Alternative usage of an MVB bulb

[Pák]

Hi Forum Members,

I just wanted to share my one year experience with a possible use of MVB bulbs.
I have a yearling sulcata, and originally i bought him for UVB source a 100W MVB bulb. According to this forum i dont put it in his enclosure, but i dont want to waste my money so i started to use it like this:



The idea is to not use the bulb as a basking lamp only as UVB source during his daily soaks.
My sulcata is still a full time indoor tortoise, he only gets real sunshine maybe once or twice a month for an hour. For 6 months this bulb was his only UVB source.
After that i bought an Arcadia T5 kit, but i find that ineffective and expensive in my setup. ( i shoud have buy 2 of those, just to be sure he spends enought time under them, because at that time he was way smaller and did not use half of his enclosure most of the days.)
So I instead bought a new MVB from arcadia, and i continued to use that during his soaks. (1-2 hour daily)
A few pics of him that i take today:

 

[wellington]

He looks great. They only need about 4 hours a day or 3-4 times a week of uvb anyway. Do try to put the light straight down though, they should not be hung on an angle

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I feel your pain.
I have six "brand new" MVB bulbs in a box in my garage. They were expensive and I've been looking for a way to repurpose them for a few years.
What I previously found was that the MVB don't do anything well. Or even consistently. They give off wildly different levels of UVB and heat from one to another and don't broadcast UVB in a way that seemed helpful. (Too high in one spot and non existent nearby) as tested with a uv meter and a digital temp reader.
Without a 65.r UV reader, you're just guessing at the actual uv level. I'd say it's negligible at best.
A proper T5 linear florescent HO 10.0 or 12% is not expensive. And actual sunlight outside is free. When possible.
Please don't assume that your torts uvb needs are being met this way. Its a guess at best. Metabolic bone disease happens slowly from lack of mvb. Your first sign of of might already be an advanced case.
Investing in a correct uvb source now can save tons of money and heart-ache later.

 

[Tom]

Hi Forum Members,

I just wanted to share my one year experience with a possible use of MVB bulbs.
I have a yearling sulcata, and originally i bought him for UVB source a 100W MVB bulb. According to this forum i dont put it in his enclosure, but i dont want to waste my money so i started to use it like this:

View attachment 368291

The idea is to not use the bulb as a basking lamp only as UVB source during his daily soaks.
My sulcata is still a full time indoor tortoise, he only gets real sunshine maybe once or twice a month for an hour. For 6 months this bulb was his only UVB source.
After that i bought an Arcadia T5 kit, but i find that ineffective and expensive in my setup. ( i shoud have buy 2 of those, just to be sure he spends enought time under them, because at that time he was way smaller and did not use half of his enclosure most of the days.)
So I instead bought a new MVB from arcadia, and i continued to use that during his soaks. (1-2 hour daily)
A few pics of him that i take today:
View attachment 368292

MVBs sometimes produce no UVB at all, and other times they produce way too much. Enough to burn the eyes. Because of this, I would never recommend using one when the tortoise can't move away from it.

They also cause pyramiding, even in a soak.

I would not use it. Your single Arcadia 12% HO tube is plenty. How is it ineffective? They don't have to sit under it for hours at a time.