Power Sun $$$

[lovinglewis]

Hey everyone!! I am adding this thread because I was very disappointed. I bought Lewis a Powersun bulb for 40 bucks. It lasted him only around 3 months :-( Here is a pic of it.



Has anyone bought this bulb before?? I hear it's a great bulb, I am undecided if I want to buy it again for another 40 bucks, but not if it will burn out in 3 months. I used the correct base for the wattage and everything. Any success? For the price it should have lasted a year (Or so the box says) How about a cheaper alternative to the Powersun? Any suggestions?? Thank you

[Kerrydaktyl]

Oh dear, thats not good! They are expensive, weve had that one about 7 months now, its been fine We have quite a large viv and it heats it up very effectively. We got ours from somewhere in the UK though, it cost £50

Theyre supposed to be better than strip lighting because the uv has a longer range, your ig can be 10 feet away and still benefit, rather than 6 inches away with the stip lighting. Also Ive heard that the strip lights can stop working but you may not know as they still light up.

[Merlin]

I would contact the store you got it from or even the manufacturer. I know some of those Mercs have a gurantee and they will get you a replacement.

[mar]

I read somewhere -- reliable huh -- that the Zoo-Med mercs are notorious for being terrible, may have been a LLLreptile mailing or Dom’s posting in the reptisun 10 thread. See if you can get a replacement under warranty then when they cease to replace it buy a better one.

[lovinglewis]

I bought the bulb online from LLLReptile LOL . . .

From what you guys have said (and especially the 10 feet away factor) I may just go with it again. When Lewis returns, I am sure he will need and benefit from it!!!

[prism_wolf]

your ig can be 10 feet away and still benefit,

OH MY NO! It cannot still benefit from that distance. Even the new and improved Mega-Ray bulb can't do that. The bulb is most effective at 12-18 inches. You must be careful at 12" because there is a heat factor involved. After 18 inches the UVB does start do drop dramatically and shows hardly anything at all after 3'.

[IguanaKing]

Oooo yuck...and it even says "Power Sun UV" on the box. (Evil, misleading advertisers) Those bulbs are incandescent, make no mistake about it, incandescent lamps WILL NOT give your ig acceptable levels of UVB without dangerous levels of UVC WHICH WILL DAMAGE some of his vital organs (his eyes come to mind. I personally think mercury vapor incandescents, although a marginal UVB source, do your ig more harm than good in a "cage" environment). Fluorescent is the only way to go for UVB lighting (aside from natural, unfiltered sunlight of course ). Sylvania's "Sun Sticks" ($6.99 at Home Depot for a pair of 48" tubes) have worked very well for my 2, extremely healthy, adult igs for the past 8 years. The best part...they're cheap, and always last longer than you should keep them (remember, always change your UVB fluorescent tubes at least as often as every six months, they lose their UVB-producing qualities long before they go black). Always give Lewis the opportunity to get to within no further than 8 inches of his new, fluorescent, UVB lamps and you'll end up with one huge, healthy, strong iggy in no time. Have you found Lewis yet? Just keep your UVB lamps lit, on the floor, he'll come home (if he's still there, which I'm sure he is). He may be able to ignore his hunger pangs when he is under-heated, hiding out somewhere in your home (igs lose all of their appetite when cold), but he can't ignore the secondary (primary function is to protect him from aerial predators), instinctual need for his parietal eye to seek UVB and infrared light. ;D This "third eye" is also responsible for many of the color changes we see in our igs, not necessarily their core temperature.

[SurvivorSteph]

Iguana King... have you ever measured the UVB output from one of those "Sun Sticks?" Unless you've done some testing with a UVB meter, I'd advise you to stick to a light that's designed for igs (like a Zoo Med tube, for example). I'm sure that the UVB they're getting is better than nothing, but it may not be as good as they could be getting.

I'm not the UVB number expert here, so I can't tell you what numbers you're specifically looking for, but I'm sure Dominick, Merlin, Veronica, or Tesa could give you that information.

[IguanaKing]

I am actually a little embarrassed to admit that I started buying those sun sticks way back when I knew very little about igs. I made the, thankfully correct, assumption that they would provide the right light. When my igs regularly got clean bills of health on their checkups, I didn't want to change my ways, because it was working. They still get excellent marks on their checkups and Audrey even miraculously didn't have a broken arm after an extremely violent attack by Hercules. Both me and my vet concurred that she most-likely had a broken arm, but the x-rays showed no fractures and beautifully calicified bones. So, I guess I can't officially endorse them because they aren't specifically designed for igs, but, as we all know, there is also a lot of junk out there that claims to be reptile safe. The end result is what has convinced me to keep using them.

[Tesa]

Flourescent tubes, merc vapors, and the new Mega Rays are all effective. ( I've never even heard of sun sticks, but I'm curious now)
The difference is the level of UVB output (measured in microwatts per square centimeter) and at what distance the reptile must be placed in relation to the light.
Flourescents tubes are the least "powerful", but are (in my opinion) the safest route for beginners ie: no risk of thermal burns and overall stability.

[Kerrydaktyl]

But but but t said on the box......?

[IguanaKing]

I'm curious too Tesa, I'll have to get my hands on a UVB meter and measure those things, they've been working great. My comments about the Merc vapor lamps come from my regularly working in aircraft hangars that are lit by them, we were told never to look at them because they do eye damage. But, then again, those are pretty HUGE lamps in the hangars, so the small ones probably aren't as dangerous. I have a good frame of reference to compare the sun stick reading to, Colorado's sun. With our high altitude and thin atmosphere, we measured well over 300 uW/cm outside, so I'll see how the sun sticks compare and I'll post the results in the near future.

[dominick]

Boy have you all confused me!!!!

First off, I've never heard of a "Mercury Vapor Incandescent' lamp.

Secondly, bulb AND fixture matter in UVB output. The fixture and ballast type alone can reduce your UVB output by a good amount, even from the best fluorescent bulb.

Third, I live in NJ and now, in late summer on a nice day, with pollution I get high 300's on my UVB meter when measuring direct sun exposure.

Fourth, I would NEVER consider putting a MV lamp designed for use in an airline hanger some 100 feet or so up in the air, in with my iguana. They are not the same thing. Kinda like comparing oranges and the moon!

Fifth, I was instrumental in the debate over MV safety and stability here at IZ, after all, I started it! LOL I did tons of research and had my share of discussions (and a few black eyes) on the topic and in conclusion, I would state once again that "light" is not the sole source of injuries to iguanas. A combination of light, heat and ambient temps is dangerous to iguanas. Some new technology has practically eliminated this "danger". Weak UVB emitted from a poor quality fluorescent is waaaaaay more dangerous to your iguana's health than the use of an MV lamp.

Sixth, Iguana king, I would be interested in seeing the readings you get off your lamp. It sounds like they are doing the right job. But, let's not forget bone density alone is not the only indicator of overall health. (Sorry Tesa, I know you'll dislike this so much), blood hydroxy levels are an important indicator too. In the wild ig blood hydroxy levels are high, under captive conditions they are traditionally lower. It's the amount and quality of good UVB in the 290-300 nm wavelength that matters, not just the amount of uvb being emitted and absorbed.

And lastly, the ONLY cheap UVB is the natural unfiltered sun. Anything else that is "cheap" is not producing the benefitial UVB your ig requires to live a long, healthy life.

I was lamb-basted for making similar observations about MV lamps and UVB here at IZ. I learned a lot since then by folks who do nothing but study all the various lamps. Let's not step back in time here. Let's keep the information at IZ current and accurate.

Please visit the and join the Meter Group. There's so much more to know than can be dispersed in a single post.

Sorry if I seem a bit edgy. I'm almost 8 days without a cigarette. ;D

And not one single mention of the Mega-Ray. Oops!

[Diane]

Keep going Dom! Rex will love you even more when you are 'smoke free'! congratulations and i hope you make it from one ex smoker to another.

Sorry this had nothing to do with uv lamps. . .

[IguanaKing]

No problem Dominick, congrats on your 8 days of being smoke free (I'm almost to 5 years now, I know how tough the first few weeks can be ;D)

My last post was meant to be a retraction from my position on Hg vapor lamps. That's why I mentioned the aircraft hangar lamps, to show that I was using an inaccurate frame of reference. Those lamps I work around are incandescent lamps, up until your post I had no idea that fluorescent versions existed, so that DEFINITELY makes my previous statements inaccurate because the two do not compare to each other at all. Sorry for the screw up, I really try not to do that, especially with such an important subject. I guess I've been a bit off the last few days because my little brother just got deployed to Baghdad, he's got a wife, kid, dog, and house I'm trying to take care of until he gets back home.

I know that my sun sticks are doing the job because my boy, Hercules, was raised from a 3-4 week old hatchling to his current age of 8 and has never had a single health problem (aside from a stomach irritation caused by eating carrots...I don't feed him carrots with his food any more ) under these lights. He doesn't go outside much either because of his phobia of birds (I know igs have a natural aversion to birds, but his is a little extreme).

Heh...we have quite a bit of pollution in the air around Denver and Longmont too.

BTW...Tesa mentioned the MegaRay