Lighting Setup Question...?

MVB is mercury vapor bulb. And with a large cage it will be much more effective than fluorescents. The fluorescents have to be within 8-10 inches of the animal

Originally Posted by Merlin

MVB is mercury vapor bulb. And with a large cage it will be much more effective than fluorescents. The fluorescents have to be within 8-10 inches of the animal

How far for MVB's?

MVBs project a lot farther. In fact depending on the bulb there is a minimum distance the bulb MUST be away from the animal

Originally Posted by hangtown530

How far for MVB's?

I currently use the Megarays, the minimum distance these must be from the surface of the animal is 12inches, the max distance varies with the wattage, that ranges from 15 to 30inches, (full sun).
My 275w is set 30inches above my animal, the 160w is set 20inches away. If you choose the "Powersun" lamps, they can be set up to 6feet away from the animal, but obviously, the ammount of heat at that distance would be very small, so other heat lamps would be needed to create the basking area around that lamp.
Powersuns were the best until the arrival of the Megaray, but they are still far superior to the tubes in terms of their UVB (plus heat) emmitance

MVB is not a basking lamp anyways though right?

I mean I would still need a CME or other kind of heat lamp for the iguana's basking area even if I were to use the MVB in the enclosure...right?

MVB's are a heat lamp yes, they are benificial to use as a basking lamp. They produce heat and light and UVB light so your Reptile gets what he needs from the one bulb. Ceramic Heat Emitter's only produce heat. And flourescents produce light and UVB (when stated that they are a UVB bulb)

Regular basking bulbs dont produce UVB

Nice and they last a lot longer huh??? That's great...I'm looking these up for sure.

Thanks