Are they safe now? Compacts

[sandrachameleon]

info the OP may find useful
https://www.chameleonforums.com/compact-uv-18803/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/compact-flourescent-bulb-just-curious-20305/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/updated-info-cf-uvb-lamps-29318/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/repti-sun-cfl-old-vs-new-31927/
http://www.testudo.cc/Pages/Table%204.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/68-lighting-links.html

 

[chameleonneeds]

Thanks Sandra for the articles about CFL's!

 

[Davonat]

Ive been useing the Zoo Med compact 5.0 for several years now with my Panther.....& seem to work great. Ive had zero issues with it. I never heard there was an issue with the Zoo Med..... But I wasnt on a forum until recently. When I first got Burt about 5 years ago I did get a bulb from Big Apple...... About toasted my little guy to death!!!! His eyes swelled shut....I thought for sure he was a gonner!! When I did a search on the net I discovered they had recalled ALL those bulbs it wasnt a Zoo Med. Fortunately ,,, about 4 days after throwing that DEATH BULB away..... He was Fine. When I came home and he looked like toast... I immediatly called Neven at The Chameleon Habitat.... He was shocked to see him like that too! We kept our cool & kept our fingers crossed and ....Burt pulled thru with flying colors!! TOUGH LITTLE PANTHER... that Burt! Yep.... Thats him in my avitar

 

[summoner12]

The reptisun bulbs were the ones with a problem years ago, which we haven't seen in a while since they fixed the manufacturing error. Sometimes you can find some of the old bulbs that just never left the shelf so therein lies the danger with those. Someone posted the differences on the box to tell you get an old one. But the reptiglo CFL bulbs were never associated with the eye problems or faulty production. Chris Anderson has been using those for a long time and hasn't ever had a problem with them - he's posted that multiple times on the forums. So I would recommend the reptiglo CFL bulbs over the reptisun bulbs for that reason.

Zoo Med was not the only company to have issues, and is as far as I know, the only one to correct their lamps... so who knows with the others.

I would stay away fro CFLs....... they put a lot of UVB in one space... A linear tube spreads it out... Linear is better since the animal moves around the cage.

 

[Venutus1]

I think all of the major manufacturers have corrected their issues with CFLS now.

Testing with a solarmeter 6.2 & 6.5 and checking the readings on newly manufactured* zoo med, exo and zilla cfls give pretty much what is expected for readings.

If a cfl that is producing the correct wavelengths of UV light is used at the correct distance, then there is no difference than using a linear tube.... in any particular spot.

*One problem is that there is allot of new old stock still up on eBay and on pet store shelves that some folks just don't want to take a loss on. (That goes for questionable brand linear bulbs as well.)

There is who knows how many thousands++ of dollars worth of "new in box" old model cfls still out there that were manufactured a few years ago ....potentially leaking excess low range uvb and c rays.... that people are trying to dump.

Anyone thinking about getting a good deal on certain brand CFLs off eBay should think twice. (again...that goes for questionable brand linear bulbs as well.)

This does bring up another point when talking about UV and reptiles.

Serious hobbyist have Solarmeters.

Or at least will borrow a friends regularly to take readings of their set up(s).

And before anyone tries to call me out for saying that just because I sell them, let me remind you I sell them because I am a serious herp hobbyist.

I have 5 Repti Sun 5.0 CFLS screwed in and lit right now over sensitive dart frog set ups... that have been set up that way for almost 3 years.
The set-ups have been reflector/distance/uW/cm2 callibrated with Solarmeter 6.2 and more recently, rechecked with a 6.5 to get UV index reading.
Plus, I must point out, all cages have some reduced UV and "UV free"zones.... as you would find in Nature.

Anyway, hope this helps.
Cheers,
Todd