Which light fixture should I use? Dual top or compact top?

[D3sirable]

Hello,

It's been 6 months since I got my russian tortoise so it's time to switch the UV lights. I had coil bulbs before, and after reading so many scary stories about them I decided to change to the long tubes. But also many told me that the long tubes are not really used anymore (?)

I'm wondering if any of these 2 are good choices to buy:

Exo terra dual top




Exo terra compact top



Right now I just have the dome and 1 bulb inside. Please help me I really appreciate it!

 

[Maro2Bear]

Well, the Compact Top is also using the coil CFL type bulbs, so I'd stay away from that model if it can only accomodate that type bulb.

 

[Yvonne G]

I think you can get by a lot cheaper if you buy your lights and fixtures at a home improvement store. You can buy a fluorescent fixture that holds one tube light, or you can buy a ceramic-base hanging fixture and mount a Mercury Vapor Bulb in it. Or you can even shop Amazon.com for the fixture and bulb.

 

[D3sirable]

I think you can get by a lot cheaper if you buy your lights and fixtures at a home improvement store. You can buy a fluorescent fixture that holds one tube light, or you can buy a ceramic-base hanging fixture and mount a Mercury Vapor Bulb in it. Or you can even shop Amazon.com for the fixture and bulb.

I know I can get it cheaper but my point is to spend some extra money and get a better enclosure for my tortoise. I live in Sweden it's hard to buy things here for reptiles. There are very few things that I can choose from and I don't want to do it wrong.

Would you say the above 2 products are good for Russian tortoise, if yes, which one should I buy?

Dual top cost about 180$ here, and Compact top costs 125$.

 

[leigti]

For my Russian I use a high output 10.0 bulb in a high output T5 fixture. Arcadia makes some good bulbs. And they are available in Europe. i'm sorry but I really don't know much about the fixtures you are showing there. check out the website light your reptiles.com. They will at least give you some ideas of good brands that I'm sure you can find over there, but you may have to order off the Internet. @Tom May also have some good information for you.

 

[Tom]

You know what's worse than a compact florescent uv bulb? 3 of them. Know what's worse than that? 3 of them with a reflector behind them.

Arcadia makes very good products and they are in Europe. Hopefully you can find one of their tubes and a fixture to fit it.

 

[D3sirable]

For my Russian I use a high output 10.0 bulb in a high output T5 fixture. Arcadia makes some good bulbs. And they are available in Europe. i'm sorry but I really don't know much about the fixtures you are showing there. check out the website light your reptiles.com. They will at least give you some ideas of good brands that I'm sure you can find over there, but you may have to order off the Internet. @Tom May also have some good information for you.

You know what's worse than a compact florescent uv bulb? 3 of them. Know what's worse than that? 3 of them with a reflector behind them.

Arcadia makes very good products and they are in Europe. Hopefully you can find one of their tubes and a fixture to fit it.

Thanks for your advice,.. I been searching so much on internet and I just can't decide what I should get, and I'm running out of time. My RT already had this UV bulb since 7 months soon and I need to change it ASAP. I heard 5 months is already time to switch it..?

I been searching for Arcadia and I just can't find it. I been to many pet stores and all of them says the long tubes are "old" and now everyones using this compact bulbs with this compact top fixture.... I can't even find a fixture for a UV tube.

The only UV tube I can find in these 3-4 stores I been in is this one: Reptiglo 10.0


Is this one consdiered "good"? I also need to find a fixture which is out of stock everywhere here. What does a good fixture look like? Should it be with or without reflector? I have no idea about this

I checked for Arcadia fixtures and I have no idea which one I should get? Here are some I found:

 

[leigti]

I don't know how to share links, so I took a screenshot of a bald and fixture by Arcadia from light your reptile.com. I hope they help. Sorry I can't be more help.

You should be able to find these over there I would think. They are very hard to get here.

 

[leigti]

Mercury vapor bulbs are also good, such as the power sun 100 W. you want to avoid any compact fluorescent-CFL type. Bulb.

 

[D3sirable]

I don't know how to share links, so I took a screenshot of a bald and fixture by Arcadia from light your reptile.com. I hope they help. Sorry I can't be more help.
View attachment 120094View attachment 120095
You should be able to find these over there I would think. They are very hard to get here.

Thank you! I found a place to buy this Arcadia UVB but only via Ebay, costs around 60$ for one tube including shipping, does that price sound reasonable?
Also, what is the difference between T5 and T8 and what do they mean?
Is it safe to buy these lights from eBay? I'm always scared of buying from private people/companies for some reason..

 

[D3sirable]

I have found these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Arcadia-T5-...iles_Spiders_Insects&var=&hash=item58bc149b90

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Reptile-Arc...t=LH_DefaultDomain_3&var=&hash=item1c3a10f2e0

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Arcadia-D3-...982?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item5d47850ef6

Are they the correct things?

 

[D3sirable]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Arcadia-Ele...iles_Spiders_Insects&var=&hash=item58bc147038

Is this a fixture I should be getting? Will it fit my 36" tube that I will buy?

 

[leigti]

I have found these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Arcadia-T5-...iles_Spiders_Insects&var=&hash=item58bc149b90

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Reptile-Arc...t=LH_DefaultDomain_3&var=&hash=item1c3a10f2e0

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Arcadia-D3-...982?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item5d47850ef6

Are they the correct things?

These look like the right type of tube fluorescent bulbs. T5 and T8 are the width of the tube. A T5 tube needs a T5 fixture etc. T5 will not fit into a T8 fixture. as far as the fixture that you listed in the next post I am not familiar with that. Sorry. The fixture should have the same measurement as the tube, such as 36 inches for example. I have not bought from eBay but I know many people do without a problem. but you have to know exactly what you want before you order. are there European reptile websites that sell Arcadia?

 

[leigti]

We have a lot of European members. hopefully some of them will chime in on this. maybe put European in your read title to get their attention.

 

[D3sirable]

Another question in the meantime... Ive used this UVB reptiglo 10.0 coil bulb for exactly 7 months today... Is that alot danger for my tortoise that I didnt change it sooner? Would the UV already ran out? I heard it should be changed every 5 months.. its already 7 months now, and I can't find the perfect fixture and light yet to change.. now with the eBay it takes atleast 1 more week to deliver, and I havent found a fixture yet.. !!

 

[D3sirable]

These look like the right type of tube fluorescent bulbs. T5 and T8 are the width of the tube. A T5 tube needs a T5 fixture etc. T5 will not fit into a T8 fixture. as far as the fixture that you listed in the next post I am not familiar with that. Sorry. The fixture should have the same measurement as the tube, such as 36 inches for example. I have not bought from eBay but I know many people do without a problem. but you have to know exactly what you want before you order. are there European reptile websites that sell Arcadia?

I been checking all Swedish sites and none of them seem to have Arcadia.. Its also the first time Ive heard about it after you mentioned it.

Here I often hear about Exo-terra and Zoomed, thats all :/

 

[leigti]

Right now I am using zoo med. But I plan to get Arcadia next winter. it seems to give off more UVB. Mercury vapor bulbs are popular here. But there are still a lot of people who use the long tubes.

 

[leigti]

The coil bulbs have been known to cause I problems. If you know you're going to get the new bulbs in a week or so you can just throw away the bold you have right now. of course, one more week may not hurt. It's up to you. But I would suspect that there is no more UV be coming from it.

 

[Tom]

Another question in the meantime... Ive used this UVB reptiglo 10.0 coil bulb for exactly 7 months today... Is that alot danger for my tortoise that I didnt change it sooner? Would the UV already ran out? I heard it should be changed every 5 months.. its already 7 months now, and I can't find the perfect fixture and light yet to change.. now with the eBay it takes atleast 1 more week to deliver, and I havent found a fixture yet.. !!

A few things...

There is no need for this sense of urgency. Nothing magical happens at 5 or 7 months with these bulbs. The manufacturers recommend replacement every 6 months (or 12 months in some cases), and yes the UV output does drop over time, but its not like the UV just stops at the 5 month mark. I have some 24 inch 10.0 tubes that are still putting off the same UV at 14 months that they did when they were new. The only way to know what sort of UV your bulb is putting out is to test it with a meter.

Not all coil bulbs cause a problem. Some do, some of the time, and to this day no one is sure what exactly the problem is or why it is so intermittent. Theories have been proposed, but nothing definitive has been decided. We recommend against them because the risk is high, and there is no way to predict which coil bulbs will be a problem and which ones won't, even from the same manufacturer. Also, the damage done by the bad bulbs can be very severe in some cases. We don't see this incidence of problems with the tubes or MVBs.

Don't they have hardware store over there? Like Home Depot or something? You don't have to buy an expensive "pet" fixture for your regular 10.0 tubes. A regular household florescent fixture from the hardware store will work just fine. If you get the newer HO (High Output) bulbs, those will require their own special fixture.

Realize that regular 10.0 tubes do not put out much UV (Neither do the coil bulbs) and they must be no more than 25-30cm away from the tortoise for the tortoise to get any UV benefit from them. The Arcadia 12% HO bulbs will work from 50-60cm away.

Is there a reason you don't want to use a Powersun to get heat light and UV all in one? This usually works well for russian tortoises. If you replace it every fall, it should last you all year.

 

[D3sirable]

A few things...

There is no need for this sense of urgency. Nothing magical happens at 5 or 7 months with these bulbs. The manufacturers recommend replacement every 6 months (or 12 months in some cases), and yes the UV output does drop over time, but its not like the UV just stops at the 5 month mark. I have some 24 inch 10.0 tubes that are still putting off the same UV at 14 months that they did when they were new. The only way to know what sort of UV your bulb is putting out is to test it with a meter.

Not all coil bulbs cause a problem. Some do, some of the time, and to this day no one is sure what exactly the problem is or why it is so intermittent. Theories have been proposed, but nothing definitive has been decided. We recommend against them because the risk is high, and there is no way to predict which coil bulbs will be a problem and which ones won't, even from the same manufacturer. Also, the damage done by the bad bulbs can be very severe in some cases. We don't see this incidence of problems with the tubes or MVBs.

Don't they have hardware store over there? Like Home Depot or something? You don't have to buy an expensive "pet" fixture for your regular 10.0 tubes. A regular household florescent fixture from the hardware store will work just fine. If you get the newer HO (High Output) bulbs, those will require their own special fixture.

Realize that regular 10.0 tubes do not put out much UV (Neither do the coil bulbs) and they must be no more than 25-30cm away from the tortoise for the tortoise to get any UV benefit from them. The Arcadia 12% HO bulbs will work from 50-60cm away.

Is there a reason you don't want to use a Powersun to get heat light and UV all in one? This usually works well for russian tortoises. If you replace it every fall, it should last you all year.

Thank you Tom that's some very good information you have given me. I'm relieved now about the stress.

I always thought that these UV and heat all in one is worse than 1 separate UV and 1 separate heat, but if I'm wrong I definetly will get one. I think the nearest pet store has it.

The powersun that you mentioned, is it Zoomed Powersun? This is a picture I found:


Link: http://www.zoomed.com/db/products/EntryDetail.php?EntryID=109&DatabaseID=2&SearchID=3

Im not sure if it's this one.