Page 1 of 1

UV Bulb Question

PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2007 11:56 am
by Cidghoul
Is the ESU 20w Super UV Coil Lamp enough Uv for two 3inch RES?
Image (alt+p)

PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2007 11:58 am
by pumpkinsherbet
i just bought that. it makes for a very poor heat source, but for uvb it seems to be doing okay.

PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2007 2:22 pm
by marisa
Any conventional UVB light will not give off enough heat by itself. A second light/a heat source is also needed to warm the basking area temp to 88-90F (it can be a regular lightbulb).

PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2007 2:28 pm
by SpotsMama
That ESU bulb which advertises that it provides "optimal" levels of UV actually only provides 3% UVB. The minimum normally recommended for a RES is 5%. 3% is really low. Maybe it's enough for a lizard.

Here a link on the %:

http://www3.shopping.com/xPC-Esu-Reptil ... google.com

And yeah, you'll need an additional bulb for heat.

PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 12:09 pm
by Cidghoul
Can anyone recomend a screw in UVA & UVB bulb that has the proper amount of both?

PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 12:32 pm
by Rickiew04
Reptisun compact flourescent 5.0 or 10.0 are very good bulbs. There are also Reptiglo compact flourescent 5.0 or 10.0. These bulbs still are not a good source of heat.

PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 1:43 pm
by N4784N R4613
Cidghoul wrote:Can anyone recomend a screw in UVA & UVB bulb that has the proper amount of both?


If your tank is 55 gallons or over you can get a MVB that dose everything in one bulb, UVA, UVB, and heat. Here is the one I use...
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/P ... 006+113030

PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 2:42 pm
by marisa
The ESU coil light for desert reptiles, I think provides 7% UVB as opposed to the one above.

Reptisuns, especially the tubes, are considered to be more reputable, and if you have a choice, it would be better to get one of them. UVB lights also give off UVA rays.

PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 4:03 pm
by pumpkinsherbet
$44 wow, that's really not all that bad.

i checked the package for my bulb. it just says optimal uva/uvb output for basking reptiles. it doesn't say how much. i'll assume it's the 3%. i do have a couple of questions:

they get about 3 hrs of the uvb/day. occasionally i close the store and am unable to switch the bulbs, so about 3 out of 7 days they don't get it. it'll be like that for a couple weeks. is that okay?
there's about 7" of the tank that gets direct sunlight for about 2 hours a day, will that help? i do monitor temps and it doesn't overheat.

PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 6:07 pm
by Starchick
You can get the reptisun 5.0 on reptiledirect.com for 19.99, and the last time I was at petsmart they had something called Reptiglo 5.0 which was a regular screw-in coil lamp for thirteen dollars. I can't say anything about whether that one's any good but for thirteen bucks it's worth investigating.