"All in One" Mercury Bulbs

[ColeCham333]

I have been considering getting one of the all in one mercury bulbs with UVB UVA and Heat. Are these a good choice? And also what wattage would you advise I get to ensure i keep temps in the desired zones? My cage is an XL Reptibreeze

 

[opheliaeatsbugs]

Lights are confusing to me. I do not have a good answer for you - BUT I can share with you information I got from LLLReptile. When I called, I told him what my setup was like, where the vivarium is, what I wanted to do in the future, etc. I will not have a large, custom cage in the foreseeable future but I want to add a small free range area (exercise area) next to the viv. He suggested the Powersun mercury vapor UVB lamp. I purchased the one he suggested.

 

[Extensionofgreen]

I think MV bulbs have their place, but I think bulb longevity and quality control is much better with lightyourreptiles.com and reptileuv.com. I would contact them personally with your needs and follow their advice.
I do not think using MV bulbs as the only source for basking is acceptable. It is not ideal to force a chameleon into high exposure to UVB in order to regulate their temperature. UVB gradients are as important as temperature gradients. UVB gradients are created with bulb choice, foliage cover, bulb distance, and bulb placement. Mercury vapor bulbs make it difficult to achieve this when used exclusively.

 

[jamest0o0]

@ColeCham333 ^listen to extension if you want top of the line advice, seriously

 

[ColeCham333]

@ColeCham333 ^listen to extension if you want top of the line advice, seriously

I wanted the vapor bulbs bc my temps with a 75 watt basking bulb is barely above room temp. I need the extra heat

 

[nightanole]

There are people on this forum that think a reptisun 5.0 t8 is a great bulb.
There are people on this forum that think a arcadia 6% t5HO is a great bulb. Its about 10x more powerful than the above bulb.
There are people who dont really want to sell you an arcadia 12% T5HO without a meter or at least ALOT of experience. It is 2-3x more powerful than the 6% above.
The average Merc vapor is 4x more uv per meter squared at the same distance, compared to the 12% above.

Vets/zoos literally use the same 150watt merc bulbs, for 30-45min a day 2ft away, to help with bones of dilapidated large full sun lizards.

Now you do the math, how many orders of magnitude is the merc vapor over the "recomended" T8 5.0?

 

[opheliaeatsbugs]

There are people on this forum that think a reptisun 5.0 t8 is a great bulb.
There are people on this forum that think a arcadia 6% t5HO is a great bulb. Its about 10x more powerful than the above bulb.
There are people who dont really want to sell you an arcadia 12% T5HO without a meter or at least ALOT of experience. It is 2-3x more powerful than the 6% above.
The average Merc vapor is 4x more uv per meter squared at the same distance, compared to the 12% above.

Vets/zoos literally use the same 150watt merc bulbs, for 30-45min a day 2ft away, to help with bones of dilapidated large full sun lizards.

Now you do the math, how many orders of magnitude is the merc vapor over the "recomended" T8 5.0?

Errrrmmm... tell me!!

 

[Extensionofgreen]

There are people on this forum that think a reptisun 5.0 t8 is a great bulb.
There are people on this forum that think a arcadia 6% t5HO is a great bulb. Its about 10x more powerful than the above bulb.
There are people who dont really want to sell you an arcadia 12% T5HO without a meter or at least ALOT of experience. It is 2-3x more powerful than the 6% above.
The average Merc vapor is 4x more uv per meter squared at the same distance, compared to the 12% above.

Vets/zoos literally use the same 150watt merc bulbs, for 30-45min a day 2ft away, to help with bones of dilapidated large full sun lizards.

Now you do the math, how many orders of magnitude is the merc vapor over the "recomended" T8 5.0?

This is only partially accurate. I have a UVB meter and measured the UVB output of the Arcadia MV bulb and the out put of their 12% UVB T5HO bulbs and T5 bulbs were almost 3x as strong as far as UVB output.
I agree that many of the commonly seen MV bulbs are too intense and all MV bulbs should be used with knowledge and appropriate caution, but the vendors I referenced have chameleon friendly MV that are reduced in UVB output. I use 165 MV bulbs with my paraonii, which many sources swear is far too intense, parsonii hate bright light, yadda yadda yadda, but I positioned the bulbs correctly, in a large, well planted enclosure, and ensured that the chameleons are only able to access the desired exposure levels of UVB from the those bulbs. I also use Arcadia T8s and other halogen basking bulbs, so the animals have choices of source, intensity, and temperature when they are moving about their enclosure or seeking UVB.