Why a linear blub?

[Stone Marshall]

Hello. Questioning the experts here. I have 2 female veiled chameleons. I have had both for over 2 years now and I have only used the Exoterra Repti-glo 5.0 compact fluorescent tropical lightbulbs for UVB. I have never had a problem with them and replace them every 6 months.

Reading the threads and posts here, I see that most agree that linear bulbs are the way to go. My question is why? My chameleons are big and healthy and have no MBD or other problems associated with bad lighting. Before I dish out another 100 to 200 on fixtures and bulbs, I would love facts and/or opinions about bulbs.

Thank You.

 

[Longhorn1234]

I'm no expert but some of the things I've read on these forums are:

1) CFLs can hurt your chams eyes (although it seems this has been resolved)
2) Linear tubes give better coverage
3) Linear bulbs put out more UVB

Again, these are some things I have read. Someone else can come and correct me if I'm wrong lol

 

[skoram]

If you take a look at the page in this link you can see some nice diagrams of the UVB spread characteristics for different types of bulbs:

http://www.uvguide.co.uk/lightingsurveyintro.htm

I think the description next to fluorescent tubes sums up why so many people here prefer them strongly over other types - "Tubes supply a diffuse “glow” with low intensity visible light, little heat, and a fairly uniform UVB gradient, over a relatively large area, resembling natural UVB “in the shade” on a sunny day."