[Gibbs]

For dere som bruker Zoomed Power sun uv pære, så har jeg litt info til dere.
Jeg er i kontakt med en fyr som heter Frances Baines på mail fra nett siden UV Guide UK

Dette er info for oss som kanskje er litt nerder hehe, men jeg syns det er interessant.
Noe jeg vet enkelte her inne vil syns også, så derfor legger jeg ut mailen på RF.
Jeg har spurt han om det er greit å legge det ut her og det var det!
Det var viktig for han å få frem at dette er hans tanker rundt spørsmålene mine og at det ikke fins noe fasitsvar på alt sammen. Det kommer også frem i mailen!
En ting er sikkert: han vet veldig godt hva han snakker om. For de av dere som har vært på den nettsiden vet at disse folka har mer peiling enn de fleste.

Min skriftlige engelsk er ikke av den beste, så det er sagt. Dere kan le bak pc deres, men mer enn det vil jeg ikke vite noe av hehe

Min første mail til dem:

(Emne)
Zoo Med Powersun mercury vapour lamp 160W‏

Hi!

I wonder aboute one thing and I hope you can answer this.

Howe long can I use this lamp for my Bearded dragon?
I purchased a new 160w yesterday. The old one i used for almost two years.
Is that ok?

My lamp is 30 cm frome the stone that he basks.
The cage is almost 600L
Many people are saying differnt things aboute this, so thats way I ask you.
I'v ordered a UVB meter to private use, but the store i ordered it frome are
using a lot of time..
Hope you can answer this, so I can use this information to other peoples
that i know use this lamp if that is ok by you!

Your website is the best!

Thanks!

xxx

Første svar fra Frances Baines:

Hi, xxx.
Thank you for your email.
You have asked a difficult question, because ZooMed have recently altered
the amount of UVB which is produced by the ZooMed Powersun lamps.
Did you use your old one for nearly two years?
The ZooMed Powersuns which were being made two years ago, produced very
little UVB, even when new. I think your dragon will not have been getting
much UVB at all, from a lamp that has been in use for two years.

But last autumn, ZooMed altered both the 100W and the 160W Powersuns,
increasing the UVB a great deal. Some of the 100W lamps seem to have become
too strong; there have been a few reports of eye problems. I have not heard
of any problems with the 160W lamp, but please be careful. Your new lamp is
a very different lamp to your old one.
I have only tested ONE lamp of the new type, sent to me in November last year.
Its output was safe (total UVB at 30cm - 93 uW/cm2, UV Index 5.6) but a UV
Index of 5.6 is like full morning sunlight in springtime in South Australia.
A bearded dragon should find this very good, but yours will not be used to
such a strong UVB. Watch for any possible problems, in case he finds it very strong at first.

I have not tested this lamp for longer than 10 days, so I cannot say exactly
how long you can use it for.
Most mercury vapour lamps need replacing every year. If you don't have a
meter, I would always recommend that you buy a new one every spring-time, so
the dragons get the best UVB as they wake up for spring and summer.
Some brands decay faster than others, but ZooMed mercury vapour lamps seem
to be of good quality. So I would guess that it will last for one whole
year.

When setting up your lamp, check the basking temperature under the lamp (it
should be between 38 - 43C) and the cool end (it should be about 26 - 29C)
You must not place the ZooMed lamp closer than 30cm, or the UVB will be too
high. If it is not hot enough, add an ordinary household incandescent lamp
(a reflector flood lamp) and hang them both above the basking spot. Raise or
lower the incandescent lamp until the temperature is correct for the dragon beneath.

I hope that helps!

Best wishes,

Frances Baines
uvguide.co.uk


Svar og spørsmål fra meg i rødt, med hans sitt svar tilbake på dette i mellom i blått:

Thanks for the answer Frances!
That was helpfull!

After I sendt you this mail I find the receipt frome the last lamp and its 1 year and 5.5 month ago. (not 2 years)
I sayed almost 2 years, but still it is to long.
Now I'v made a date on my computer, so this will not be a problem no more.
On the Zoomed box it says you can use it way longer.
Its says it got a average life time for 10.000 hour.
14 hours a day, that is two years.
The lamp maby work so long, but the uvb effect is no good frome what you saying.
This is little bit misleading isn it?
I think this is somthing Zoomed should give information aboute.

Yes, I have seen this 10,000 hour in their information sheet. You are correct, the lamp itself may work for 10,000 hours but the UVB will have decayed to a very low level. I have an old 160W Powersun as an extra lamp, heating a second basking area over my Sauromalus ater vivarium. It is on for 12 hours a day in summer, 10 hours a day in winter, and I have used it for more than 8,000 hours (two years by my reckoning)... It is not their main UVB source, they just use it for heat and light now..
When I first used it, I was reading 48 uW/cm2 (UV Index 1.7) at 30cm. That is similar to the UVB you would get in the shade, on a nice day in the summer. If a reptile basks for several hours under that sort of UVB, it probably makes the same sort of amounts of vit D3 than it would if it basked for a much shorter time under a stronger UVB source. So although I prefer, personally, to give a reptile "sunlight" levels of UVB and see it bask for shorter periods, as it would in nature - this sort of UVB level will still keep a reptile healthy if it basks under this for long enough each day.
At 2,000 hours (6 months of use) it had decayed to 33 uW/cm2 (UV Index 1.1). At 4,000 hours (1 year) the reading at 30cm was 24 uW/cm2. (UV Index 0.9) The lamp had lost half its UVB. I think if this lamp was the only UVB source, it has probably reached the limit of its usefulness for a sun-loving reptile like a bearded dragon, at 1 year. I think the reptile would need to sit under this for twice as long as it did when the lamp was new, to make the same amount of vitamin D3.
At 8,000 hours, the lamp was producing only 13 uW/cm2 (UV index 0.4) - that is about the same as an old UVB fluorescent tube.


I can say that ther have not been one problem at all with the female dragons that lives in that cage.
So I think this will turn out the good way. (I hope)
When I get my uvb meter, that will be a final solution of this problem.
Uvb is so importen for dragons, so way not have the uvb meter.
I will keep an eye on that eye problem and other problems that you have listed up on your website.
I was on your superb website yesterday, so I know aboute the problems.
The tempeture in mye terrariums are perfect. (in the sun, arounde the sun and in the cool areas)

This sounds excellent!

You say I can use the lamp for one year.
What is the lowest uvb demands that is acceptable for a dragon do you think?
This is good to know when i get my uvb meter..

I'm afraid no-one knows what is the minimum acceptable level. It would be so easy, if we did!
I believe very strongly that we can't be wrong if we copy, as best we can, the bearded dragon's native environment. Then if he basks as if he was in the wild, he will get the same amount of vitamin D3 as a wild dragon... which will be good.
So I think if possible, he should have the UVB at about UV Index 3 - 5, right under the basking lamp (since in Australia they bask mainly in the early morning or mid-morning, when the full sun is about UV Index 3 - 5.
With an OLD Powersun lamp, this translates to about UVB 80 - 140 uW/cm2 on the Solarmeter 6.2. It has never been possible to get that from an old Powersun at 30cm. To have the lamp closer than 30cm, risks burning the skin. So you need to have the old lamp at 30cm, and accept that he will only get about 48uW/cm2 even from a new lamp... and he will need to spend much of his day basking.
With a NEW Powersun lamp the UVB is stronger and a UV Index of 3 - 5 is equivalent to about 50 - 85 uW/cm2 on the Solarmeter 6.2. This is achieved at about 30 - 40cm beneath the lamp. The beardie may spend only a fairly short time under the lamp, and he will probably get all the UVB he needs. If he spends longer than this, as long as the UV Index is not abnormally high, he will not have any problems, and he will not make too much vitamin D3, because the process stops when enough has been made.

People have successfully kept bearded dragons, which seem to be healthy, all of their lives under UVB fluorescent tubes which emit only 18 - 20 uW/cm2, UV Index about 0.5, at 30cm. If tubes like this are used, I'd suggest making sure about half the dragon's vivarium is lit by the tube, at a distance of 20 - 25 cm from the reptile... he will then get some UVB whenever he is at that end of the tank, not just when under the basking lamp. The same applies for a "weak" mercury vapour lamp.... maybe 20 - 30uW/cm2 is still acceptable, even if it is not ideal, ...but it must cover a large enough area to enable the reptile to get UVB for several hours a day.

Does all that make sense?


Is it ok by you that i post this mail on a Norwegian reptil site that I use?
This is the biggest Norwegian reptil website www.Reptilfreaks.no
This is good info that you come up with her and I like to share this with them.

Yes, you are welcome to post some of what I have written. But please make sure that you include the fact that no-one knows exactly what UVB a reptile needs. What I have written is just my best guess, and I may be wrong. I hope that one day, there will be proper research, and we shall know the answers.


Last question..
Is ther anything new at all on the 160 watt that can tell me if I got the new or old lamp?
On the box, in the instructions or on the lamp that gives up a hint that this is the new type?

No, unfortunately I don't think there is.... The 100W version is in a new box, but the 160W lamps are in the same old boxes.
But if you place it 30cm above the reptile, either type will be ok. And by the end of a year, you will have your meter, and know the answer!


Thanks for the heads up and thanks for your good and quick answer!

Thank you for your interest!

xxx
Frances

De av dere som bruker Zoomed Power sun uv pæren BØR lese det som står her. klikk på linken under:
UV Lighting for Reptiles: A new problem with high UVB output fluorescent compact lamps and tubes?
Dette er viktig informasjon til dere!!

Jeg kommer tilbake med mer hvis jeg finner på noe smart som jeg kan spørre Frances om!


Håper noen av dere nerder syns dette var litt bra info!

[Lailande]

Supert.

Takk for nyttig info.

[Christoffer]

Er vel ikke akkurat nerdete å interessere seg for hva som er bra for dyret osv
Men tusen takk for nyttig info!

[Antoine]

Meget, meget bra! Du glemte forresten å sensurere navnet ditt.

[Christoffer]

Opprinnelig postet av Antoine

Meget, meget bra! Du glemte forresten å sensurere navnet ditt.

Er nok en GOD del xxx i oslo så er nok ikke noe å bekymre seg for at onkel politi skal bry seg om

[Gibbs]

Opprinnelig postet av Antoine

Meget, meget bra! Du glemte forresten å sensurere navnet ditt.

Det har du sannelig rett i, takk for at du la merke til det

[KarlKanibal]

Vel, når du fikk så gode svar fra UVGuide, tenkte jeg å prøve meg jeg også - og jammen fikk jeg ikke svar dagen etter - et godt og utfyldende svar, akkurat som jeg liker det

Hey!

From the reptile forum of Reptilfreaks I can see XXXX have been in
contact with you guys, asking some questions about Powersun 160 W. As I
think he was getting some good answers I thought I should try my luck too

My first question is regarding the Lucky Reptile Bright Sun UV Desert 70 W
lamp. Have you tested this one, and if so - how was the outcome? I`ve heard
some pretty promising things about this lamp, and the man who runs Norways
Reptile Park in Oslo says he has seen a major difference in the animals
appetite and activity level since he swapped from Powersun to Bright Sun UV.

The next question is about UVB meters. I know you are using the Solarmeter
6.2 and that this is considered to be the most accurate on the marked. As
with XXXX, I am also considering to buy a UVB meter - but I will get the
ZooMed UVB meter for a smaller price than the Solarmeter 6.2, because of the
abroad shipping price, custom etc.. Do you have anything bad to say about
the ZooMed UVB meter? Is it considered to be just as accurate as the
Solarmeter?

With friendly regards,
Carl



Hi, Carl.

Thanks for writing.
You've asked if I have tested the Lucky Reptile Bright Sun UV Desert 70 W
lamp.
Yes I have.... in fact I am in the middle of testing the full range of Lucky
Reptile Bright Sun metal halide lamps.
Metal halides with "daylight" colour temperatures, (whether designed for
reptiles, or for humans) provide the most excellent visible light (UVA and
visible wavelengths) and I would highly recommend them for all reptiles that
normally go out in the sunlight, in the wild.
Ones designed for human use don't normally emit UVB, though. They are made
with glass which blocks it all. So if you use those, you need to have a UVB
lamp as well.
But in the last couple of years, the idea of using UV-transmitting glass to
let UVB through, for reptile lamps, has led several companies to experiment
with this.
Lucky Reptile is one such company, another is Welcome To ReptileUV - Mega-Ray® UVB lamps for reptile lighting worldwide

I have not yet written a full report on these lamps, but I found them to
produce very good visible light.
The UVB from three of the four lamps I tested (one Desert 70W, one Desert
50W, and one Jungle 50W) was very good when they were new - with an output
between 100 - 150uW/cm2 and UV Index of about 3 at 30cm, which is like early
morning tropical sunlight. The fourth lamp - a 70W Jungle lamp - had an
extremely abnormal, very high UVB output - 485 uW/cm2 and UV Index 23 at
30cm! When I reported this to the company they were shocked, and asked me to
send the lamp back as it was obviously faulty! They sent me a replacement
which was fine although still "stronger" than the others with an output of
190 uW/cm2, UV Index 5.4 at 30cm when new. I'm still testing this to see
how it decays.

I've tested two of them - the Desert 70W and 50W - for three months. The 70W
decayed very badly; after three months it had lost two-thirds of its UVB
output, which is very disappointing. But the 50W, after three months, had
only lost 25% of its UVB. (That would be normal for a mercury vapour lamp,
as well..) The first one I took out of my vivarium after 3 months as I
didn't think it was producing enough UVB for my lizards any more. The second
one has been in there for nearly 6 months, now, and I will test it again
then.

So (although I have only tested five lamps!) it looks as if these lamps
usually have a very good UVB output (but there may be odd ones in a batch,
which do not) and they may be very variable in their rate of decay......
I think that my conclusion so far is that they are good lamps to try, but I
would suggest you buy a UVB meter first, so you can check whether the output
is right, and also check how much it has decayed, later on....
But I will need to finish testing these lamps, and several others I have
also been sent very recently, before I can give you a proper analysis.

The ZooMed UVB Meter is EXACTLY the same meter as the Solarmeter 6.2. They
are made by Solarmeter; the only difference is that ZooMed have stuck a
"ZooMed" label on the front!
The only reason they are cheaper in Norway must be that ZooMed have bought a
large number of meters and sent them in bulk to your distributors. In some
other countries, where there is an importer buying the Solarmeters in bulk,
too, the Solarmeters are the cheaper ones - because ZooMed also take profit
from their sale, and therefore sell at a higher price.

I hope this helps!

Best wishes,
Frances Baines
www.uvguide.co.uk

[Gibbs]

Bra at du spurte om den uv måleren vi skal få oss!
Fint å vite at dette er en topp måler!

Det var ikke 100% positivt svar ang Lucky Reptile Bright Sun UV Desert 70 W.
I mitt hodet, så ringer det en bjelle som sier "ikke bruk denne pæren uten uv måler til stedet"
Dette regner jeg med at du forteller dem på reptilparken vel?

kult at han svarer oss med så lange gode svar.
Dette liker vi!

mvh.
XXX

[KarlKanibal]

Har sendt en PM til Are ja.. Og har spurt Kriss om de kan ta inn 50 Watts pæra på nettbutikken..

[Gibbs]

Hvor mye koster en 50 watts?