Habitat - Indoor :: UVB only bulb...whoops

[laurapa]

I mistakenly bought a UVB-only bulb (5.0 Exo-Terra) at the store today. I meant to get a 5.0 UVA/UVB like I normally get.

Here's my question:

Can I keep the UVB in for a few hours every day and then switch to the old UVA/UVB? Even though the UVB is probably worn out of my old bulb, wouldn't the UVA still be working? I thought I read that somewhere.

So...could I keep the UVB bulb in for 6 hours and then put in the UVA/UVB (whose UVB is worn out) for the other 6 hours?

[laurapa]

I should add that I only have one lamp so I can't have two bulbs in at once.

His heat is provided by a ceramic bulb that is always on.

[Ktulu]

I don't think there is such a thing as UVB only. I just bought an Exo-Terra Repti Glo 5.0 and I just read the carton and itsays it has both UVB and UVA. It is a fluorescent tube mine is. It sounds like you are describing the new style energy-efficient bulbs (a spiral fluorescent bulb that screws into an incandescent lamp socket). These new ReptiGlo spiral ones I think are the same as the fluorescent tubes and give off both UVA and UVB. Does it actually say UVA only? If so, is it an incandescent or fluorescent bulb? Really they should have both at the same time.

[marisa]

UVB bulbs also give off UVA rays. Does the bulb you got give off heat? If so, then it's not a UVB light, most likely a basking light.

[Ktulu]

yeah it sounds like you are talking about a UVA-only bulb like a DayGlow. UVA is given off by the regular incandescent style basking/heat bulbs. UVB is from special bulbs like fluorescents and stuff.

[laurapa]

OK, I should have looked more closely at the wavelength charts. The box only says 5.0 UVB and doesn't mention UVA anywhere. But the wavelength charts show UVA and UVB. You were right!

Now I have gone to Exo Terra's website and learned a lot about light.

My question now is this: I read in a book about RES that they need 12 hours of light exposure every day, but more than 6 hours of exposure to UV light is bad for the turtle's eyes. I do notice Oliver closing his eyes or turning his head away from the bulb sometimes when he is basking. The bulb is about 9 or 10 inches away from his basking site.

Does that mean I should be switching to a regular CFL bulb for half the day?

[Nettle]

No, if their eyes are getting irritated they'll just look away or stop basking. They'll know when they have an eye problem, you just have to recognize when their eyes are swollen.

[steve]

Since you are using a florescent UVB light and a ceramic heat emitter, you need to make sure that the UVB is not bothering him. There were some problems with my setup last year which had that type of arrangement. I switched to using a halogen light for heat, which provides a good deal of warm colored lighting. It's also cheaper and makes the whole setup look livelier.

[laurapa]

Thanks for the advice, everybody.

Steve, your comment reminded me of a question I've been meaning to ask for a while. If you use a halogen or incandescent bulb for heat, does that mean that having heat for basking is not necessary at night when the lights are off? Every once in a blue moon I catch Oliver basking before his light comes on for the morning, so I assumed it was important to provide heat just in case.

[marisa]

How cold does the room get? If it's not really cold and there's a submersible water heater in the tank, you could cover the tank to keep the warmth in. I'm doing this with an Eastern Painted turtle (who crawls on the basking area sometime during the night and is there in the morning before the basking light goes on).

If it's not too cool where your turtle is and he only occasionally gets on the basking area not that long before the light goes on, I don't think I'd worry about the extra warmth.

[steve]

You can turn off the heat lamp and light at night. It's not normal to bask at night, though they may drag themselves out sometimes.