Okay. I'm starting to come around and get with the times. I'm working today with a guy and his crew who own and staff three reptile stores here in Southern CA. These guys work with tons of customers and their animals year after year, just like I did so many years ago. They swear to me that the newer florescent tubes really do work and really do give off adequate UV, as long as they are replaced at appropriate intervals. It echoes what a lot of other forum members have been telling me for the last year.
Things change and get better, so even though they never worked for me, back in the day, I'm willing to give them another try and keep an open mind. These guys swear by the ZooMed 10.0. They tell me they are good up to 20" away and do not do anything to harm their eyes. One guy said to me what I always say to people about the MVBs. He said he's never seen a single reptile get MBD under one of these bulbs. We talked about diet, supplementation and all the other factors and he still said that even with all those variables, he has not personally seen a case of MBD under the ZooMed 10.0.
All three of them unanimously dismissed all of the coil bulbs as ineffective, but did not regard them as dangerous. I mentioned what we've seen here on the forum many times, and they did have a vague recollection of something like that from a few years ago.
All three of them also agreed that MVBs were by far the best option for UV, but not appropriate for all situations, such as hatchlings of various reptile species in small enclosures since the smallest MVBs are 100 watts.
So there it is. Make your own decision. I think I'm going to give one a try over some babies when winter hits next year.
Things change and get better, so even though they never worked for me, back in the day, I'm willing to give them another try and keep an open mind. These guys swear by the ZooMed 10.0. They tell me they are good up to 20" away and do not do anything to harm their eyes. One guy said to me what I always say to people about the MVBs. He said he's never seen a single reptile get MBD under one of these bulbs. We talked about diet, supplementation and all the other factors and he still said that even with all those variables, he has not personally seen a case of MBD under the ZooMed 10.0.
All three of them unanimously dismissed all of the coil bulbs as ineffective, but did not regard them as dangerous. I mentioned what we've seen here on the forum many times, and they did have a vague recollection of something like that from a few years ago.
All three of them also agreed that MVBs were by far the best option for UV, but not appropriate for all situations, such as hatchlings of various reptile species in small enclosures since the smallest MVBs are 100 watts.
So there it is. Make your own decision. I think I'm going to give one a try over some babies when winter hits next year.