Habitat - Indoor :: quick uvb lighting question....

[suprchuck1]

Hi all, this is my first post as I'm new to the RES hobby/lifestyle. I just got my turtle, "The Fonz", a UVB repti glo 8.0. I understand where and how to put it, but my question is this:

When I turn it on, only the two ends of the buld light up a blueish color. The middle section stays dark. I am thinking that this might just be because it's not emitting visible rays, but I wanted to make sure this is normal or bogus before returning the bulb to petco.

Thanks a lot for your help!

~Chuck

[Turtleboy]

im not sure what that could be, i have a reptisun 10.0 and the whole thing is a bluish color...

[missibsu]

What is the longest amount of time you have left it on for? Could it be that it just hasn't had a chance to warm up?

[steve]

It doesn't sound right. If its seated properly and is still dark in the center, then I would return it for an exchange.

[marisa]

It does sound like something's wrong. I'm assuming this is a flourescent light...The 10.0 Reptisuns that I have at times seem to have a pinkish color to them and then seem to get brighter (but they're still dark compared to the ESU compact flourescent). But they light up completely (as of this post). It sounds like something in the bulb has been damaged. You should take it back.

[suprchuck1]

Thanks for all the input. About 10 minutes after my post I smelled something burning and found the fixture of the bulb smoking from the one end. I'm thinking from your inputs that it's definately the bulb's fault. Good thing I caught it in time... thanks again everyone