chameleon confused by lighting?

[ghettomike]

I recently added a hibiscus to my enclosure and added two 26 watt 6500k cfl's to help it thrive. I also have a 40watt basking bulb and a 18" repitglo bulb for UV. My problem is that my female veiled seems to hang out under the cfl's instead of her UV light now. Is there a chance that she is confused about what light she should be chilling out under to be getting UV? Thanks.

 

[summoner12]

I recently added a hibiscus to my enclosure and added two 26 watt 6500k cfl's to help it thrive. I also have a 40watt basking bulb and a 18" repitglo bulb for UV. My problem is that my female veiled seems to hang out under the cfl's instead of her UV light now. Is there a chance that she is confused about what light she should be chilling out under to be getting UV? Thanks.

CFL's put out UVB.... and who knows what else.... Keep an eye on her for any other 'odd signs' like closing her eyes... Also, 26w CFLs get pretty hot, she might also just be basking under them. When I used 26w CFLs the lamps would burn out due to their own heat generated under the lamp hood.

This is a 'standard' CFL... I think the color temp is 2600K? puts out a warm glow rather than blueish/white.

 

[Goonie]

why do cfls cause eye problems and traditional fluorescents dont?
i thought only the cfl's built for reptiles could burn there eyes?

 

[summoner12]

why do cfls cause eye problems and traditional fluorescents dont?
i thought only the cfl's built for reptiles could burn there eyes?

Understanding how fluorescents work first will help you understand why different lamps put out different types of light....

Inside of the tube there is a reaction between mercury atoms,excited by the electrical current, and phosphorus causing light to transmit through the glass tube..... the spectra of light is dependent on the types of phosphors inside of the glass tube. There is a science to creating this phosphor and getting the correct output of spectra from the tube. If you mess up the chemistry, the lamp can generate harmful spectra. This would be wave lengths of light that is undesired or too much of some parts of the spectra.

In the case of the Zoo Med and Exo Terra and R Zilla lamps... there is too much concentration of UVB at close distances (High UV index) and some had output of spectra that is undesirable, such as UVC. UVC even in small amounts is very bad. Light rays in the spectra of UVC are used in water purifiers, tooth brush cleaners and other scientific laboratory cleaning equipment. It is used to kill bacteria aka living organisms.

Large amounts of UVB can cause sun burn, and blister the skin. High amounts of UVB means there is a high UV Index... Ya know when your going to the beach, or being in the sun all day you might check the UVI to make sure you have enough sun screen on? That is the same type of UVI we are talking about.

Here is a UVB reading from an 'old' Zoo Med CFL, the meter is 2" from the surface of the lamp, and the meter is inundated with UVB and shows no reading.

At 2.5" we actually get a reading....

At the basking spot it has been shown that a reading on the meter should be about 15-50 micro watts of UVB. Once my lamps get into the 15-20 micro watt range at the basking spot, I change the lamps.

Now say you had your Zoo Med 10.0 CFL (old phosphor mix) 8" from the basking spot, you'd have about half the UVB shown on the meter in this photo, due to the screen blocking some UVB; 93 micro watts. This is double the recommended high end reading. The dome I am using the lamp in to take these readings, is the 'deep dome' light fixture Zoo Med sells for the use of this lamp.....

 

[Goonie]

ahhh!! thank you! thats disgustingly irresponsible of the company to sell something that blinds animals

 

[summoner12]

ahhh!! thank you! thats disgustingly irresponsible of the company to sell something that blinds animals

They have changed formulas in the CFLs.... BUT because CFL UVB lamps have such high concentration of UVB near the lamp, even if it is 'safe UVB' the amount of UV could harm the animal... which can be solved by not placing the basking lamp too close to the basking area, but if the animal can get closer, it is in danger.

You can take a look here at this thread I made to identify the old from the new CFLs, if using CFLs is your only option;

https://www.chameleonforums.com/repti-sun-cfl-old-vs-new-31927/

 

[ghettomike]

I didn't realize that household cfl's released uvb rays, the reason im using these is because i could not find a 18 inch t8 6500k bulb anywhere. Has anybody on here used 6500k cfl's for their plants and had any eye issues with their cham?

 

[summoner12]

I didn't realize that household cfl's released uvb rays, the reason im using these is because i could not find a 18 inch t8 6500k bulb anywhere. Has anybody on here used 6500k cfl's for their plants and had any eye issues with their cham?

I use the 6500K CFLs in my free ranges and on my two female cages. So far no issue, it is just something to be aware of, in case we aren't using the same brand, or there are differences in formulas.

 

[ghettomike]

thanks for all the info summoner. I will definately keep a close eye on her for any signs of a problem from the lights. Do you know what brand the cfl's are that have?

 

[summoner12]

thanks for all the info summoner. I will definately keep a close eye on her for any signs of a problem from the lights. Do you know what brand the cfl's are that have?

what brand of UVB or what brand of generic household CFLs?

As far as I know, I haven't heard of household CFLs causing issues... But because of their characteristic, I think it is wise to be aware of the potential and keep an eye out. I am using the brand from Lowe's, I think they are GE? I have no issues.

 

[steelheadchaser]

I didn't realize that household cfl's released uvb rays, the reason im using these is because i could not find a 18 inch t8 6500k bulb anywhere. Has anybody on here used 6500k cfl's for their plants and had any eye issues with their cham?

I am using 23w Sylvania 6500k CFL's for plant/general lighting. Using a Solarmeter 6.2 UV meter, I have checked all my cage CFL's and came up with a reading of 0 for all of them.

I have checked most of the lights in the house now and noticed that all of the newer CFL's and tubes have a zero reading on the meter. My many years old warm white 48" tube in the bathroom is reading around 30 µW/cm2 and an old warm white CFL in a lamp is reading 18 µW/cm2. So far I am not sure whether this is a function of the age of the lamp or its temp in K.

 

[ghettomike]

summoner, I was talking about the household cfl and you answered it, I believe the ones that I'm using are GE as well. thanks alot for your imput, both of you, I may need to eventually invest in a UV solarmeter.

 

[steelheadchaser]

I debated whether I really needed to buy a meter for some time. Now that i have it I find it invaluable, not only for evaluating the bulbs and reflectors, but also for setting up the optimum placement of vines and branches under the UVB tube.

 

[summoner12]

I want to make sure there isn't confusion with the photo I posted above... I am unsure of the brand of lamp that is in the photo and putting out UVB. It was on display as 'convert to CFLs to save money' and I grabbed a box to help lower costs at our new apt because all of the lamps were incandescent.

I have not checked my GE lamps for UVB output. I will and will report back.