Habitat - Indoor :: basking lights

[kiwigerman]

hi all. i was wondering if i can buy a light that gives UVA and UVB all in one?
at the moment i have a flourecent tube which gives good UVB but no heat. as its been summer here, i havent needed to add heat. but now its getting colder i know i have to add an incandecent bulb to the setup.... but i was just curious if there are lights that do both?

[Starchick]

How big is your tank? If it's upwards of 50 gallons you can get a mercury vapor bulb, which provides both. They're very powerful though so you have to be careful not to overheat your tank.

[kiwigerman]

its got 40 gallons of water in it. I pressume thats the MVB I've heard mentioned around the site. so if i get one of those, i can get rid of the flouro? and what wattage would i use?

[marisa]

40 gallons of water in a tank that's 50 or more gallons? You could try a 100-watt MVB flood. You can get rid of the flouro if you use one.

[industrial_girl_2000]

Like Marisa said, 100W MVB like "Powersun UV" or "T-rex" should do the trick.

Folks on the board have mentioned that the T-rex is more powerful than the powersun UV. My only experience is the 100W Powersun I have for my turtle and she LOVES it & basks daily. It's just right for her. I have it positioned about 12 inches away from her basking dock.

With the T-rex you may have to position 18-20 inches away due to it being more powerful.

Buy online if you can.....the MVB's are really expensive inside the petstores so definitely shop around. Petsmart will price-match their website if you print out the page with the product on it. I've saved lots of money doing this.

[DavidY]

The Powersun's are a little cheaper, sometimes by as much as $10, and are probably more than adequate for our turtles. The stronger T-Rex bulbs are more desireable for the more tropical or desert species of reptiles like iguanas or bearded dragons .

I'm actually using the MVB's that I switch out of my dragon and Chameleon enclosures for the turtles. I replace the bulbs every year since the UV levels start to drop off at that point, but they are still stronger than any flourescent UV bulbs. So I am going to continue putting the used bulbs over the turtle's setup. I also have a flourescent fixture over the water area anyway, so they are getting covered.

[faithin_felix]

Yes, there is. The current bulb i am using exerts both UVA and UVB rays.

[almmaaa]

Do you guys know of a website that offers t rex products? also do these lightbulbs need to be far away from the tanks/basking area? thanks

[DavidY]

I usually order from Reptile Supply. They are very competitively priced and they have the TRex 100w flood for $48. I've been leaning towards the ZooMed Powersun 100w floods which are only $39. They don't give off as much UV as the TRex bulbs, but then again, I think the RES doesn't really need that strong a UV output to be healthy. I may be wrong though. My feeling is that if people have been successfully raising RES with only flourescent UV bulbs for so long, then the ZooMed MVB is still a major step up, and costs less than the TRex bulb. Also, the very high UV output can be damaging to the eyes and it sounds like RES may be susceptible to that.

Either way, do not place any MVB bulb closer than 12 inches from the surface of your turtle. If your turtle is small and/or the tank is small (say less than 40 or 50gal) you may want to keep it higher, like around 15 inches or more. The MVB bulbs are good at generating UV up to several feet away. Make sure to check the basking spot temperature under the bulb carefully so you don't burn your turtle.

[SpotsMama]

Just an aside (if your tank is big enough and you have the right fixture then a MVB is a great bulb - I use one too) but any bulb that provides UVB will also provide UVA. That's because UVA is on the spectrum between UVB and visible light.

The reverse is not true. Just because a bulb provides UVA that doesn't mean it also provides UVB.