Is this the right bulb?

[Chameleomom]

lifespan of these two T5s lasting at least 12 months should not be one of them

Do you have a solar meter to back up your findings? Well I do and a T5HO Reptisun does NOT last a year with the proper UVB .Now Arcadia does last that long. Let me ask what kind of chameleons do you have?

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Do you have a solar meter to back up your findings?

Yes I do, and my findings are not just my own, as detailed in previous post.

 

[Chameleomom]

So you have both bulbs and have run tests? You didn't answer what kind of chameleon you had

 

[Beman]

Yes I do, and my findings are not just my own, as detailed in previous post.

See this is the problem... By telling people that they can wait a year or over a year to replace your putting their cham at risk. We give these basic guidelines because 1 out of every 10 are going to get a solarmeter 6.5. So that leaves the other 9 that will not. By telling them not to replace at 6-9 months you now risk their cham. These bulbs are not equal to one another. Even an arcadia bulb will start to put out less UVB the longer it is used. So we stick to the rule of thumb because being responsible for a chams death is not something we want to take on.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

See this is the problem... By telling people that they can wait a year or over a year to replace your putting their cham at risk.

OK, first, please don't put words in my mouth. I did not tell anyone, "that they can wait a year or over a year to replace". I said that Reptisun T5 bulbs should last 12 months according to everything credible that I can find, including their warranty, and I provided citations to back up what I found.

We give these basic guidelines because 1 out of every 10 are going to get a solarmeter 6.5. So that leaves the other 9 that will not.

Then why hasn't it occurred to anyone to tell people to get a Solarmeter—that it's an essential piece of equipment for keeping a healthy chameleon diurnal reptile? We tell them to get an enclosure of a certain size, what supplements, what tests, what veterinarians, what plants and that they should be live instead of plastic, what feeders to get, what thermometers & hygrometers, how often to mist, and... what lighting to provide—everything essential to good husbandry except the one piece of equipment that will ensure not risking their chameleon's getting MBD. Why not a UVB meter? Why is it OK to do this on the cheap‽ People are spending hundreds of dollars on enclosures, and hundreds of dollars on lighting (over time, at least) but not the extra to know if the UVB is working properly? IMO, that makes no sense.

What if someone gets a defective bulb? I got one, and if I hadn't had the meter, I wouldn't have known, I would've been out the money, and my pet would have been at risk.

By telling them not to replace at 6-9 months you now risk their cham. These bulbs are not equal to one another. Even an arcadia bulb will start to put out less UVB the longer it is used. So we stick to the rule of thumb because being responsible for a chams death is not something we want to take on.

I'M not risking anyone's cham. The only place I'll go out on a limb to say is, if someone can't afford everything necessary to provide proper husbandry for a chameleon, then perhaps they should think about getting a less expensive to care for pet. (OMG!—He said it! ) I have too many veterinarians in my social network not to have heard too many horror stories about people who shouldn't keep animals because they either can't—or more likely won't—spend what's necessary to properly care for them.

Yes, all UVB bulbs lose efficacy in time—that's not the issue.
I think your rule of thumb is based on outdated—or mis—information.

Why aren't people screaming about this "blatant misrepresentation" on the part of Reptisun?
Please—show me some credible citation, study, etc. that says Reptisun's T5's don't last 12 months. I'd be happy to recant, retract, eat my words, whatever... But I can't find any such evidence, and so far, no-one else has produced any. Anecdotal evidence, while not worthless, has some problems. How do we know the bulb wasn't defective? How do we know it wasn't old, returned by someone else after some use and resold, or damaged in some way?

I'm not angry, but I'm a little frustrated that meanings are being assigned to me that I haven't said or expressed.

 

[Chameleomom]

So you have both bulbs and have run tests? You didn't answer what kind of chameleon you had

And yet again my question is unanswered. I can tell you people here have tested both bulbs on time and a solar meter. He wants to talk bulbs I will hook him up with Todd. Just spoke with him today

 

[Beman]

OK, first, please don't put words in my mouth. I did not tell anyone, "that they can wait a year or over a year to replace". I said that Reptisun T5 bulbs should last 12 months according to everything credible that I can find, including their warranty, and I provided citations to back up what I found.

By posting within this forum you are telling people this... This is an open searchable forum. So what we say is permanently there for others to read and when we post things it does not mean that someone will read an entire thread to understand one post. So being complete in what we recommend or say is important or it is taken out of context. I do not care what reptisun says... I tested my neighbors bulb after 7 months of use and it was a complete reduction in UVB output. So I stick to the rule of thumb of every 6-9 months.

I have arcadia and they are 12 months... I do not replace mine every 12 because I have a solarmeter to know exactly what my levels are. When they get to a reduced amount that does not work for my set up then they are replaced. BUT again not everyone has a solarmeter since they are an expensive piece of equipment.

 

[GoodKarma19]

Why aren't people screaming about this "blatant misrepresentation" on the part of Reptisun?

The manufacturer of the ReptiSun line - ZooMed - also claims that coil UVB is sufficient and sells the infamous chameleon kit. I don't trust them or their guarantees. People have tried emailing the company and petitioning before.

YMMV. ?‍

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

The manufacturer of the ReptiSun line - ZooMed - also claims that coil UVB is sufficient and sells the infamous chameleon kit. I don't trust them or their guarantees. People have tried emailing the company and petitioning before.

YMMV. ?‍

It does. I had no problem returning the defective bulb—the warranty was honored—including shipping both ways.

I'm not familiar with the Zoo Med claim about coil bulbs, though I have one, and am aware of their limitations.

IANAL. Are you claiming the coil is "not fit for the purpose for which it is intended"?
Have complaints been filed with BBB? Attorneys General? Bureau of Consumer Protection? Consumer Protection Agency? State Consumer Protection Offices? Local television consumer action? Class Action? Small Claims? (it appears Zoo Med is incorporated in CA; other states would likely be unwieldy to pursue)

How to Complain -- And Get Results

Do you have a link to this petition, because in searching for it, I find a lot of posts saying there should be one, asking who wants to start one, etc., but I find no mention of an actual petition existing, much less finding the petition (or text of) itself. Perhaps I missed it? Depending on the specifics & wording, I might support such a petition.

The whole issue here has been one of shooting the messenger.

If I see something I'm curious about, I research it—objectively—and share what I find, citing sources. If someone has conflicting information, it's not that hard to convince me. All I ask is the same courtesy of citing sources so we can have a cogent evidence-based discussion and reach either fact or difference of opinion.

I've already touched on anecdotal evidence, but this may explain it better than I:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anecdotal_evidence​

When compared to other types of evidence, anecdotal evidence is generally regarded as limited in value due to a number of potential weaknesses, but may be considered within the scope of scientific method as some anecdotal evidence can be both empirical and verifiable, e.g. in the use of case studies in medicine. Other anecdotal evidence, however, does not qualify as scientific evidence, because its nature prevents it from being investigated by the scientific method. Where only one or a few anecdotes are presented, there is a larger chance that they may be unreliable due to cherry-picked or otherwise non-representative samples of typical cases.[2][3] Similarly, psychologists have found that due to cognitive bias people are more likely to remember notable or unusual examples rather than typical examples.[4] Thus, even when accurate, anecdotal evidence is not necessarily representative of a typical experience. Accurate determination of whether an anecdote is typical requires statistical evidence.[5] Misuse of anecdotal evidence is an informal fallacy[6] and is sometimes referred to as the "person who" fallacy ("I know a person who..."; "I know of a case where..." etc.) which places undue weight on experiences of close peers which may not be typical.​

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