Curiosty Killed the cat

[byerssusan]

Not really! ha ha ...Had to make a fast outside enclosure just so Phoenix could get some natural sun for a couple of hours a day seeing how I removed the repti glo bulb that I did not know would hurt her eyes. Which apparently is true..because after removing that light she was active ALL day yesterday. I mean she was going all over.Apparently the light was already hurting her eyes.. Any ole way..I cannot afford the bulb right at the moment for her to get the sun rays she needs, so I set up a fast enclosure on our porch so she can get the morning sun. This is where curiosity killed the cat haha..No i did not harm Tweedle Dee..But boy I hurried fast to get screens to cover the sides so He could not bother Phoenix. The cat was going nuts seeing Phoenix moving slowly like mmm.. Something I can play with !! haha.. And dog gone it..What is Phoenix doing? Staying in her hide instead of resting in the sun. Damned if you do and damned if you don't haha..

 

[Tony the tank]

If the bulb you have was going to cause any damage it would have within the first few days when the bulb is burning in... And even the slightest damage the tortoise would display swollen eyes and closed lids....

I wouldn't go throwing that bulb away unless you want to up grade to a MVB regardless....

 

[byerssusan]

okay ...well I really don't know what to say..There are many I have been listening to here in different threads.that say the Repto Glo 10.0 uvb is not good for their eyes. Some say they make them go blind. After I removed it Phoenix was moving around everywhere. Now that was either from the light being gone or...because I am slowly switching her diet. I havent thrown the light away. I will use it for plants if I can..perhaps start growing some indoor things I can feed to her. And yes I am wanting to switch to the mvb light.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

If the bulb you have was going to cause any damage it would have within the first few days when the bulb is burning in... And even the slightest damage the tortoise would display swollen eyes and closed lids....

I wouldn't go throwing that bulb away unless you want to up grade to a MVB regardless....

I totally disagree with this. I had a yearling that was blinded by a coil bulb and it took months for us to discover what the problem was, and what was causing it. So my point is the bulb burned for months causing pain with swollen lids and runny eyes getting worse. If it was just the first few days the problem wouldn't have escalated over a few months time like this did. His cell mate was killed by the bulb. The way we figure it, he was actually writhing in pain and got caught under the edge of a hide and suffocated himself. The other yearling took months of swollen painful eyes before we put 2 and 2 together and got rid of the bulb. When that was happening to Tony it was not well known that the bulbs were causing the eye problems. So it took a couple of month for us to realize that it was the bulb causing Tony Stewart's eye problem. He ended up blind in one eye with diminished sight in the other. So this was no "first few days" of burning the bulb. This was months of burning the bulb. That is my personal experience. Here is a link that explains what was happening at that time...

http://www.uvguide.co.uk/compactlamps.htm

I feel it is important for new keepers to understand that coil bulbs cause blindness, not just in the "first few days" of burning the bulb. It causes blindness the whole time the bulb is burning.

I just went to that site, and it was open yesterday and closed today while it updates. So that is good, maybe they will talk about how they've improved the new bulb. But until then, coil bulbs are still blinding reptiles...

 

[Tony the tank]

Maggie..im in no way saying it didnt happen to you..But I have looked high and low for information regarding UVB bulbs blinding tortoises... Except for some manufacturing defects a few yrs back from some major bulb manufactures...I cannot find any info stating CFB or any fluorescent bulb cause permanent blindness... the most I was ble to find is over radiation of UVC rays...(Which is welders flash, snow blindness)..Reversible within a few days of removing the source.... I even had a severe flash burn.. 6hrs after exposure my lids were swollen and my eyes felt like someone was scraping them with sand...hospital visit and some pain drops and I was able to see again in within 2-3 days and 100% within a week...The pain was excruciating...I can only imagine what it would feel like without pain drops...But everyone that saw me noticed imemediatly that my eyes were messed up there was no way you could miss it..

Also most people that have reported this..have reported it happened within the first few days of burning the bulb in..( when the UV rays are way above normal most bulbs are off the charts for the first few hrs and flash burn can happen from just a second of exposure)

From what I have read..and from what I have been told....The incidents im aware of involving the flash burns were not a design flaw but a manufacturing flaw...and they were recalled and the issue was addressed..

Has anyone else here experienced or heard of there or another tort going permanently blind from CFB..

 

[ascott]

I believe that the problem with the coil bulbs stems from the distance to surface ratio.....I have researched the bulb and they were initially designed for much further distance to surface ratio (better near 4+ feet away from the enclosure surface).

Most of our indoor enclosures are not set up for our lights to be at this distance, more like 12 inches average and at that distance they certainly will cause harm to the delicate eyes of hatchlings/young tortoise/turtle. And adults, if left exposed for too long of a period of time....

There are many products in the market place, each designed for different applications, if they are used incorrectly they can do harm instead of good.

The bad thing is that most packaging does not go into great detail on the exterior of the box but rather is left up to the consumer to research....which can have horrible results and I believe warnings should be listed on certain merchandise....IMHO

Also, the coil bulbs do fluctuate intensity more than the standard bulbs and have a harder time remaining consistent....

If I were in my fantasy land and had an entire large room able to be dedicated primarily to tortoise housing I may not be as concerned about the use of a coil bulb mounted high via ceiling mount to cover a large area....however, until that day comes I have no practical use for these bulbs....I do elect to not use these type of bulb, as my only two constant indoor enclosures are for my RFs and the bulbs application is not appropriate for these enclosures. Again, IMHO

 

[byerssusan]

Well I am not a scientist..I only took the advice of so many here who are so more advanced in the learning of raising Tortoises than I. And as I said..As soon as I removed the bulb which was immediate after reading what I had read , Phoenix came out and was on the go all day..I believe it was hurting her eyes. I have had her since she was 2 weeks old..She has always walked around checking things out, but not like she has been since removing that.. I saw a real difference in her actions ....soo ...I have to go by what my Tort is telling me.

 

[ascott]

You are absolutely right!!!!! I too would not have that type of bulb for hatchlings or babies......just would not. You done good

 

[byerssusan]

You know I don't know if I am just easliy obbessed by my animal friends I have or not haha.. My finacee says I am. But I like watching the the animals I have. It helps me so that if problems do arise I can tell by the way they are acting.(All) Animals will tell you when something is not right if you pay attention. I keep Phoenix right next to where I sit..So I am constantly watching her. Getting to know all her habits..likes ..dislikes. And I am pretty sure that if something is wrong once I know her even better than I am getting to know her now.. I will be able to be right ontop of it.(With the help of this forum)... I wondered why when the light was on why she seemed to keep her eyes closed alot..Well not when walking but you know what I mean. I saw almost instantly though her little black eyes shining when the light went out. That was proof enough for me.