Hey there! I’ve been been having some recent trouble when it comes to the lighting of my beardie. I’ve had Jackson for about 5 months now and I love her to pieces. She’s around 1 and a half to 2 years of age Unfortunately I’ve had to go through 4 bulbs already. Two of them weren’t safe for my beardie (I was told to buy them from someone from an expo) The third one burnt out so my dad offered to buy the same bulb for me. He then came back with a 160W Powersun UV bulb which provides both heat and UVB lighting. My dad decided to take away Jackson’s UVB bulb (which I had placed on the opposite side of her tank) and claimed that the UVB from the Powersun was enough for her. Her UVB was a Reptesun 10.0 UVB which I’ve heard aren’t as preferred as UVB tubes. But to get to the point, I’ve read multiple reviews that the Powersun 160W doesn’t emit sufficient amounts of UVB and I’m afraid that the bulb by itself could cause harm to my beardie baby. She seems to be in good condition but it adds to my worry that when I first adopted her she had a minor case of MBD. She’s been using just the Powersun for 3 months or so.
*You can see on the top left her Powersun bulb
*The Powersun I currently use and the UVB bulb I was using
A huge thanks to anyone that takes the time to help me, I greatly appreciate it ?
Thanks so much for your response! I’ll definitely be looking into what you recommended. If you don’t mind I have a few more questions to ask. The mesh screen on the top of my tank had a plastic bar that separates two different mesh screens. Would it be alright if the UVB hood sat on top of this? (My terrarium is 36” in length and a 22” UVB would just about reach the tip of my basking fixture) Also, would it be alright if you explained to me the difference between the two T5 HO Fixtures? (The first and the second link you sent) And would there possibly be a cheaper option for the same products? Like on a website such as Chewy.com, would they provide the same bulb and fixtures? Again thanks so much for your time, I deeply appreciate the help you are providing me.
You can use a 24" fixture no longer and a T 5 - the T 5 has options - you can put the T 5 on top of the screen w/ a basking distance of your decor directly underneath 8-10 inches - inside the tank 12-15 inches from decor --- a T 8 MUST go inside the tank - it is not strong enough to go thru the screen - basking decor directly underneath 6-8 inches ---- the T 5 has to be changed out roughly in a year I change mine out about a month before the T 8 needs to be changed out in 6 months - price shop especially shipping - pangea only charges $7 --
Karrie