Lighting Help

[Kelleeann]

Komodo Solar D3 UV 80w Basking Bulb
Heat light for Reptile Habitats, Terrarium and Vivarium light and Heat Bulb, 82297

Hello,
can someone help me in regards to the light mentioned in the above title, i purchased this on advice from my tortoise breeder, he has been breeding the Hermaans now for many years with great success,
this is the only bulb I am using for my nearly 1year old female, she seems happy enough, stomping around/eating/stools are good and firm and she is growing nicely,
advice greatly appreciated,
kind regards
kellee and the unnamed Hermaan

 

[jsheffield]

Hi Kellee,

Welcome to TFO!

It's a great place to learn, and ask questions, about your tortoise.

I assume from your description that the heat the bulb provides is adequate.

The name of the bulb implies it provides UVB, something which can only be known by measuring the output with a UV-meter... without that critical piece of gear, everyone speaking well or ill of the bulb is just guessing.

Jamie

 

[Markw84]

Most everyone who has really tested Mercury Vapor Bulbs with the right equipment have all seemed to have come the same consensus that they are extremely unreliable in intensity of UVB and useful life of the bulb. In an alarmingly large number of cases they simply can put out dangerous levels of UVB, and then have them degrade quickly to useless levels of UV. The problem is that you cannot tell this without a good meter as the light that is visible can still look the same.

For those of us in the tortoise community that have worked a lot on pyramiding studies, we have found the heat given off by MVB is also too intense and localized and certainly seems to contribute to pyramiding. As we have found closed chambers also by far create the best environment, a MVB also produces way too much heat and will quickly overheat a good enclosure that is set up to maintain good humidity and heat control.

I have found the best lighting is good quality LEDs for ambient lighting. A tube flourescent - (like Arcadia pro T5 kits) for UVB, and a low wattage incandescent flood or standard bulb for basking.