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Post by LotharsPeople on Apr 16, 2006 18:43:33 GMT -8
I bought a EB kit for a friend in Canada and because I bought it and was giving it to her, she did not get hit with the import/custom taxes that can be more than the price of what they are getting. Marie, I just purchased the Mega-Ray EB Kit and a spare bulb from ReptileUV and received it last week. Absolutely no duty or import fees into Canada. IK, You're right on the one about USPS. no idea about any other method though. |
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Post by IguanaKing on Apr 16, 2006 18:47:11 GMT -8
Yup. I regularly ship DVDs and stuff to Afghanistan without paying any duties. ;D
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Post by Marie on Apr 16, 2006 19:08:27 GMT -8
Yes at the time I bought the kit they were using UPS. It was going to a MBD iguana. UPS couldn't guarantee quick delivery even if I paid $80 for next day. So Bob checked and found it would get there fastest by US mail so he walked it to the post office for me. Another person I know received something shipped by UPS and paid a bunch of taxes. So maybe it depends how it gets shipped.
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Post by prism_wolf on Apr 18, 2006 19:47:49 GMT -8
Just to clear something up. There are several different types of the Mega Ray brands, but the ones available to the general public are the Mega Ray EB (external ballast) and SB (self-ballasted). The EB has much less heat the the SB. The EB was designed to provide a more continuous and even exchange of UVB, whereas the SB is the UV/Heat combined for "convenience". I don't care for the convenience since when summertime comes you need to move the bulb away which means you also move the UVB farther away. The EB gives off about as much heat, if not a bit less, than a 60W bulb. The SB is significantly more. I have 4 of the EBs myself and will need to purchase another before the temps drop for fall and the beardies can't get out for afternoon sunshine if I don't adopt them out before then.
There is nothing like purchasing a UVB meter to keep up on the bulbs. Even if you own only one reptile that requires UVB, you will make your money back in about 1 1/2 yrs. by saving that much money on replacements sooner than needed depending on the brand of bulb used. On the flip-side...you may save yourself some money on vet bills by being able to catch a faulty bulb which isn't producing like it's supposed to making a sick animal.
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Post by Marie on Apr 19, 2006 6:52:12 GMT -8
I feel this way. We don't guess on temperatures or hope we have the right temperature. We use thermonometers, temp guns, and thermostats. Same with humidity we use gages for that too. In a car we don't guess how much gas we have based on what the manufacture says a tank should last you, guess by dividing miles traveled by the mph, or guess by what other owners say it has lasted them. There is a gas gage in cars. We can't just say go with the conventional thinking or just go by what the manufacture says. Both can be very wrong. Conventional thinking is good though for the recommended bulbs such as ZooMeds Reptisun 5 or 10s. If you want to avoid getting a meter then you must do some research using bulb comparisions and asking many opinions. But even then you still may get a lemon or dud--it happens. Granted a UVB meter is a little pricey but as mentioned already it saves in the long term and the price of them has gone down--can find them as low as $149. That is a lot less than just one vet bill that might result from an illness that can result in incorrect UVB.
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Post by Merlin on Apr 19, 2006 6:59:57 GMT -8
Very well stated Marie! In fact I had some replaced bulbs (zoomed 5.0) that I had taken out using the 6 month rule and was using them on some house plants. When i got the meter I found I could still have been using them for the ig! That one go round would have almost payed the cost of the meter! So we are back to the old problem. You buy a cheap lizard but are unwilling to spend the bigger money on the proper care equipment.  |
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Post by IguanaKing on Apr 19, 2006 9:02:05 GMT -8
Just to clear something up. There are several different types of the Mega Ray brands, but the ones available to the general public are the Mega Ray EB (external ballast) and SB (self-ballasted). The EB has much less heat the the SB. The EB was designed to provide a more continuous and even exchange of UVB, whereas the SB is the UV/Heat combined for "convenience". I don't care for the convenience since when summertime comes you need to move the bulb away which means you also move the UVB farther away. The EB gives off about as much heat, if not a bit less, than a 60W bulb. Thanks V! ;D It was, however, the EB that I had that had been knocked off its mount onto a carpeted shelf and filled my apartment with smoke. If I had used better judgment and mounted it in an area my igs couldn't get to (even momentarily), it would have been perfectly safe. Just wanted to make sure nobody else makes the same mistake I did.  I hadn't designed my cage to accomodate any more than one screw-in lamp fixture (my heat lamp), so the MegaRay wasn't a good fit for my situation. |
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Post by Marie on Apr 19, 2006 9:30:10 GMT -8
So we are back to the old problem. You buy a cheap lizard but are unwilling to spend the bigger money on the proper care equipment. See this is what confuses me. People buy cheap seeds for flowers but also spend lots of money on fertilizers, tillers, and ect.. to have a beautiful garden. I would think people would want to do the same to have a beautiful and healthy iguana. We reap what we sow. |
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Post by IguanaKing on Apr 19, 2006 16:56:00 GMT -8
I agree that a meter is essential, but if someone doesn't have one yet and they put their animal closer than what the packaging recommends and that animal begins to suffer from overexposure then they can't say they weren't warned. If they put him at the distance on the package and still hurt him because of a situation like Marie mentioned...well...that's the responsibility of the distributor (packager), but a meter could have prevented it. One problem I am seeing in a lot of places on the internet is that often a new person to igs asks how far away they should put their new UVB lamp, and they quite often get the standard 6-8" answer, even though the type of lamp isn't known. If they don't read the packaging, just follow that advice, and place it closer to their animal than what the packaging gives warnings about...chances are the animal will be hurt. So...I guess the best advice any of us can give is "GET A METER!" ;D
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