Mercury bulbs?

popcan666

popcan666

New Member
Hey guys,

so at my local reptile store i was advised to buy a exo terra murcery bulb because its easy to use then the long tubes. and cheaper overall. The guy who works there ( i trust him ive seen his setups at his house) has been using these bulbs on his chameleons for a while now and they all seem healthy and good.

So has anyone used these?
 
I use the Mega Rays on my free ranges. I would afraid to put one on a cage. They put out allot UV and heat and work great to cover a large area like a free range.
 
Unless you have an expensive meter....... I would not recommend for a cage 24x24x48. The reasons are this..... Its best to have 2 basking spots and a place where he or she can be up in the warmth but out of any light rays. His warming spot should not have total UVB directed to it. Here is an example...Say your at the beach all day, Sun Up till Sun Down, you will fry like a potatoe chip if you dont find some shade. A Mercury bulb may work if the warming spot height wont put out too much UVB at that distance, But a Mercury bulb will be in a Dome and he or she should be able to move out of direct exposure. They also emit rays fairly deep into the enclosure making this difficult to get the temp you want at the basking spot. The nice Zoo Med slider Hoods have the basking bulbs at each end for this reason. My new Hood is 36"s and uses a 24" 5.0 tube bulb. The bottom line is.... The Cham can make a choice what light they want.. This is important! My Cham will want UVB for a while then move to his warming spot, then back, what ever he wants. I have found that later in the Afternoon he will be up in the warmth without any direct light at all. General conscensus will recomend the Reptisun 5.0 and warming spots off to 1 side. A big free roam cage will be different. Hope this helped;) Dave

Think of your chams living space as 24x24x18 This is the area he will use almost all the time.... Even though its 48"high.Thats not much space really! My new cage is going to be38x28x48 w/ a built in cabinet undreneath
 
Mercury Vaper

I have a mercury vapor Power sun 100 W. I have been reading about using separate lights for heat and basking and have been wondering about his lighting needs. I have the 48" cage and my Panther seems to spend more time stalking crickets in the lower areas. I wonder how deep the light actually penetrates into the lower extremities of the cage. The screen itself must block a great deal of light. He is always moving to different heights so I was assuming he knows what he likes. I have had him for two months has shed twice and seems to be very healthy and happy. I don't know but if it aint' broke?...
 
Davonat said:
Unless you have an expensive meter....... I would not recommend for a cage 24x24x48. The reasons are this..... Its best to have 2 basking spots and a place where he or she can be up in the warmth but out of any light rays. His warming spot should not have total UVB directed to it. Here is an example...Say your at the beach all day, Sun Up till Sun Down, you will fry like a potatoe chip if you dont find some shade. A Mercury bulb may work if the warming spot height wont put out too much UVB at that distance, But a Mercury bulb will be in a Dome and he or she should be able to move out of direct exposure. They also emit rays fairly deep into the enclosure making this difficult to get the temp you want at the basking spot. The nice Zoo Med slider Hoods have the basking bulbs at each end for this reason. My new Hood is 36"s and uses a 24" 5.0 tube bulb. The bottom line is.... The Cham can make a choice what light they want.. This is important! My Cham will want UVB for a while then move to his warming spot, then back, what ever he wants. I have found that later in the Afternoon he will be up in the warmth without any direct light at all. General conscensus will recomend the Reptisun 5.0 and warming spots off to 1 side. A big free roam cage will be different. Hope this helped;) Dave

Think of your chams living space as 24x24x18 This is the area he will use almost all the time.... Even though its 48"high.Thats not much space really! My new cage is going to be38x28x48 w/ a built in cabinet undreneath
Click to expand...

I have the Mercury Vapor Power Sun 100W I have read some recommendations for separate lights. My Panther uses all different levels and basks at multiple heights at different times of the day. He seems to know what he likes I dont know if his lighting needs are being fulfilled, but he appears to be very healthy. I have the 24x24x48 and he uses all of it for stalking. He is about nine months old and I will upgrade to a bigger enclosure as he grows and funds allow. I worry about the light penetrating to the bottom of the cage. He spends alot of time in the mid and lower regions of the cage. It seems that the screen blocks a great deal of the light.
 
TOMMYBOY72 said:
I have the Mercury Vapor Power Sun 100W I have read some recommendations for separate lights. My Panther uses all different levels and basks at multiple heights at different times of the day. He seems to know what he likes I dont know if his lighting needs are being fulfilled, but he appears to be very healthy. I have the 24x24x48 and he uses all of it for stalking. He is about nine months old and I will upgrade to a bigger enclosure as he grows and funds allow. I worry about the light penetrating to the bottom of the cage. He spends alot of time in the mid and lower regions of the cage. It seems that the screen blocks a great deal of the light.
Click to expand...

He is probably useing that part of the cage because the UVB is too extreme for him,, Try putting a compact flourescent in there & see if he doesnt spend more time north. Dont worry about getting UVB all the way down..... He only needs it up top. Its good for them to get away from it all. Its my personal opinion cages are that tall so you can get potted trees in there. My crickets ussually climb the screen to the top for warmth where they then get picked off;)
 
I didnt mean to say he doesn't bask within 8 inches from the top he does at times especially after he gets misted, and after he feeds but he does use the whole enclosure quite often. I noticed he does retire to the 3/4 level before my lights go out. I keep them on 12 hrs or so I try to keep them with daylight cycle. He is so active all day I guess he gets settled in before nightfall. I would say he is very active 10 of the 12 hrs of daylight. I guess I will have to get a meter, that is the only true measurement for light penetration.
 
TOMMYBOY72 said:
I didnt mean to say he doesn't bask within 8 inches from the top he does at times especially after he gets misted, and after he feeds but he does use the whole enclosure quite often. I noticed he does retire to the 3/4 level before my lights go out. I keep them on 12 hrs or so I try to keep them with daylight cycle. He is so active all day I guess he gets settled in before nightfall. I would say he is very active 10 of the 12 hrs of daylight. I guess I will have to get a meter, that is the only true measurement for light penetration.
Click to expand...

If he is basking that close.... Then its possible your bulb is just fine. I was always told the Mercurys were only good for large enclosures, But I guess there are lower wattage 1's now. Whats the temp at 8"s away..?
 
Heat/shade

I feel bad that I dont know. I dont have a proper thermometer, its on my list. I keep the room high 70's to low 80's in the day. At night I drop it to 70/72 according to my thermostat and room thermometer on the wall. lol I know if he was cold he would be basking all the time so I wasn't worried about it. I have a Beardy in the same room and have experimented with his tank and placement of his lights and I think I have found a good medium where both of them are very healthy. I am assuming that they know what temps they like as long as I give them a full range of heat and a place to cool off when they need it they will go to that place. My Beardy is an "animal" and growing at a great rate. The Ambanja Panther has put on considerable size since bringing him home two months ago. He has shed twice in two months and he is extremely active. I leave a couple of crickets in his cup for early feeding. I like to let him warm up before I turn more loose for hunting and than I enjoy my coffee while he stalks his prey. So cool! I gut load everything I use fluckers cricket food/Rapashi bug burger/ collard greens and mustard greens/ most veggie scraps except spinach, broccoli. I use a Moto mister for spraying him which is now his favorite way to drink while I mist. One interesting thing I noticed. Last week I took them both outside it was in the mid eighties. The Panther turned a nice soft powder blue and basked for about an hr comfortably. Within the next 36 hrs the beardy and the Panther both shed! My beardy sheds quite often since he has grown so quickly but they have never shed at the same time. I thought maybe the natural sunlight kicked up their functions? Either way they are both doing great! I have had the Beardy for 5 months and the Panther for about two months or so. I am thinking about getting an ousalet.
 
You need a thermometer .... Get a zoo med thermometer with humidity guage. Stick it about 8-10 inches from the top & in the middle on the back wall. Also get a Zoo Med or equivelant Thermometer that has a wire and a probe on the end Check the temp of his basking spot. You can use a temp gun too, but they cant measure air temp. You can see the top part of my cage is 80 deg's & 70 % humidity. Ernie is hiding the needle on the hum. guage
 

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Thermometer.

Yes it is on my list. It seems like every time I go for an improvement I get something I didnt plan on . I wanted to get what I thought was a heat gun. The guy just pointed it at the spot in the cage and it registered. I think it was a little pricy but I was impressed.
 
Davonat said:
You need a thermometer .... Get a zoo med thermometer with humidity guage. Stick it about 8-10 inches from the top & in the middle on the back wall. Also get a Zoo Med or equivelant Thermometer that has a wire and a probe on the end Check the temp of his basking spot. You can use a temp gun too, but they cant measure air temp. You can see the top part of my cage is 80 deg's & 70 % humidity. Ernie is hiding the needle on the hum. guage
Click to expand...

Ernie is cool/ nice markings, what type is he?
 
TOMMYBOY72 said:
Ernie is cool/ nice markings, what type is he?
Click to expand...

He is a Ambilobe- Sambava Panther Cross Ive only had him 3 weeks this Wed. He has already tripled in size. If you look thru General Photography you can find a thread.... "MEET ERNIE" prolly around page 3..... There are pics of his cage and stuff
 
The Exo terra Mercury Vapor bulbs lose their UV out put very fast.
The become useless in as quick as 4 months as far as UV output goes, but they still can be used as a heat light.

The best piece of equipment you can but is a Solarmeter 6.2 :eek:
 
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