General Care Discussion :: Different Wattages of UVB Bulbs

[lotsofpets]

Ever since I have replaced the UVB for Donatello's habitat, (he) has been growing much faster. I used to have a ESU 3% bulb about 6 or so inches from his basking dock. For about two and a half months now, I have had a reptisun 10% bulb about a foot away from his dock. Before replacement = not quite 2 inches, after replacement = a little more than three inches now. He certainly didn't grow at this rate before! His habitat and diet have pretty much stayed the same as before. Any ideas as to why this has happened?

[marisa]

It sounds like he's had a growth spurt, which can happen.

Everything else is the same? Perhaps now that summer is coming, the added warmth is encouraging faster growth.

[Twoster]

hey lostofpets..sorry, but this question is somewhat in the same topic..

im wondering, (since you stated the percentages of your bulbs)
how can you tell the percentages of UVB of bulbs?..i have an exo-terra 5.0 and the 2.0 as well.. any help would be appreciated..thanks

[RunninWideOpen]

the 5.0 and 2.0 means the percentage

[Twoster]

alright thanks, the bulbs package has these "relative spectral power %" charts..and i have no idea how to read those..lol..i just read that most peoples used the 5.0..and the 2.0 states its a full spectrum bulb..but thanks again..

[RunninWideOpen]

I don't really know how to read those charts either twoster, lol.

[DavidY]

Go with the 5.0 bulb. The numbers indicate the percentage of the overall output that is actually UVB, which is represented by the violet bands on the chart (usually the left most end of the graph with the shortest wavelength numbers along the horizontal axis). The 2.0 bulbs usually have very little UVB showing on the graph.

Also, the percentage of UVB is really a percentage of the light output for that particular brand of light bulb. Another brand may have the same 5.0 designation but the actual amount of UVB may be different depending on the overall output of that bulb. If brandX has a higher overall output than brandY then the UVB level of brandX will also be higher than the UVB level of brandY.

[Twoster]

thanks you all!

[RunninWideOpen]

Ah, thanks DavidY! You know......you should just write a book on all this stuff, lol.

[DavidY]

Ha ha, that's where I learned all this stuff!