Licht-im-Terrarium: Literaturdatenbank
Licht-im-Terrarium: Literaturdatenbank |
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Zoo Med Laboratories. (1999). Information sheets - what is "uvb" lighting anyway? Retrieved March 3, 1999, from http://www.zoomed.com/zma43.html Added by: Sarina (2009-04-05 17:22:10) Last edited by: Sarina (2009-04-06 10:59:18) |
| Resource type: Web Site BibTeX citation key: ZooMedLaboratories1999a View all bibliographic details  |
Categories: Englisch = English Keywords: Lampen = Lamps, Sehvermögen = Visual Perception, Vitamin D = Vitamin D Creators: Zoo Med Laboratories |
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Zoo Med Laboratories, Inc. Information Sheets - What is "UVB" Lighting anyway? Q: What is "UVB" Lighting anyway?!? A: The sun as well as artificial lighting has 3 wavelengths; UVA, UVB, and UVC. UVA is in the visible wavelength of light and in reptiles is responsible for inducing "normal behavior" such as feeding, climbing, mating, etc. We like to say UVA is responsible for the "physiological well being" of reptiles. Zoos have experimented with UVA bulbs for years (i.e.; BLB blacklights) and found that exposure to high levels of UVA lighting for 2 hours daily induced mating in many species of lizards. UVB is in the non-visible wavelength of lighting. UVB in humans is what gives us a suntan. In reptiles, UVB allows the synthesis of vitamin D3 which allows reptiles to process calcium in their system thus preventing or reversing metabolic bone disease. UVC is the wavelength they use for Ultraviolet Sterilizers to kill harmful bacteria. This wavelength is very dangerous to all animals as it can damage DNA. Q: Do all reptiles need UVB lighting? A: No. Snakes derive their D3 from the liver of the prey they eat (mice, rats, etc.). Amphibians also do not seem to need UVB lighting. However, both the above animals benefit greatly from UVA lighting. (i.e.; Reptisun 2.0) which help induce normal behavior in snakes and amphibians. (note from Tricia- I dont believe this is necessarily true for all snakes and or amphibians) Q: So you are saying that all lizards, turtles, and tortoises must have UVB lighting? A: Yes, either from natural sunlight or a good quality UVB Fluorescent bulb. (i.e.; Reptisun 5.0 UVB or Iguana Light 5.0 UVB.) Green Iguanas will start to show signs of metabolic bone disease at 6 months of age (i.e.; rubber jaw or dragging of hind legs) if not given UVB lighting. (note from Tricia- What about nocturnal species? Do they really need UVB? Also igs and other species will show calcium deficiency sooner or later than stated above if not only not provided with UVB lighting, but also if their diet is improper and if they are not being kept at adequate temps) Q: Can you get UVB from an incandescent bulb? A: No! You can not get UVB from a tungsten filament incandescent bulb! Especially not in a "Neodenamin" type light bulb! Q: There are now 4 or 5 companies manufacturing UVB type fluorescent reptile bulbs. Several of them make the same claims as Zoo Med's Reptisun UVB310 but are half the price! What's the deal?!? A: Remember the phrase "you can't judge a book by its cover"! Unfortunately, you can't judge a light bulb by its package either! Zoo Med has spent thousands of dollars sending competitors UVB bulbs out for complete spectranalysis. In every case we found that the competing UVB bulbs manufactured prior to September 1995 (our last test) had considerably less or none of the UVB amount stated on the package! In our own tests at Zoo Med with a UVB Digital Radiometer. We not only came up with the same above results, but also found that the UVB in our competitors bulbs completely dissipated at 3-4" inches from the bulbs surface! Zoo Med's ReptiSun UVB310 and Zoo Med's Iguana Light UVB310 keep the UVB wavelength active at up to 12" inches away from the bulbs surface! (Note from Tricia- may be true but doesnt bear up with the article in "The vivarium". Marketing, Marketing Marketing.....) Q: Does the "Vitalite" have UVB in it? A: Most fluorescent lighting have very slight traces of UVB. The Vitalite also has trace amounts of UVB. However, the Vitalite is not marketed as a UVB Reptile Light and makes no claims in preventing metabolic bone disease in Reptiles. (note from Tricia- According to the article in Vivarium Vita-lite produces 1.9 UVB but was does that mean? Anyways by comparison Vita-lites are midway on the list of UVB producing florescents. A large amount of herp keepers use them and have had satisfactory results) Q: If the natural sunlight provides UVB, then why don't I just haul my lizards and turtles out into the sunlight? A: Get serious! First off, if you put a 10-30 gallon reptile terrarium in direct sunlight you could "bake" your animals in a matter of minutes! Secondly, even if you provide a shaded area this does not mean that your animal is smart enough to get out of the direct sun in a terrarium environment. Lastly, what about winter! Even the large commercial reptile compounds that keep their reptiles in outdoor enclosures will winterize them indoors with Zoo Med's UVB bulbs! (note from Tricia- Yes but does that mean that reptiles kept indoors are smart enough to bask under UVB florescents if they arent smart enough to get out of the direct sun when kept outdoors????) Q: Does glass filter out UVB? A: Yes. Glass filters out 95% of all UVB rays. Aluminum screen filters out roughly 30%. Make sure the fluorescent lamp has only 1/8" screen (or larger) or nothing between the UVB bulb and your reptile. Also make sure your reptiles can get within 12" of the UVB bulb. Q: Why has Zoo Med changed the name of their Reptisun UVB310 and Iguana Light UVB310 to Reptisun 5.0 UVB and Iguana Light 5.0 UVB? A: When we developed the Reptisun UVB310 and Iguana Light UVB310 we had approximately 2.2% total energy output of UVB. After utilizing one very in-depth study on UVB lighting with Iguanas and after many discussions with lighting Physicists we felt we could safely increase the levels of UVB to approximately 5% total energy output for greater animal benefit. (i.e.; synthesis of Vitamin D3). (Note from Tricia- According to the article in the Vivarium the numbers 5.0 ect These numbers can be used to compared relative UVB emission among lamps, but can not be directly related to irradiance or the distribution of energy at different wavelengths within the UVB band or D3 synthesizing capability. ) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Q: Are the levels of UVB in the currently marketed reptile bulbs safe for humans? A: Zoo Med's Reptisun 5.0 UVB and Iguana Light 5.0 UVB fall within the N.I.O.S.H. (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.) guidelines for safety. It is Zoo Med's opinion that UVB Bulbs that exceed 5% total energy output should not be sold to the general public. Lastly, as a safety precaution, just as you would not stare at the sun, never stare for any length of time directly within 12" of a UVB bulb. Q: What is the new Reptisun 2.0 fluorescent bulb from Zoo Med? A: This is Zoo Med's "low end" UVB bulb with up to 2% total energy output of UVB and up to 15% total energy output of UVA! This exceeds UVA and UVB amounts in the majority of competing Reptile bulbs! Excellent for all snake, amphibian, or anachrid applications. For Iguanas use Zoo Med's Iguana Light 5.0 UVB and for all other Lizards, Turtles and Tortoises use Zoo Med's Reptisun 5.0 UVB. Both the 5.0 UVB bulbs from Zoo Med have up to 30% UVA amounts! Q: What is C.R.I. A: "Color Rendering Index" i.e.; the effect that a light source has upon the colors of an object. The sun has a C.R.I. of 100 and is what all artificial lighting is measured by. Any artificial light source with a C.R.I. above 90 is excellent. Unfortunately, in artificial lighting, if you have high levels of UVA and UVB you will sacrifice some of your C.R.I. Zoo Med's Reptisun 5.0 and Iguana light 5.0 have a C.R.I. of 85 to 92 C.R.I. Many companies will "tout" their C.R.I. at 95 to 98 C.R.I. these companies fail to see the benefit of UVA and UVB in a reptile application. Q: What is Kelvin? A: Color Temperature or the description of the warmth or coolness of a light source. When a piece of metal is heated, the color of light it emits will change. This color begins as red in appearance and graduates to orange, yellow white, and then blue-white to deeper colors of blue. The temperature of this metal is a physical measure in degrees Kelvin or absolute temperature. Consider the sun; the sun rises at approximately 1800 kelvins and changes from red to orange to yellow to white as it climbs to over 5,000 kelvins at noon and then goes right back down the scale as it sets. The preferred kelvin rating for artificial reptile lighting is 5,000 to 5,500 kelvin. Q: Any major endorsements on Zoo Med's Reptisun 5.0 UVB lighting? A: You bet! Our initial big endorsement was from Bert and Hester Langerwerf of Agama International (currently producing 10,000 captive reptile offspring annually!). Currently, we have been picking up about 1 major U.S. Zoo per week for a total of 15 U.S. Zoos now using our lighting! We have also recently received endorsements from the Chameleon Information Network as well as favorable reviews from current articles in the Vivarium magazine. At a recent reptile symposium, one Uromastyx lizard breeder would not sell his offspring unless the potential recipient purchased Zoo Med Reptisun 5.0 UVB lighting! Added by: Sarina |