General Care Discussion :: UVA/UVB fluorescent bulbs

[Delilah]

Can anyone recommend a good brand to use for UVA/UVB light? If I use a household lightblub for UVA light. What wattage should the light be?

[marisa]

For household light, use whatever wattage gets the basking area temp in the 88-90F range. The bulb should not be so close that your turtle can touch it.

Many people here seem to use Repti-Glo bulbs for UVB lights. If I were to use a conventional UVB light, I'd use a Reptisun tube flourescent, probably a 5.0.

If your tank is around 50 gallons, I'd use a mercury vapor bulb (MVB) that would provide both UVB/UVA and heat. (Regular UVB lights also provide UVA rays, but you do need that heat bulb.)

[Rubicon]

Do you have a link to one of these UVA/UVB merc vapor bulbs??

[marisa]

The two best ones are the T-Rex Active Heat bulb and the Mega-Ray. The first can be purchased at a number of online retailers (try googling); the second is sold at www.reptileuv.com