UVB/UVA Bulb study

[Tokoloshe]

Hey all, here is an interesting article I came across.
Does a good job of explaining what we want our bulbs to accomplish.

http://www.testudo.cc/Media/Herpetomania3-4_04.pdf

Cheers,
T.

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy T.,

Yep. That's the study that highlights the reason that many keepers recommend the Reptisun 5.0 linear tube. Jukka Lindgren's "D3 Yield Index" chart really spells it out. Even a 10 month-old Reptisun 5.0 is better at producing UVB in the CORRECT parts of the spectrum than all of the others that he tested. I just wish that he tested even more brands and models. The eye-opening data (Table 4) shows that there is more to reptile UVB than just uW levels. It has to have the right (I call it) "sub-spectrum" mix of energy in the 280-304nm compared to the 305-319nm ranges to have vitamin D3 production to most effectively occur.

Those of us with Solarmeter 6.2 UVB meters have to remember that we shouldn't rely on the meter's UVB uW reading to compare one make/model tube to another. The Solarmeter 6.2 does not measure D3 Yield but it does give us a great measurement of the UVB uW reaching a particular position in an enclosure and allows us to track the tube's output decay over time. It is essentially the reptile community's gold standard for making that measurement. But first you have to start out with a UVB tube that produces a good spectrum .