I am in Canada and I cannot find ANYONE that carries Repti-sun. I tried ordering online but for 2 bulbs with shipping and fees it would cost over $115! Right now I have Repti-Glo 10.0, which is ALL the pet stores around here carry, accept I found one store that carries Zilla Desert 50 UVB Fluorescent Bulbs. Are these any better then Repti-Glo? advice would be very much appreciated please.
i got mines off amazon, im not sure what the canadian $ conversion is, but amazon had the best deal while i was looking, stay away from the zilla bulb, and if you have to get a reptiglo, the 5.0 might be better, i hear it's safer than the 10
Thanks. I guess I'll just stick to the Repti-Glo bulbs for both my beardies.. I certainly cannot afford over $100 for ordering 2 Repti-sun bulbs online. Apparently Petsmart used to carry Repti-sun then they quit carrying it But I know three people (my sister and two co-workers) who have been using the 10.0 florescent Repti-Glo bulbs for their beardies for the past 5 years or so and their beardies look awesome and healthy, I actually talked to them today about bulbs and they have never heard of Repti-glo florescent bulbs causing issues :| . I'm sure we'll make do with ReptiGlo, maybe eventually Canada will carry Repti-sun!
Both reptiglo and zilla are fine. Neither are as good as ReptiSun but I doubt you'll have real issues with either of them. People on this site have pretty much just read that everything but ReptiSun is bad for so long that they believe it without actually looking at any of the data.
You say that about people who preach for reptisun, but have YOU done the data?
It doesn't just come down to the uW/cm2, but also the wavelength.
The fact is, that there has been trouble with the reptiglos. Even if just one person had a dragon that got sick because of a reptiglo, and thousands have used it without ill effect, I still wouldn't take the chance.
It depends in what manner you refer to. I was meaning that the majority of people haven't even bothered to give the other brands a chance because so many people are preaching and indoctrinating how awful they are. So if you mean have I sat down and tested the output and wavelengths? No, but I suppose I should have used a different word than "data".
I know 3 breeders that have used reptiglos for 6 years with no issue, and I personally have used the zilla slimline for 6 months with no problems. I'm just saying that if you look hard enough, every single product on the market has bad reviews somewhere.
Well its not because we have a beef against it on the school yard, its because its not optimal for bearded dragons. Perhaps for other species, yes, but not bearded dragons.
Breeders often only house adults, and keep babies only for a couple weeks until they grow enough, if these breeders using reptiglos would try raising babies under one of them, I am willing to bet that they would have some problems with MBD down the road.
Well since I cant get the repti-sun and I am raising 2 juvenile beardies with repti-glo 10.0 I guess I'll let you know how it goes down the road..
Another thing, I did a lot of googling around to try find some actual reports of beardies suffering from MBD or other ailments due to the use of Repti-Glo florescent UBV (tube) lighting, and I found no information, if possible can you please send me a few links of actual reports of Repti-glo tube lights causing health problems in dragons? Not that I am arguing this, I would just like to read some actual documentation or proof that Repti-glo has caused health problems. I wish Reptisun was more available in Canada, but unfortunately no pet stores sell them and online the bulbs are no less then $45/each then shipping on top of that (and I have 2 dragons in separate enclosures so I would need 2 bulbs) not that I dont care a great deal for the dragons but I am spending a fortune on crickets for them already and I do have children to support and other pets to care for so I also need to watch what I am spending.
Thanks.