Reddit reviews Zoo Med ReptiSun 10.0 UVB Mini Compact Fluorescent (13 watts)

If she's lived on it for 40 years, I can't exactly protest. However, variety is important!

Here's the kind of bulb you're looking for. You can find these at any pet store that sells reptiles (PetCo or PetSmart will have them). Read on the box and see how far the UVB penetrates--it's usually around 8 to 16 inches. Try to get one that's good for at least a foot--that's about how tall your enclosure is, and you want to place the bulb above that.

Also, as a side note, box turtles tend to live about 50 years in the wild. Captivity usually shortens the lifespan due to poor husbandry, but apparently she's been well cared-for.

In addition to heat, Bearded Dragons (and many other reptiles) need a bulb which simulates certain different types of sunlight (basically, they need access to the full spectrum of light they'd get from the sun in their natural environment). Ultra-violet B (UVB) is one of these important types of light. Without it, your bearded dragon cannot metabolize calcium in order to grow.

Have you ever heard about how people need sunlight for their bones (namely, to create Vitamin D)? Bearded Dragons are the same way; they need this special type of light in order to create the vitamin which carries calcium into their bones and allows them to grow. Without it, their bodies will eventually start leeching their bones of calcium, and their bones will hollow-out and become porous, a condition known as Metabolic Bone Disease.

At the bare minimum, if price is an issue, I would buy a second lamp hood (~$15 USD) and put in one of these bulbs:

https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-ReptiSun-Compact-Fluorescent/dp/B00A8RHTYU/ref=sr_1_7?crid=1N3OJ3JLSUEJT&keywords=reptile+uvb+bulb&qid=1572426404&sprefix=reptile+uv%2Caps%2C183&sr=8-7

Notice the bulb says 10.0 UVB; this means that about 10% of the light it puts off is going to be the useful kind for your dragon. You don't want to go any less than this.

In addition, you want to make sure that the Bearded Dragon's basking spot is at least 105-110F (41-43 C). You can get infrared temperature guns, or thermometers with probes that you can set in the basking spot. And buy a powdered supplement which contains both calcium and vitamin D3, like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Reptile-Calcium-Vitamin/dp/B000UJSUO4/ref=sr_1_4?crid=N0PJWYXNDPKZ&keywords=reptile+calcium+with+d3&qid=1572426942&sprefix=reptile+calcium%2Caps%2C175&sr=8-4

At this stage, about 80% of your bearded dragon's diet should be insects, powdered liberally with the calcium+D3 supplement at every meal (3 times/day). If you keep things going the way you are, your animal could very easily die from lack of nutrients/exposure to the correct spectrum of light.

Keep in mind, Bearded Dragons are adapted to live in the hot Australian Outback, very near to the equator. If you don't live in a similar environment, you need to do your best to recreate it in your home--that means high temperatures (with your basking bulb), and the correct ultraviolet light (UVB 10.0).

Let me know if you have any more questions.

Thank you so much for the detailed response!

This is the current bulb I was "recommended" in the kit:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00A8RHTYU/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525505485&sr=8-1&keywords=reptisun+uvb+bulb&dpPl=1&dpID=518wkzx8rrL&ref=plSrch


Kind of bummed it is basically useless.

I am am absolutely anticipating the cost of feeding the youngin, this just hit me particularly hard because of how expensive everything else was to begin with.

Thank you very much for the light recommendation! I think I may actually have to go smaller, as I think that light may actually hang over the sides of the 20 gallon enclosure I have right now. It may not be the prettiest, but would it be an issue detrimental to the health of my dragon if it did actually overlap the entire thing?

Hey, great choice on turtle, I have a central american/ornate wood turtle too :) I'm a little concerned about your light though- turtles need UVB and heat lights. UVB lights need to be replaced about once a year, they are either mercury vapor bulb (which produces UVB+heat) and require a ceramic fixture, or they are flourescent (compact or straight and long, don't produce heat). If you use a flourescent UVB bulb you need a heat light too, like incandescent or halogen. Based on your post, it sounds like maybe you didn't have a UVB bulb? Or you originally bought a UVB bulb, but used it for years? The element in light bulbs that produces UVB stops producing it after about a year of use, which is why they need to be replaced even if they haven't burned out and are still giving off visible light.

This bulb produces UVB and visible light only (no heat)

This is an MVB bulb that produces UVB+heat

And if you use MVB you'll need a fixture like this

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What kind of light are you using now? Are you monitoring the temperatures? It might not be hot enough if it's too far away.

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Are you in the US? Is it cold where you are? I've been having a bit of a hard time keeping my wood turtle active in the winter when it gets cold. The species doesn't hibernate/brumate so they shouldn't get cold in the winter. I use a ceramic heat emitter to give him a bit of extra warmth, especially at night.

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You probably should take him to an exotic vet for a checkup since he hasn't been eating or drinking. Turtles are usually voracious eaters, so not eating is a worry. Are his eyes clear? Does he have a runny nose or anything else physically that might be worrying?

If it's like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Reptisun-10-0-Mini-Compact-Fluorescent/dp/B00A8RHTYU/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1468244666&sr=8-2-fkmr1&keywords=reptisun+10.0+uvb+coil

I would swap it out for this instead:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009YJ3BE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You can grab a cheap fixture for it at walmart or lowes and mount it inside the tank with command strips. The problem with what you have now is that the uv rays are getting filtered by the screen top. Mounting a tube fixture inside will allow you little guy to get more uvb rays.

I'm not sure, because there isn't much information on the internet about it, but I bought this guy, well actually three of them.

I put them in a standing lamp that takes three bulbs and spend about 15 minutes a day in front of them.

I did a little research and the UVB wavelength, that the bulb emits the most of, is right in the sweet spot for psoriasis from what I have read.

I've been using it for a few months and I feel like it helps somewhat.

If anyone has any evidence that this is a terrible idea I'd love to hear it.

Thanks, would combination of these two work?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A8RHTYU/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A27NGVKUPKCNVM

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DU3SW0S/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1R1O51TC5L0SM

For UVB I use Reptisun 10.0, manufacturer recommends replace yearly (UVB stops working long before bulb burns out) but I replace every 6 months. For heat lamps you can use any bulb (not LED) from the hardware store, but I like these ReptiTuff Splashproof basking lamps. The glass is super thick to avoid shattering when your aquatic turtles splash it with water.

Without knowing what they are besides color, it's difficult to say. The red light is totally unnecessary and will disrupt your beardie's day/night cycle - toss that for sure.
If by 'blue' light you mean either a tube or compact UVB light, those should be on during the day, about 10-12 hours.
If by yellow light you mean a heat lamp, then again it should be on for about 10-12 hours, along with the UVB lamp, to provide heat like a sunny basking spot during the day.

All lights should be off at night.

If you're changing out the bulbs every 6 hours, theres a problem. It should be daytime for ~12 hours a day and then switch to nighttime. If you are switching out the daytime bulb for a nighttime bulb, then I would just not use the nighttime bulb (darkness works just as well as a nighttime bulb). Getting a timer of some sort is extremely convenient for this. A christmas light timer works, or you can look at reptile specific timers if you want one that turns on your nighttime bulb in another lamp.

Your daytime bulb most likely provides heat and UVA rays (you mentioned earlier it says UV, which means UVA). What it does not provide is UVB rays. There are some lightbulbs that provide all 3, but are extremely powerful, and therefore not suitable for home use. Since these bulbs aren't feasable, you're going to want a 2nd bulb for UVB.

My recommendation is to use your daytime bulb for ~12 a day on a timer. I wouldn't bother with the nighttime bulb, it doesn't add anything. You should try to grab a 2nd lamp and UVB bulb soon, but its not an emergency or anything. Your turtle will survive without UVB, but be at much higher risk of shell rot and infection.

When you get a chance, grab a 2nd lamp and a UVB bulb. The 5 and 10 fluorescent ones like this are good. I use (and really like) a double dome lamp - and have the heat bulb in one and the UVB bulb in the other.

Is this the bulb you are talking about? Link I found the powersun here but it looks like it has less UVB that then above lamp.