UV light question

[Taprock]

Buzz’s UV light burned out this weekend. I picked up a new bulb today at the pet store. They didn’t have the right one but the owner said the bulb he sold me would work. I didn’t look closely at it until I got home. It says on it “use only for reptiles”. The old bulb said “ Aviansun 5.0 UVB” and the new one “Reptisun 10.0 UVB”. Is it safe to use? Just keep it farther away? Anyone with this knowledge, there are no other bulbs around and we haven’t seen the sun in months here!

 

[Flboy]

Save your money! Replace it with a simple led daylight bulb!

 

[ChristaNL]

If you are worried about UV-b overkill ...just double the distance from the bird (if I remember my physics correctly ).

 

[noodles123]

I would be more worried about the coating on the bulb/metal base--can reptiles survive PTFE/PFOA?
If so, you might call...

 

[EllenD]

the 5.0 and the 10.0 designate the UVB output; a 10.0 is the standard for reptiles who require artificial UVB light all day long, while a 5.0 is basically emitting no UVB at all (basically, they actually sell 2.0 and 3.0 as well, which are useless)...The Reptisun 10.0 UVB TUBES are safe, HOWEVER, IF THIS IS THE REPTISUN 10.0 THAT IS A COIL/SPIRAL BULB OR A COMPACT BULB (anything but the tube light that goes into a strip light fixture), THEN DO NOT PUT IT OVER YOUR BIRD!

The spiral/coil 10.0 bulbs cause eye damage, blindness, and skin issues including cancer, and the compact 10.0 bulbs (regular lightbulb shape, sometimes self-ballasted) with birds are the same...And as mentioned already, I HAVE NO IDEA IF THEY CONTAIN ANY TEFLON/PFOA/PTFE, etc...I know about them for Reptiles...THEY ARE NEITHER MEANT FOR OR NEEDED/REQUIRED FOR A BIRD/PARROT!

As already mentioned, save your money and just buy an LED bulb meant for birds-only...You could very well end-up causing your bird eye and skin issues from using 10.0 output UVB lights meant for Reptiles who require a UVB light...Birds do not need ANY UVB light at all, but I won't go into that right now...Just don't put a 10.0 UVB output Reptisun bulb over your bird at all, especially if it's a coil/spiral/compact version and not a long UVB tube that is either 18" long or longer...

Just to clarify, experienced reptile breeders/owners don't EVER use ANY coil/spiral/compact UVB bulbs over their reptiles, unless they are a Mercury Vapor Bulb that emits both UVB and heat...Otherwise they always use long UVB tubes, as they are the only ones that are considered both effective and more importantly safe...The coil/spiral/compact bulbs, both 5.0 and 10.0, and of any and all brands, are well-known to cause severe eye damage/blindness and skin damage in reptiles and amphibians...