UVB lighting question

Im making a new cage and i was just wondering for lighting, can there be too much UVB? lets say that i use a mercury vapor light bulb and a florecent tube that emits UVB lighting, would that be too much? Can a BD get sick from too much UVB? Any information would be appreciated. Thanks

anyone?

Originally Posted by nchan

Im making a new cage and i was just wondering for lighting, can there be too much UVB? lets say that i use a mercury vapor light bulb and a florecent tube that emits UVB lighting, would that be too much? Can a BD get sick from too much UVB? Any information would be appreciated. Thanks

Using both the MVB and a tube light would be uneccesary. If you choose to use both, please make sure that you are not adding extra D3 to your dragon's diet. It is thought that this in combination with UVB overkill could potentially cause D3 toxicity.

Jamie

thanks for the info. I was wondering if there could be a vit d3 toxicity. so which would be better, a combination of an incandescent light bulb and a fluorescent UVB emitting lightbulb or just a mercury vapor bulb?

Originally Posted by nchan

thanks for the info. I was wondering if there could be a vit d3 toxicity. so which would be better, a combination of an incandescent light bulb and a fluorescent UVB emitting lightbulb or just a mercury vapor bulb?

I personally use a regular lightbulb for heat in combination with a flourescent UVB bulb. I have never used MVB's, but many people like them. They are, however, a bit more expensive and some do not last as long as the strip lights.

Jamie

I don't have to worry about accidently getting a 'heat light' that puts off uvb do I? Or should I be carefully reading every light that I buy?

I love my mvb bulb. They seem to like it better and they shed faster. Their colors seem to be a lot better when I use a mvb bulb.

does the mvb last longer? i heard that having the combo is less expensive and that the mvb can be harmful for humans. is that true?

I think the mvb last for 6 months or so. Not sure but you can look at the site reptileuv.tripod.com and click onto the lighting SB series link and it tells a little bit about them. Also you can contact bobmac@reptileuv.com he is great for answering all your questions. As for being harmful to humans, I don't feel it is anymore harmful to humans than going out in the sun ourselves and tanning. For more accurate information contact Bob at the web site I gave you and he can answer your questions better.

Here is a good article on mvb with many links to related articles for additional information.
http://www.anapsid.org/mercuryvapor.html