exo-terra products ?

hey all. just curious on how the bulbs from this brand are? my local pet store sells them for a reasonable price and im wondering if i should order zoo-med online instead. i used to work at this pet store so i get a good discount also. that is all they carry though is the exo-terra brand. are repti glo worse then repti sun ? etc..? personal experiences? thanks.

i personally hate all hagen products with a passion they are normally very low quality at a high price, but petland and hagen are like this X so they push it to no end. i love Zilla, and some zoomed products.

I've heard from someone I trust that there's no significant difference between Repti-Glo and Repti-Sun except the price; have not done back-to-back testing or UV monitoring to back that up.

also the exoterra bulbs seem to get really hot compared to others so in theory that should mean they have a shorter half life and the bulbs gases will decay faster

I used Repti-Glo bulbs for a decade without issue. However there IS a difference between the Repti-Glo and Repti-sun bulbs, and the Repti-SUN is the better one.

Dave Weldon did a good job of explaining the difference to me in this post:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/repti-sun-5-0-a-13239/

If you get Repti-Glo, make sure to change the bulb every 6 months. If you have a dense screen/mesh between the bulb and the chameleon, consider a ReptiGlo10.0 rather than the 5.0

ReptiSun tubes will last ~9 months.

well if i do get one i would go with a 10.0 because the cage is 4 ft tall " if i build one 5 ft" but i am struggling on what i want to use really. ideally i want to use a mercury vapor bulb in a deep dome setup. i have heard many good things until i got on this site no one has had anything to say besides use a reptisun 5.0 and heat lamp. i have live plants ready to go in, in the process of building my misting system, just stuck on my lighting issue. the exo-terra MV bulbs i can get for like $27 at the pet store here. thats a good price. i have asked about this before but no one ever seems to give me a reason why they just say no. so any help would be really appreciated and any more info on these bulbs would be great. thanks for all the help so far everyone its really appreciated.


any recommendation on a size of lamp/reflector to get for a 24x24x48 setup if i dont go with a MV bulb? would i want a8.5 or 10 reflector?

Mecury vapour lamps are not bad, but they run hot and they can bust easily. If you have multiple animals and a large space, one merc vapour can possibly service them all. But if you only have one reptile / one cage, it is potentially too much UVB, too much heat. You would have to position it well above the enclosure.
whereas a linear bulb can sit right on top the of cage, saving you vertical space.
My cages are all 4 foot in height, with a half inch square wire screen (not a dense mesh). I have historically used either a reptiglo 5.0 or 8.0 or 10.0 linear tube.

You may find this website of interest: http://www.uvguide.co.uk/mercuryvapourlamps.htm

I read a member (Yoshi?) hurt his/her chameleons eyes with a MV powersun.

thank you for the response. i know they get very hot " i ran 2x400 watt metal halides on my reef tank for several years" i understand the concept and what lighting could cause if done incorrectly. i just figured a 100 watt MV lamp, placed 12 inches above the top of my cage and have nothing go any higher up in the cage then 6 inches from the top..to put its closest distance at about 18 inches. i would check temps and what not of course and not just guess. but if it doesnt get to hot for my cham, why not? it would be the same price for me to do this and less replacing. like i said above i can get the 125 watt exo-terra one from my local pet store for 27 dollars. i cant beat that. i also figured MV would help with live plants more. thanks for your help i really appreciate it.

drex said:

thank you for the response. i know they get very hot " i ran 2x400 watt metal halides on my reef tank for several years" i understand the concept and what lighting could cause if done incorrectly. i just figured a 100 watt MV lamp, placed 12 inches above the top of my cage and have nothing go any higher up in the cage then 6 inches from the top..to put its closest distance at about 18 inches. i would check temps and what not of course and not just guess. but if it doesnt get to hot for my cham, why not? it would be the same price for me to do this and less replacing. like i said above i can get the 125 watt exo-terra one from my local pet store for 27 dollars. i cant beat that. i also figured MV would help with live plants more. thanks for your help i really appreciate it.

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You're welcome. I know people who use MV without issue. I personally prefer the tried and true linear tubes.

Do you have a UVB meter? You may want to get one.
"Without the assistance of a UVB meter, we consider that it would be very difficult to estimate the output of a lamp in a dome reflector or brooder lamp fixture." From the website linked above.

i haven't picked one up yet because i have still been trying to decide what i for sure want to do. i will pick one up though if i get a mv setup.