UVB lamps
- Thread starter Sage
- Start date
Dave Weldon
Avid Member
Howdy,
Who is the manufacturer?
What distance do you have it set?
Who is the manufacturer?
What distance do you have it set?
Dave Weldon
Avid Member
Howdy,
Kind of a tricky question but with somewhat of a simple solution. Coralife is (was) marketed by ESU. ESU was bought-up by the company that sells the R-Zilla UVB product line. The R-Zilla UVB tubes are the ones that recently caused the eye injuries (and death) of chameleons and other species. For the most part, they've been pulled from the market until they've been re-formulated. Your tube is likely not one of the offending ones but as mentioned, your best bet is to replace it with a linear (NOT COMPACT) Zoomed Reptisun 5.0 tube or any length and place it 6"-12" away from your chameleon. In general the ESU UVB producing products of the past had a poor reputation because of their LACK of UVB rather than their excessive production of UVB, especially UVB that was "out of band" lying closer to the dangerous UVC spectral zone.
You may be using a simple Zoomed basking lamp for heat. They don't produce any UVB.
Brad Ramsey
Retired Moderator
I agree with Dave Weldon!
Coral life ??? sounds like something designed for fish.
I don't know.
I second (or third or fourth) the recommendation of the Zoomed 5.0 flourescent tube.
-Brad
Coral life ??? sounds like something designed for fish.
I don't know.
I second (or third or fourth) the recommendation of the Zoomed 5.0 flourescent tube.
-Brad
arosstyler
New Member
UV Index on the 10.0 is intense. The UVB comes in at about 45-55 microwatts at 8-10"s so if you keep your cham in a large enclosure and do not let him get above the 10" mark or so the UVB is great. You also want a ton of foilage due to the High UVIndex. Only other note is the UVA on the 10.0 is really really poor so make sure your basking lamp puts out enough UVA or your background lighting has enough UVA.
Otherwise even in a big enclosure a Reptisun 5.0 is fine with an aluminun reflector (foil works great).
Otherwise even in a big enclosure a Reptisun 5.0 is fine with an aluminun reflector (foil works great).
Dave Weldon
Avid Member
Howdy,
Although the Reptisun 10.0 tube produces more UVB energy, that can be mitigated by placing it farther away. The downsides to the 10.0 tube are that there is still a potential to receive what some consider to be too much UVB if your chameleon gets too close for too long. This can easily happen if you have a screen climber who crawls right under a 10.0 tube for extended periods. The other thing that can be an issue is that to produce more UVB, the tube's visible spectrum has more of a bluish tint which may have unintended psychological consequences. There are keepers who use the Reptisun 10.0 linear tube without noticeable ill effects. The simplest answer is still to stick with the Reptisun 5.0 linear tube for now. The whole issue of UVB and chameleons is complex and with a lot of variables.
arosstyler
New Member
I think what you will hear from most of the folks here (note I did not say all hee hee) is the safest bet is a Reptisun 5.0 tube NOT the compact lamp that screws into a dome fixture.
Hope that helps!
Dave Weldon
Avid Member
HOwdy,
If you are asking what mfgr/make/model UVB light is most often recommended then the answer is ZooMed Reptisun 5.0 linear tube. Use whatever length that physically works for your setup. It's okay for it to be shorter or longer than the enclosure. Just make sure to put it on top and aim it downward.
arosstyler
New Member
Sage, not sure why you are still confused "the safest bet is a Reptisun 5.0 tube NOT the compact lamp that screws into a dome fixture." I tossed out should be the answer. Dave has tossed that out too. Hope that helps.
