cheap uvb strip light

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My poor box turtle... I thought her uvb strip bulb stopped working (which was new in may so I was mad) so I ordered a new one from amazon. In the mean time (few days) she had nothing. Got the new bulb today. Wasn't the bulb that stopped working, it's the strip light holder thing. I think I have seen somewhere that people buy these at home depot or Lowe's im sure for fraction of what amazon or pet stores charge. Am I right? I have all pet store type for my shelled family. Is there something cheaper at hardware stores?
 
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Is it an 18" fixture?
They're less then $10 at Walmart.
Throw away the tube that comes with it and install your reptile tube.
It Is the 18". I never thought of walmart! That is so much cheaper then pet store ones. They need to have a spot on here for people to post where they buy supplies from for people like me that spend way to much on things because it has a picture of a reptile on it lol. Thank you guys for the suggestions! My checking account loves you for it
 

ZEROPILOT

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It Is the 18". I never thought of walmart! That is so much cheaper then pet store ones. They need to have a spot on here for people to post where they buy supplies from for people like me that spend way to much on things because it has a picture of a reptile on it lol. Thank you guys for the suggestions! My checking account loves you for it
It's called an 18" under cabinet florescent light. Sold by the other florescent tube lights.
Remove the opaque plastic lense/cover and the tube and throw them away. Pop in your reptile tube. Done.
 

Kapidolo Farms

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Yeah, the tube and fixture have to match. There are T8, T12, T5 the digits are a count of how many 1/8 inches are in the diameter.

So a T12 is 1- 1/2 inches in diameter, a T5 is 5/8 inch in diameter.

Then there is the consideration on how many watts.

A T5 can be 'regular' 'HO' or 'VHO', for a "nominal" two foot fixture there are even slightly different tube lengths. That's why I said NOMINAL. For a regular tube 2 foot fixture the tube will be 24 inches and produce light from a 12 Watt tube. For a T5HO the tube will be 22.5 inches long and use 24 watts. This mismatch of nominal sizes and tubes was done on purpose so people would not try to place a regular tube in a HO fixture and visa versa.

ZooMed and Arcadia sometimes don't specify in one advertisement or another that they are HO or not. But the wattage is usually specified.

Light your reptiles has a pretty good graphic here. http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/bulbs/fluorescent-uvb/

You will notice there are no 18 inch T5HO tubes. So that WalMart fixture will be useless for a T5HO.

T5HO puts out the best light over time and for the price.

The least expensive fixtures can be found at ZenHydro or one of the internet store competitors. They beat Amazon even if you have Prime.

The tubes themselves are found at a best price at Reptile Wholesale Supply, I'm happy for someone to post a better price anytime.

I use mostly two tube fixtures as the cost per/tube used is more economical than single tube fixtures. You don't have to use two tubes, and use just one side then the other. The tubes that come with the fixtures from hydro suppliers are good light quality, so you can put the UVA/UVB output tube on one side and leave the grow tube on the other side. When I use up the grow tubes I use BlueMax tubes as they tend more to the blue end of the spectrum, have a high Kelvin and Color rendering index. BlueMax were designed for people with Seasonal Affective Disorder to better simulate an extended photoperiod.

Like these https://www.fullspectrumsolutions.c...finition-fluorescent-tube?variant=45464551694
 

Kapidolo Farms

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Wow, so I went to that site and those uv bulbs they sell, are those the same things that I order from amazon (zoo med or whatever)? Like the ones that say uv t5- are those the same things but way cheaper then the pet store kind?
Please use a specific link.
 

Kapidolo Farms

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lighting-3-500.jpg


compare with this chart from the tube I believe that you mention from an earlier post https://www.zenhydro.com/ultra-sun-ultra-uv-8k-t5-ho-24-watt-2-ft-lamp.html

http://sunlightsupply.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/product/901590_Lamp-Performance-Data.pdf

It looks like that tube produces some UVA, but barley no UVB, I don't think it would be a bargain for the purpose of providing UVB.
 
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So you use both the uvb bulb and the grow light? That's not to much light? Do you use that way for any tortoise? - (redfoot/sulcata/russian etc..)
Reptile wholesale.....im going to check that out too. Thanks!
 
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