Powersun UV bulbs

[Snowball98]

Sorry, I'm a beardie novice, so I've been asking a lot of questions lately
After looking into lighting, I found the reason why my baby dragon has been squinting constantly. Powersun UV 100 w bulbs supposedly cause eye problems in beardies. Does anyone have experience with this?
Also, I'm going to get new lighting.. Can someone tell me what I need this time, so I don't screw up again? I'll need a heat, and UV bulb (or another that does both)..
Thanks in advance!

 

[Chestersmom]

For heat you can use a regular incandescent bulb (play around with wattage to get the right temp.) For uvb the tube reptiSUN 10.0 is the most highly recommend. I have used it for 2 years now and have no problems with it .

 

[fl_orchidslave]

You might check the distance from his highest basking spot. It could be too close, and they really like the heat so will get as close to the source as possible. The package should have some information about bulb placement. But it could also be too strong for a baby. As Corrine said, the linear lights for UV and a regular household bulb for heat works great.

 

[Snowball98]

Thank you! I'll have to check out the reptisun bulb.
It may have to do with distance, but if you google something along the lines of "powersun for bearded dragons" it brings up lots about it beings bad for their eyes.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Ahh, ok, I haven't looked at powersuns specifically but I use a Megaray for a different desert species. There was some old information about eye damage with several UVB bulbs but the Megaray manufacturer pulled all their bulbs and reformulated the white glass coating before re-releasing to sell. Distance is very important with this type bulb. I'm using a reptisun for my dragons, a UTH (at least while they're in rehab) ad an overhead household bulb for basking. Only the UTH is on all the time. Once they're in good health, they will get a redecorating in their tank, with some things added and some taken away.

 

[Snowball98]

Awesome! Thanks for the info

 

[gothra]

If you're interested in knowing more about UVB lamps, I highly recommend you take a look at this discussion group: http://pets.dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/UVB_Meter_Owners/ There are some very knowledgeable UV-lights experts there, and a lot of tests have been done on various UVB lamps on the market.