.

 

[Monk21]

Some random pictures I found online. As we can see in those 3 the uvb bulb is TOO close to the animals and this, according to ZooMed is dangerous for the animals.

This one IS ok but only because of the different ,low basking spot that the guy has created

 

[Goodtruant]

By putting the light inside the enclosure, the light is unfiltered by a screen. You can loose 50-60% of the UVB output by setting the light on a screen.

Putting the light inside does not necessarily mean that your dragon can get closer than 6", unless you give them some way to climb closer.

I've also noticed that our dragons are pretty good at regulating their UVB and heat. Unless you force your dragon to always be closer that 6" away from the UVB, they will choose what they are comfortable with. Sometimes our dragons will get as close as possible (about 6-8" away in our enclosures), especially on days where they've been outside of their vivs alot. Sometimes they will find a low shady spot.

I don't see in any photos you posted where the dragon could get too close to the UVB bulb. All of the enclosures shown give the dragon many options on how much UVB they are getting. None of them look remotely unsafe. I would think the last pic you posted has the light a little too far away, and does not give the dragon many options to get different levels of UVB if they choose.

It's also wise to place the basking light close to the UVB light. Since you are using a very bright white or clear light it will divert their gaze from the UVB, which can be harmful if they (or you) stare in to the UVB light.

 

[Monk21]

By putting the light inside the enclosure, the light is unfiltered by a screen. You can loose 50-60% of the UVB output by setting the light on a screen.

Putting the light inside does not necessarily mean that your dragon can get closer than 6", unless you give them some way to climb closer.

I've also noticed that our dragons are pretty good at regulating their UVB and heat. Unless you force your dragon to always be closer that 6" away from the UVB, they will choose what they are comfortable with. Sometimes our dragons will get as close as possible (about 6-8" away in our enclosures), especially on days where they've been outside of their vivs alot. Sometimes they will find a low shady spot.

I don't see in any photos you posted where the dragon could get too close to the UVB bulb. All of the enclosures shown give the dragon many options on how much UVB they are getting. None of them look remotely unsafe. I would think the last pic you posted has the light a little too far away, and does not give the dragon many options to get different levels of UVB if they choose.

It's also wise to place the basking light close to the UVB light. Since you are using a very bright white or clear light it will divert their gaze from the UVB, which can be harmful if they (or you) stare in to the UVB light.

all 3 pics, have places that the dragons can go to and are less than 6" from the light. One point that can be made here is how much effort and debate is going into why not to choose other bulbs, but no one is talking about the harm that the wrong distance can do to the dragons. Also, I have read in many places that we WANT the 50% of the UVB to be absorbed. Other brands even SUGGEST that we put them above the lid for THIS reason

 

[Goodtruant]

By putting the light inside the enclosure, the light is unfiltered by a screen. You can loose 50-60% of the UVB output by setting the light on a screen.

Putting the light inside does not necessarily mean that your dragon can get closer than 6", unless you give them some way to climb closer.

I've also noticed that our dragons are pretty good at regulating their UVB and heat. Unless you force your dragon to always be closer that 6" away from the UVB, they will choose what they are comfortable with. Sometimes our dragons will get as close as possible (about 6-8" away in our enclosures), especially on days where they've been outside of their vivs alot. Sometimes they will find a low shady spot.

I don't see in any photos you posted where the dragon could get too close to the UVB bulb. All of the enclosures shown give the dragon many options on how much UVB they are getting. None of them look remotely unsafe. I would think the last pic you posted has the light a little too far away, and does not give the dragon many options to get different levels of UVB if they choose.

It's also wise to place the basking light close to the UVB light. Since you are using a very bright white or clear light it will divert their gaze from the UVB, which can be harmful if they (or you) stare in to the UVB light.

all 3 pics, have places that the dragons can go to and are less than 6" from the light. One point that can be made here is how much effort and debate is going into why not to choose other bulbs, but no one is talking about the harm that the wrong distance can do to the dragons. Also, I have read in many places that we WANT the 50% of the UVB to be absorbed. Other brands even SUGGEST that we put them above the lid for THIS reason

1. How do you know it's less than 6"? I think you're wrong, just an opinion. My opinion is that every pic you posted the dragon cannot get any closer than aprox 6". The last pic you posted as 'safe', looks like around 12-18" away.....which is fine, but give no option to get closer.
2. As an owner you can do what you like. I choose to let my dragons regulate themselves. Very rarely do they choose to get very close to the UVB...when they do, they must need it. Choose for yourself. But as many here will tell you, breaded dragons need more UVB then you'll be providing them.

 

[Monk21]

By putting the light inside the enclosure, the light is unfiltered by a screen. You can loose 50-60% of the UVB output by setting the light on a screen.

Putting the light inside does not necessarily mean that your dragon can get closer than 6", unless you give them some way to climb closer.

I've also noticed that our dragons are pretty good at regulating their UVB and heat. Unless you force your dragon to always be closer that 6" away from the UVB, they will choose what they are comfortable with. Sometimes our dragons will get as close as possible (about 6-8" away in our enclosures), especially on days where they've been outside of their vivs alot. Sometimes they will find a low shady spot.

I don't see in any photos you posted where the dragon could get too close to the UVB bulb. All of the enclosures shown give the dragon many options on how much UVB they are getting. None of them look remotely unsafe. I would think the last pic you posted has the light a little too far away, and does not give the dragon many options to get different levels of UVB if they choose.

It's also wise to place the basking light close to the UVB light. Since you are using a very bright white or clear light it will divert their gaze from the UVB, which can be harmful if they (or you) stare in to the UVB light.

all 3 pics, have places that the dragons can go to and are less than 6" from the light. One point that can be made here is how much effort and debate is going into why not to choose other bulbs, but no one is talking about the harm that the wrong distance can do to the dragons. Also, I have read in many places that we WANT the 50% of the UVB to be absorbed. Other brands even SUGGEST that we put them above the lid for THIS reason

1. How do you know it's less than 6"? I think you're wrong, just an opinion. My opinion is that every pic you posted the dragon cannot get any closer than aprox 6". The last pic you posted as 'safe', looks like around 12-18" away.....which is fine, but give no option to get closer.
2. As an owner you can do what you like. I choose to let my dragons regulate themselves. Very rarely do they choose to get very close to the UVB...when they do, they must need it. Choose for yourself.

You didn't understand the point I am trying to make. In the past 2 days I have seen people (not necessarily in this forum) that cannot differ a T5 to a T8, do not know what a ballast is, have dragons for 1 month etc etc have STRONG opinions about how terrible coil bulbs are. But no one ever warned me or someone else about the danger of <6". That is all.

As for the distances, it is just a calculation. For example, the first 3 tanks are not that gigantic and I doubt that any of them is taller than 18"-20". That being said, all first 3 of them have the uvb mounted in the top 1/3 of the tank (12-14" from the bottom). all first 3 of them have places for the animals to sit in the middle of the tank right below the uvb. If the middle is at 9-10" then it is 2-4" from the light.

 

[Goodtruant]

I'm basing my scale on the size of the lamps. They are 24"-36" long. Even at 24", they still look 6" away.

Intense natural sunlight puts out about 400-450uW/cm² of UVB. In the wild bearded dragons will bask in this sunlight for 3-4 hours a day. They will seek shade when it's too much for them. At 6" a UVB tube will put out about 25-30% of that. Also, studies show that bearded dragons will seek more intense UVB when suffering from MVB, and when they start healing they will stay further away from UVB.

If you want to overload yourself with information check this site out. TONS of good info.
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/intro.htm

 

[Monk21]

I'm basing my scale on the size of the lamps. They are 24"-36" long. Even at 24", they still look 6" away.

Intense natural sunlight puts out about 400-450uW/cm² of UVB. In the wild bearded dragons will bask in this sunlight for 3-4 hours a day. They will seek shade when it's too much for them. At 6" a UVB tube will put out about 25-30% of that. Also, studies show that bearded dragons will seek more intense UVB when suffering from MVB, and when they start healing they will stay further away from UVB.

If you want to overload yourself with information check this site out. TONS of good info.
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/intro.htm

info is always good. thanks

 

[Claudiusx]

Can you please explain to me how it can be safe to have the uvb light 6" or less inches from the animal? ZooMed clearly states that it is NOT safe. By default

I did not say that. I very clearly said 6-8 inches away.

By default, by mounting the uvb IN the tank, the animal is not always 6" or more away from it

This is not always so either. It depends largely on your tank, and basking spot.
By default......, a 40g breeder is 17 inches tall, it's not that hard to keep a bulb that takes up 2-3 inches of height at best, 6 or more inches away from your dragon.

Point is, placing it on top of your screen isn't ideal. If placing it inside your tank causes your dragon to be able to get too close to it, then you need to lower your basking spot.

The link Good posted is a great site for info on uvb and uv testing in reptiles.

-Brandon