Hello All!
So I have been experiencing a lot of frustration in terms of heat bulbs for Shelldon's basking area.
My end goal was to find a nice balance of heat and UVB. I got a Zoomed Reptisun mini compact which provides a nice UVB output (about equivalent to a nice summer's day). I then found a nice heat bulb to compliment it; the 60 W Zoomed Daylight Blue Heat Bulb. This warms up the basking area to about 90 degrees F. Very great combination, and Shelldon has been basking for hours.
The only issue is that this morning, the heat bulb burnt out after a mere two months. This is not frustrating in and of itself, as I do have spares, but when I was looking for heat bulb options, I ran into a similar problem with the 25 W Zoomed Spot Basking Bulbs, which burnt out after two weeks. I contacted Zoomed about the issue (as I went through about 3 bulbs in 6 weeks), and their best solution was 'to make sure that copper piece is at a 45 degree angle' (I was using the Zoomed dual lamp fixture). So when I started using the blue bulb, I used a BRAND NEW spare dual lamp fixture. When I changed the bulb this morning, the copper piece was straight, rather than the 45 degree angle that it was when I first installed the bulb. I fixed it with a screwdriver before installing the new bulb, but this does not provide hope in my heart.
They don't really say how long specifically their bulbs last, just that it is 'european quality for long bulb life', but I have been running into a lot of issue with this company as of late. It is frustrating because in the 10 years that I've had Shelldon, I never really had one of their bulbs go out before (I started out using the blue bulbs, then used the spot lights for a while, then back to the blue bulb. When changing these types, the initial one I had would still work, for like 3 years or so). Now all of a sudden they are going out like some similie that I can't think of at the moment. Even as recently as about a year ago, when I started using the dual lamp fixture, there were no problems. It was only when I started trying to fine-tune Shelldon's lighting around this past August that the metaphorical feces started hitting the fan.
There have been no issues with the UVB lighting, nor any electrical issues in the house to speak of. Shelldon's water heating and filtration are working fine, and Shelldon herself has been in good health. I'm just frustrated at this whole heat bulb situation. If anyone has encountered a similar problem and has any advice, that would be great. I plan to contact Zoomed tomorrow (when it is not Sunday) and really press them for a long-term solution. I'm also open to other heat bulb options. I do have two single dome zoomed lamps, so I can use a higher wattage bulb and hang it higher while the UVB bulb stays where it is if necessary. If there are more efficient lamp/bulb options I am open to that as well. I'm just vexed cause Zoomed never let me down before so I was really hesitant to change, but if this keeps up I may not have a choice.
Thank you.
