Exo Terra Reptile UVB200 high output UVB T8 tube bulb

[dharvey4651]

Has anyone had any experience with Exo Terra and their claimed high output UVB150 and UVB200 bulbs?

I'm looking to replace my 18" T8 UVB bulb i purchased on Amazon when my beardie was still about 2 months old with something a bit more powerful. He's nearly 16 inches long now.

He's recently started having issues swallowing. He'll keep food in his mouth for quite a while before swallowing and has actually choked once before.

As a result his appetite has been suffering as well.

His stools are also becoming less frequent but never diarrhea.

I've read that these symptoms can be a sign of inadequate UVB.



My current setup looks like this -

40 gallon breeder(starter tank from petsmart) with screen lid. Planning to get a larger tank but boy are they pricey!

18 inch T8 UVB light from Amazon. - UVB50 printed on the bulb itself.

Amazon.com : Zilla Reptile Slimline Reptile Lighting Fixture with UVB Lamp, 18-Inches : Aquarium Lights : Pet Supplies

Amazon.com : Zilla Reptile Slimline Reptile Lighting Fixture with UVB Lamp, 18-Inches : Aquarium Lights : Pet Supplies

www.amazon.com

Double light fixture - Flukers 150watt basking spotlight & 150watt black ceramic heat emitter.

Lights are on timers. The lights turn on at 5:30am and off at 9pm. The ceramic heater turns off at 10am and on on again at 6pm. - allowing a bit of overlap to add a bit of extra heat for basking after meals.

Ceramic tile floor, cleaned weekly but vacuumed as needed. My beardie is bathed in approx 95 degree water while tank is being cleaned.



His diet could be better but he's very picky.

He usually gets feeders in the morning - superworms, wax worms and dubia roaches(1").

He gets collards in the afternoon but won't touch fruits or other veggies(picky!)

He gets feeders in the evening - same mix as in the morning.

He is always fed for 10-15 minutes until he's full.
I've started gut-loading my dubias with banana, raspberry and sweet peppers.

Insects get dusted with calcium powder once daily.

I'm interested to hear what you all might think is going on here. Whatever it is I need to fix it asap because I don't want him getting sick if I can prevent it.

I'd also really like to know if any of you have had any experience with the Exo Terra light I mentioned above and whether it not it could help with the issues I'm having or if you would recommend something different entirely.

Thank you all so much in advance. My beardie is my first reptile and I'm by no means an expert. I just want him to be healthy and happy.

 

[Sadie]

Has anyone had any experience with Exo Terra and their claimed high output UVB150 and UVB200 bulbs?

I'm looking to replace my 18" T8 UVB bulb i purchased on Amazon when my beardie was still about 2 months old with something a bit more powerful. He's nearly 16 inches long now.

He's recently started having issues swallowing. He'll keep food in his mouth for quite a while before swallowing and has actually choked once before.
View attachment 23942
As a result his appetite has been suffering as well.

His stools are also becoming less frequent but never diarrhea.

I've read that these symptoms can be a sign of inadequate UVB.



My current setup looks like this -
View attachment 23941
40 gallon breeder(starter tank from petsmart) with screen lid. Planning to get a larger tank but boy are they pricey!

18 inch T8 UVB light from Amazon. - UVB50 printed on the bulb itself.

Amazon.com : Zilla Reptile Slimline Reptile Lighting Fixture with UVB Lamp, 18-Inches : Aquarium Lights : Pet Supplies

Amazon.com : Zilla Reptile Slimline Reptile Lighting Fixture with UVB Lamp, 18-Inches : Aquarium Lights : Pet Supplies

www.amazon.com

Double light fixture - Flukers 150watt basking spotlight & 150watt black ceramic heat emitter.

Lights are on timers. The lights turn on at 5:30am and off at 9pm. The ceramic heater turns off at 10am and on on again at 6pm. - allowing a bit of overlap to add a bit of extra heat for basking after meals.

Ceramic tile floor, cleaned weekly but vacuumed as needed. My beardie is bathed in approx 95 degree water while tank is being cleaned.



His diet could be better but he's very picky.

He usually gets feeders in the morning - superworms, wax worms and dubia roaches(1").

He gets collards in the afternoon but won't touch fruits or other veggies(picky!)

He gets feeders in the evening - same mix as in the morning.

He is always fed for 10-15 minutes until he's full.
I've started gut-loading my dubias with banana, raspberry and sweet peppers.

Insects get dusted with calcium powder once daily.

I'm interested to hear what you all might think is going on here. Whatever it is I need to fix it asap because I don't want him getting sick if I can prevent it.

I'd also really like to know if any of you have had any experience with the Exo Terra light I mentioned above and whether it not it could help with the issues I'm having or if you would recommend something different entirely.

Thank you all so much in advance. My beardie is my first reptile and I'm by no means an expert. I just want him to be healthy and happy.

It sounds like your feeding insects too big for him make sure your feeding no bigger than the size between his eyes length wise- is he having the food sit in his beard before swallowing and is it just insects? or is it all food-- how many wax worms are you feeding -- those are real fatty so I would feed them sparingly - here is a website for nutrition
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html the kale is good to feed as a staple feeder
T 8 needs to be inside the tank - the bulb is not strong enough to go thru the screen and distance should be 6-8 inches from basking decor-- I recommend you upgrade to a T 5 Reptisun for the larger tank you will need to get a different fixture--- go here and look these people are fast and good they ship Fed Ex
https://www.pangeareptile.com/store/zoo-med-reptisun-t5-ho-terrarium-hood.html I would get a 24" fixture it comes w/ a 5.0 bulb but that is more for an aquarium use and is considered a T 8 placement and distance would be different when using
get this bulb https://www.pangeareptile.com/store/zoo-med-reptisun-10.0-uvb-t5.html 22" bulb these and the Arcadia bulb are considered one of the best on the market at this time -- the 24" fixture would be good for a 40+ gallon tank - you dont want fixture the same length as the tank they need to be able to get out of the rays - you can go 2/3rds of the tank if you want but I am using a 24" in my 4x2x2 and it seems to do just fine -
please no more bananas rasp and sweet peppers for the dubias - I would get some reg dubia food from www.dubiaroaches.com and feed carrots or and squash for hydration -- the bags of dubia food last quite a while
you can look into getting a zen habitat for around $329 -- they are nice tanks I have other websites as well for tanks
the calcium powder is w/ D3 or w/ out D3? I would also be dusting the insects 2 x per week w/ a vitamin w/ beta carotene once per feeding

 

[dharvey4651]

Hello Sadie and thanks for your incredibly detailed and helpful response.

I do believe that some of the dubias I've been feeding my beardie may be too large as he ate 5 smaller ones this morning with no issue.

I fully intend to give him less wax worms moving forward. He's been eating an average of 5-10 a day.

He also usually eats 5-10 superworms per day as well.

This is the powder that I've been dusting his feeders with.

It says it has D3.

I will be ordering some beta carotene as well.

I'm gonna to be ordering that 24" reptisun fixture and bulb you recommend but in the mean time I am moving his current UVB light inside the tank and removing the plastic cover from the assembly.

It's also funny that you mention Zen Habitats because that is the exact tank that I am currently saving up to buy. I want the 4x2x2 pvc tank though and not the bamboo. I do want the matching stand and hood though so it's gonna take me some time to get everything.

 

[dharvey4651]

I'll be ordering smaller roaches today.

As far as feeding the dubias, I actually have dubia feed and dew from dubiaroaches.com and I do feed it to them. I was just gut loading the roaches with what I thought would be good. I will stop that immediately.

I recently purchased a smaller tank and 5 pairs of adult breeders and I intend to colonize the roaches to save money long-term. I will be feeding them to my beardie before they get too large moving forward.

 

[Sadie]

Hello Sadie and thanks for your incredibly detailed and helpful response.

I do believe that some of the dubias I've been feeding my beardie may be too large as he ate 5 smaller ones this morning with no issue.

I fully intend to give him less wax worms moving forward. He's been eating an average of 5-10 a day.

He also usually eats 5-10 superworms per day as well.

This is the powder that I've been dusting his feeders with.
View attachment 23946
It says it has D3.

I will be ordering some beta carotene as well.

I'm gonna to be ordering that 24" reptisun fixture and bulb you recommend but in the mean time I am moving his current UVB light inside the tank and removing the plastic cover from the assembly.

It's also funny that you mention Zen Habitats because that is the exact tank that I am currently saving up to buy. I want the 4x2x2 pvc tank though and not the bamboo. I do want the matching stand and hood though so it's gonna take me some time to get everything.

I am not sure about feeding beta carotene separately I would just get your vitamins w/ beta carotene --- it replaces the Vit A -- you dont want too much vitamin A -- the Calcium D 3 is fine --
I have the Zen w/ the PVC --- and my tank has the bamboo sides and back - but when I got mine they had just the bamboo flooring which made it too slippery but it didnt matter cuz I was going to use a textured slated ceramic tile anyway -- I wanted the floor protected so I use a thick shop blue paper towel under the tile to catch the watery urate - they didnt have the black floor substrate then -- I do have two of those tanks -
Its good you removed the covering off the UVB fixture I forgot to mention that -- between the covering of the fixture and the screen your dragon was getting little to no UVB --
You can get the UVB now since your waiting on the Zen -- you can look for a old dresser or stand from a used furniture store and that would save some money on the stand - I bought one for $40 for Blazes tank and I use the drawers to keep his extra lights and stuff in it -- just a suggestion to save money - the other stand I am using is from Home Depot and its a aquarium tank stand but it was more expensive -

 

[dharvey4651]

I am not sure about feeding beta carotene separately I would just get your vitamins w/ beta carotene --- it replaces the Vit A -- you dont want too much vitamin A -- the Calcium D 3 is fine --
I have the Zen w/ the PVC --- and my tank has the bamboo sides and back - but when I got mine they had just the bamboo flooring which made it too slippery but it didnt matter cuz I was going to use a textured slated ceramic tile anyway -- I wanted the floor protected so I use a thick shop blue paper towel under the tile to catch the watery urate - they didnt have the black floor substrate then -- I do have two of those tanks -
Its good you removed the covering off the UVB fixture I forgot to mention that -- between the covering of the fixture and the screen your dragon was getting little to no UVB --
You can get the UVB now since your waiting on the Zen -- you can look for a old dresser or stand from a used furniture store and that would save some money on the stand - I bought one for $40 for Blazes tank and I use the drawers to keep his extra lights and stuff in it -- just a suggestion to save money - the other stand I am using is from Home Depot and its a aquarium tank stand but it was more expensive -

I ordered that light fixture and bulb you recommended.

In the mean time though I made the necessary modifications to my existing UVB fixture. There is an obviously visible difference in the amount of UV light now with the fixture where it is vs before.


Also the stand I currently have will be sufficient to hold the Zen 4x2x2 without issue. Its just hard for me to part with $389 PVC enclosure with printed bamboo vs real bamboo with my current financial situation.

I'm hoping that once I get my dubia colony established, that'll save me a bit of money I can out towards my new tank. This is the configuration I'm planning to purchase.

With all 3 pieces, it comes to $787 shipped. Itll give me all the room in the world to contain my roach colony and other supplies while also hiding all the light fixtures inside the ventilated hood.

I'll likely buy the tank shortly after Christmas but the stand and hood may have to wait a little while.

 

[HoomanSlave]

If you check on Ebay or Craigslist you can find very low-priced tanks-I've found a 100 gallon for $40 and a 10-gallon for $1 while browsing Craigslist, along with a really cool R2-D2 fish tank that took all my self control not to buy.
You can also build your own. Just go out on garbage day in your neighborhood and look for an old dresser that's being thrown away. With a bit of work and silicone, you can build an awesome multi-story tank, or enough tanks for multiple animals.
If it's legal in your area, you could also try dumpster diving at pet stores for discarded tanks, but keep in mind that it's dangerous, you might be trespassing, and you will need to clean everything thoroughly.

 

[dharvey4651]

If you check on Ebay or Craigslist you can find very low-priced tanks-I've found a 100 gallon for $40 and a 10-gallon for $1 while browsing Craigslist, along with a really cool R2-D2 fish tank that took all my self control not to buy.
You can also build your own. Just go out on garbage day in your neighborhood and look for an old dresser that's being thrown away. With a bit of work and silicone, you can build an awesome multi-story tank, or enough tanks for multiple animals.
If it's legal in your area, you could also try dumpster diving at pet stores for discarded tanks, but keep in mind that it's dangerous, you might be trespassing, and you will need to clean everything thoroughly.

I already have a stand that will work well for now. I'm just OCD and would love to have all matching tank and associated furniture.



I'll be able to fit the Zen Habitat on this table no problem. It'll overhang slightly on the front and back but it'll support the new tank until I can get the matching stand.

 

[Sadie]

I ordered that light fixture and bulb you recommended.

In the mean time though I made the necessary modifications to my existing UVB fixture. There is an obviously visible difference in the amount of UV light now with the fixture where it is vs before.
View attachment 23951

Also the stand I currently have will be sufficient to hold the Zen 4x2x2 without issue. Its just hard for me to part with $389 PVC enclosure with printed bamboo vs real bamboo with my current financial situation.

I'm hoping that once I get my dubia colony established, that'll save me a bit of money I can out towards my new tank. This is the configuration I'm planning to purchase.
View attachment 23950
With all 3 pieces, it comes to $787 shipped. Itll give me all the room in the world to contain my roach colony and other supplies while also hiding all the light fixtures inside the ventilated hood.

I'll likely buy the tank shortly after Christmas but the stand and hood may have to wait a little while.

Make sure you have a piece of decor directly under the UVB approx 6-8 inches from UVB

 

[dharvey4651]

Make sure you have a piece of decor directly under the UVB approx 6-8 inches from UVB

The piece of wood/bark thats under the light is just the right height.

Once the new Reptisun fixture comes, will it also need to be inside the tank or is it powerful enough to put on top of the tank?

Also will the distance to the decor change with the new light and fixture?

 

[Sadie]

The piece of wood/bark thats under the light is just the right height.

Once the new Reptisun fixture comes, will it also need to be inside the tank or is it powerful enough to put on top of the tank?

Also will the distance to the decor change with the new light and fixture?

I was looking at your screen and it looks to be a fine mesh so yes to both questions - distance for a T 5 is 12-15 inches from basking decor - the Zen you will also need to be in the tank since it 24" high --- same distance -

 

[dharvey4651]

I was looking at your screen and it looks to be a fine mesh so yes to both questions - distance for a T 5 is 12-15 inches from basking decor - the Zen you will also need to be in the tank since it 24" high --- same distance -

Okay so for now, with my current tank, the Reptisun CAN be on top of the tank because of the type of screen, provided it is 12-15 inches from the decor.

And once I buy the Zen, it will need to be inside the tank - same distance to decor.

Look who popped out for a visit this morning. I think he likes the new placement of the UVB light.


He's been brumating off and on lately but he's wide awake this morning.

 

[Sadie]

Okay so for now, with my current tank, the Reptisun CAN be on top of the tank because of the type of screen, provided it is 12-15 inches from the decor.

And once I buy the Zen, it will need to be inside the tank - same distance to decor.

Look who popped out for a visit this morning. I think he likes the new placement of the UVB light.
View attachment 23963

He's been brumating off and on lately but he's wide awake this morning.

Mine too they have been in and out -- sometimes sleeping for a day or two - then out to bask and eat - I got one sleeping now in his cave the other sitting under the UVB - you can take a piece of fleece or soft blanket and put in his cave to give him something soft to sleep on

 

[dharvey4651]

Mine too they have been in and out -- sometimes sleeping for a day or two - then out to bask and eat - I got one sleeping now in his cave the other sitting under the UVB - you can take a piece of fleece or soft blanket and put in his cave to give him something soft to sleep on

My wife was looking at tiny little animal beds to put in his cave just yesterday. Said "Who wants to sleep on a slab of tile? Like seriously..."

Lol.

 

[Sadie]

Check out www.pamperedbeardies.com