URGENT-UVB report--(for ALL reptile owners)

yes! most of us on this foum know to stay away form the compact bulbs. this should be common knowledge. it did mention the Mercury Vapor Bulbs. which i do use. i have 3 chameleons and all of them have these bulbs. i have yet to see any negative effects. then again i know enough to not place them close to the cage.
 
As far as those compact U.V.s are concerned, i think they are best used in a
funky exo-terra viv. canopy. They are horizontal and cant see them doing any damage.
 
compact UV

I use the compact UV bulbs and they haven't caused any negative effects to my lizards at all. I wonder if it has to do with CB animals requiring less UVB or something... It's an interesting concern. I'll look into it more and may change my lighting situation.
 
Actually, I am aware of that news in the last few months.
I made aware by a forum member about the Zilla desert 5.0.

He also show me a picture a dead veiled chameleon (it might very well the lady that the site refers).

It was a horrid picture.
The veiled get red blisters from the scorching UVB radiation all over his body and swollen eyes.

That pic alone convince me to not mess up by buying any UVB lamp except reptiSun 5.0 Tube.
At least, for a while until a new tested and legit UVB light for chameleon that has been approved by breeders and this forum come out. :)

As far as the question above me, i believe it's not about CB cham needs less UVB that WC ones.
The tubes mentioned have emit a dangerous and intense UVB (due to the phosphor coating and stuff).
The one that I know much is the Zilla one.
Their UV radiation is in the borderline between UVB and UVC :)eek:)
UVC is the radiation they use to sterilize everything.
UVC blast living cells with heavy and intense radiation.
It can cause cancer and death. Even human will not be able to stand in that ray for long term.
 
I read the report during one of the previous postings and did not take from it that compact lights should not be used. ??
 
Duke said:
I read the report during one of the previous postings and did not take from it that compact lights should not be used. ??
Click to expand...

Im curious which report your refering to. This one clearly states these are a bad idea.
 
I looked at the levels they measured and the distances. I did take away from it that I should have all of my light elements on for 3 hrs or so before putting them on the cage (burn in period). Yes, the compacts can concentrate the amount and yes, there is a phosporant that should not be used. But, the "take home" that I got was that it is never cut an dry on UV. One should know about how much UV, distances the chams will be at usually, etc. Depending on the cage a compact my be more desirable though not from one particular brand they listed. No one should be saying "I have a linear light therefore my UV levels are optimum".

Duke
 
Duke said:
I looked at the levels they measured and the distances. I did take away from it that I should have all of my light elements on for 3 hrs or so before putting them on the cage (burn in period). Yes, the compacts can concentrate the amount and yes, there is a phosporant that should not be used. But, the "take home" that I got was that it is never cut an dry on UV. One should know about how much UV, distances the chams will be at usually, etc. Depending on the cage a compact my be more desirable though not from one particular brand they listed. No one should be saying "I have a linear light therefore my UV levels are optimum".

Duke
Click to expand...

I see what your saying now.
 
Bugeyes1 said:
dodolah I saw that picture to. It was Brad Ramsey's, right?
Click to expand...
Howdy,

The photo I took was of a panther that a new local keeper had acquired. She had purchased the Zilla Tropical 50 (not a compact tube) and placed it above the enclosure at a reasonable distance. Within a few days, the panther died from exposure to excessive UVB including energy not within the normal spectral bands where we want it. A loooong story short, the manufacturer is re-formulating their phosphor...

The ZooMed Reptisun 10.0 COMPACT is not nearly as dangerous as the Zilla product but it does have "issues" also related to excessive output in the photobiologically active band that can also be a hazard to eyes etc. This dangerous effect does not happen with their Reptisun 10.0 linear tube because it is made for them with a different phosphor by a different manufacturer in a different country.

The dangerousness is more evident when the measurement is presented in the unitless UV Index:

From http://www.uvguide.co.uk/phototherapyphosphor-tests.htm

All of these tubes are set to a distance to produce the relatively high level of 100uW/cm2:

Reptisun linear 5.0 tube measured 2.3 UVI
Reptisun linear 10.0 tube measured 3.1 UVI

Reptisun COMPACT 5.0 tube measured 8.9 UVI
Reptisun COMPACT 10.0 tube measured 10.0 UVI

Zilla Tropical 50 measured 14.2 UVI

I'll let you do your own online research on UVI level and exactly what they mean relative to health issues etc. If I recall correctly, levels like 14.2 UVI are very hard to come by from natural sunlight anywhere on the globe. I think I read somewhere that a 14 UVI will cause a human to sunburn in 7 minutes :eek:. Take the plastic filter off the Zilla 50 and you get a 20.7 UVI :eek::eek:.

Here is a year of UVI maximums for Phoenix, AZ which will give you an idea of high levels in nature. http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/stratosphere/uv_index/gif_files/phx_06.png

Here's a list with Madagascar on it:
http://www.who.int/uv/intersunprogramme/activities/uv_index/en/index3.html

What makes this whole UVB overexposure extra dangerous is that neither the chameleon nor keeper realizes that the chameleon is being "cooked" until it is too late and the damage or death is done. It's a bit different with natural sunlight...
 
RhettusMaximus said:
I wonder if it has to do with CB animals requiring less UVB or something...
Click to expand...

For the record, CB animals do not require less UVB then WC animals. In point of fact, most WC animals will be older and larger then most CB animals acquired and due to the rate of growth of younger animals, UVB radiation will even more important. That is not to say, however, that radiance levels can't be too high, as is discussed in this thread, just that young animals absolutely need UVB.

Chris
 
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