Why are CFL UVBs bad for chams eyes?

[Brodybreaux25]

This is something that has been coming up a lot lately. Everyone says that the CFL UBVs are harmful to your chams eyes but I’ve never heard why...

What is it about CFLs that damage their eyes?
What part of the eye is being damaged?
What is it about linear UVBs that make them safer?

 

[Longhorn1234]

I thought I read that whatever the issue that was causing problems with chameleons' eyes was resolved. I might have read that in this forum. If I'm wrong then I'm sure someone will correct me haha

 

[jannb]

The issue was said to be resolved but we have had some long time keepers that still experienced eye problems using the coil bulbs. I personally would never use them. Other than causing the chameleons to close their eyes and some to even go blind, they only cover a small area of the enclosure in a more condense strength. The tube style bulb covers a much larger area with less strength. In the past few years vets have also been seeing more melanoma skin cance in chameleons cause by UVB lights. My vet said it’s the same as us humans laying in a tanning bed.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

The issue was said to be resolved but we have had some long time keepers that still experienced eye problems using the coil bulbs. I personally would never use them. Other than causing the chameleons to close their eyes and some to even go blind, they only cover a small area of the enclosure in a more condense strength. The tube style bulb covers a much larger area with less strength. In the past few years vets have also been seeing more melanoma skin cance in chameleons cause by UVB lights. My vet said it’s the same as us humans laying in a tanning bed.

So it sounds like the concentration of the CFLs output is the issue, not that the CFL is putting out something different than linear. Kind of like staring into the sun directly?

 

[Decadancin]

So it sounds like the concentration of the CFLs output is the issue, not that the CFL is putting out something different than linear. Kind of like staring into the sun directly?

The bulbs from a few years back were the issue. The fear is that there may still be some of them available through some retailers and even though the bulbs made now should be fine, you may not know you have one of the faulty ones. As @jannb states, the tube style definitely does not have a concentrated spot of UVB but a more "natural" coverage in an enclosure.

 

[Goose502]

I’ve always had an issue with the parabolic shape of the fixture. The bulb itself is probably more safe than they were years ago, but using a standard socket means they get used in fixtures that concentrate the light output into narrow beams of energy(most often at the basking level), then disperse into a very narrow cone of light and usable UVB. I have read about increase diagnosis of skin cancer as well, though that may just be increased diagnosis, not necessarily increased prevalence.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Thanks! My setups are all linear, I just wanted to be able to explain myself better when the arguments come up.

 

[nightanole]

A CFL puts out almost no light. Whatever light it does put out, just gets bounced off the coils, very very little amount goes into the room. A 15 watt linear is going to put 3x more than a cfl.

Now back over 10 years ago, the rev 1 cfls put out waaaaaay to much UVC (because why would you even test for a spectrum you were not aiming to create?) and were all recalled. But as people said, there "could" be a few left on the shelves,but after 10 years???

 

[jannb]

There has been a few very experienced keepers that had problems with recently bought new CLF bulbs, not old stock.

 

[Tucklander]

Nice post, good to know the whys of advice given

 

[RobTheChameleonLover]

Yeah when i first got my cham I noticed it wasa straight down beam and got weaker farther down you looked. And when you guys suggested linear bulbs. I switched and noticed a big difference. And cham was more active then with cfl. Here a picture with cfl. You can see its straight down and not spread out.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

At one time there was a manufacturing problem with the ReptiSun CFL UVB bulbs so that they emitted unsafe levels of UVB and even UVC rays, which corresponded to health problems like eye problems and burns in reptiles. This manufacturing issue was identified and corrected by the manufacturer several years ago and thus we have not seen problems with it since then. The ReptiGlo CFL UVB bulbs were never associated with these harmful effects. The linear ReptiGlo or ReptiSun bulbs have never had any health problems associated with them either. I personally use linear bulbs for better coverage and the reasons Jann described.

 

[44937]

In discussions with Ed at Kammer, he mentioned he has had really good results with Exo Terra Tropical 100 CFL as well as reptisun 5.0 t5 and t8s.