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Couple of setup questions....

Hey Max I bought my 3' T12 fixtures at Lowe's for $12.00 now the T8 UV bulbs do work in these but These fixtures are going to be obsolete in the near future.
 
Wait t12 I have never seen those...I thought T8 was the common thing no..I have had and do own dragons, but I always use compact, I don't want to sound dumb haha...
 
the difference between T12 and T8 is for 1 the T8 fixture is more efficient, 2 fixtures are smaller, 3 the bulbs are smaller and 4 this is only in the bigger fixtures with 4 bulbs but only take 1 ballast to run 4 bulbs unlike the old T12 fixtures where it took 2 ballast
 
I bought the T12's at lowes for 12.00 each before i got the T8 fixtures and they worked ok. The major reason i switched was they have the regular ballast in them which to me allows the light to have a slight flicker to them (or at least the ones i had did) and that flicker will usually cut down the life of whatever bulb your using, and they throw off alot more heat than the T8 fixture with the electronic ballast that i use now. I could have just switched the ballast but it would have cost me just as much as buying the new fixtures. (actually a couple dollars more) and like crazycoolpaul said the T12 fixtures are going to be obsolete in the near future, Oh plus the electronic ballast is suppose to help with energy efficiency.
 
So here is the first cage of 5 I'm calling "Reptile Condo's" these are going to be for the babies. Measurements are 36''x16''x12'' Stackable 5 tier all one unit
 
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I was just wondering about the UVB bulbs. I just went through this with my local pet shop. My understanding is the full spectrum or UV does not include UVB or UVA. Both of these are essential to dragon health. Now I know GE does not make a UVB/UVA bulb. Even though the supplier tells her it does, but GE's website specifically says it doesn't.:shrug01: Who does that is a cheaper version of the reptile bulbs.
Gary
 
The reptile ones are the only ones, We only non reptile fixtures to save money, I personally think that the bulbs are resonable. Their are online company's that sell the bulbs at reduced prices.
 
The problem with most of the bulbs that you can find at Home Depot or Lowe's is that they use a coating to achieve their appearance. The coating on the outside of the bulb, filters out unwanted spectrum, thus creating their localized "full spectrum" rating.

A coating, merely adjusts the visible spectrum. You would have to go to a horticulture store to purchase "full spectrum" lighting that utilizes the correct gases to produce the desired spectrum. I have used similar lights with no ill effect. The only problem I noticed was that my UV meter only picked up low levels of UVB (2.0-3.0). So the bulb would need to be 6" or so from the dragon at all times. But these levels were accurately in the 295nm - 320nm range. They may even be a good choice for a reptile not requiring the levels of UVB that the dragons require.

I used these bulbs simply because they were available through a friend of mine that runs a horticulture shop. After they burned out I went back to reptile UVB bulbs, as they were actually cheaper than purchasing the horticulture branded bulbs. So I would just recommend purchasing a case off the internet, of the true reptile versions.

If you do decide to try and get some of the horticulture bulbs, be careful. As some of them employ a slightly lower UV range of 285-290 or so. This minor amount of UVC is used to help deter insect pests and kill them. While it is not intense enough to actually damage the plant. In our hobby though, the lower UV range is actually harmful to the beardies and can cause serious problems and potentially even death.

Hope this helps!
 
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