My New Babies (Take Two)

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lfreday42x

New member
The website burped when trying to post this the first time so let's try again.

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This is my first attempt at reptile ownership. These two little guys are Madagascar Giant Day Geckos (Phelsuma grandis). They live in an exo terra small tall terrarium. I am currently working on the larger terrarium so they have more space when they get bigger. The light I am using is a 35 watt exo terra sunray. The light is great at providing everything they need: light, UVA, UVB, heat. I only wish the fixture/ballast would respond better when using a timer. I tried using a digital and an analog timer. For some reason when it comes time for the light to come on the light struggles to ignite (it is set to come on at 7 am but when i get home at 9 am, the light is not on at all). I have found myself sitting next to it and resetting it a couple of times then waiting for the ballast's internal timer to end so the light would come on. Kind of a PITA.
 
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lfreday42x

New member
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Dinky's first shedding. Before and after. I love how brilliant the colors are now :) Now just waiting for Slinky to do the same. UPDATE: It's possible Slinky may have already shed his skin and we may have missed it. He is growing nicely and is slightly larger than Dinky. Both appear to be very healthy.
 
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ofrell

New member
Really cute. Thanks for posting. From what I can tell the sun ray system uses a ballast in the fixture. It is most likely the problem. Do you have issues when it is not connected to the timer with the fixture starting. and alternative would be to use a compact fluorescent for UVB and a halogen for heat. Some people keep their day geckos without UVB and supplement well with Vitamin D, in that case you could use LEDs for bright white light and halogen for heat. I'm a new owner too. My guy is 5 months and have had for 1 month. IMG_9671.jpg
 
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lfreday42x

New member
I have determined that the ballast is faulty. I have a second one which still works today. I stuck the bulb from the first one into this fixture and it works. I have no idea if the timer(s) did this to the ballast or if the ballast was bad to begin with. Ever since day one there was a 20% chance it would come on with a timer or a 50% chance it would come on manually. I used a digital controller which has a timer built in and I used one of those cheap $10 analog timers I got at a local hardware store. I get the same results. I have not used a timer with the second fixture as of yet. I am reluctant. I have been manually turning it on/off. For my big terrarium, I am not using these fixtures. I will go with another setup. I haven't decided on what I am going to use yet. I have to decide soon. My two geckos are quickly growing out of this small terrarium. The good news is they don't seem to be fighting (yet). They do occasionally share the basking spot, but most of the time they basically spend most of their time on their side of the terrarium (hiding or hanging out). Gorgeous gecko by the way! Have you named him/her?
ofrell said:
Really cute. Thanks for posting. From what I can tell the sun ray system uses a ballast in the fixture. It is most likely the problem. Do you have issues when it is not connected to the timer with the fixture starting. and alternative would be to use a compact fluorescent for UVB and a halogen for heat. Some people keep their day geckos without UVB and supplement well with Vitamin D, in that case you could use LEDs for bright white light and halogen for heat. I'm a new owner too. My guy is 5 months and have had for 1 month. View attachment 35588
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ofrell

New member
Thanks. His name is Lord Baltimore (I live in Baltimore and it makes fun of the city which I'm not too keen on).

My guess is that the timer, since the light wasn't operating correctly caused the ballast failure. Not sure which timer you're using. I would ask exo terra support about an appropriate timer.

I'm using this one (not with your type of light though) and it has worked well, and is high capacity. Amazon.com: Sunlite 05005-SU T300 7 Day Heavy Duty Digital Timer: Home Improvement

best
 
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lfreday42x

New member
11896510_10154115453545299_5024719468166266782_o.jpgI am almost finished with the big terrarium. Need to hook up the heaters, plus the lighting controller and....the hardest part transferring the gecko(s) in here. Ran some tests on the UVB T5 lamp, puts out good UV, got the heat lamps adjusted just right for 95F surface temperature. Mister hooked up. GTG. Can't wait!
 
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ofrell

New member
That's awesome. I'm jealous. Have you ever measured the UVB output from a compact fluorescence bulb like an exoterra 100 or a ZooMed ReptiSun 5.0? I'm very curious how they compare to the T5! I wouldn't mind sending you a bulb to test if you'd be willing.
 
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lfreday42x

New member
ofrell said:
That's awesome. I'm jealous. Have you ever measured the UVB output from a compact fluorescence bulb like an exoterra 100 or a ZooMed ReptiSun 5.0? I'm very curious how they compare to the T5! I wouldn't mind sending you a bulb to test if you'd be willing.
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As a matter of fact I do have a 13 watt CFL that puts out UVB/UVA. It is a ZooMed 5.0 CFL which came with a day heat bulb, which were both included with a combo deep dome. The CFL is quite weak until you get really close, say less than 6 inches (with a screen). What I can do is do the tests and take some pics and I will post them on here. I will also show what the T5bulb puts out.

I can say this. The CFL is great for a relatively small enclosure. Such as the Exo Terra Nano 12x12x18. Anything larger you may have to upgrade to the 26 watts version (for the exo terra 18x18x24). If you get a larger terrarium yet, such as the one I have, your best bet is getting a T5 with a basking bulb(s), or an all-in-one bulb(s). The T5 puts out the same amount of UVB along its entire length.

The T5, which came with the 36 in reptisun LED+UVB puts out enough usable UVB all the way to the bottom of the terrarium (the bottom being the substrate which is 30 inches below the screen). I recorded something like 15 microwatts / square cm at the bottom. The basking site receives anywhere from 50-90 microwatts / sq cm. That may actually be a little high, but they seem to like it. On the right hand side I planted a rubber tree which provides shade for the cooler portion of the terrarium and completely blocks out the UVB so they can "cool off."

In my Exo terra 18x18x24 I had a 35 watt Exo Terra Sunray fixture which put out an absurd amount of UVB at 12 inches plus a screen: 175 microwatts / sq cm! I had a stick two more layers of screen to reduce it to 55. The geckos actually didn't like it when I did that. (It was as if they could not locate where the basking site went) It made the terrarium darker and cooler. I keep seeing a rule of thumb on youtube videos where if you were tanning out in the middle of the sahara desert on the hottest and brightest day, we would receive about 150 microwatt / sq cm. None of what I did was scientific, only observational. I just want to make sure my geckos get the TLC they deserve.

Again as I stated before, I wil gladly take pictures of the Solar Meter running those tests. Stay Tuned! I wish I could even put a video on here.
 
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ofrell

New member
That would be invaluable! Perhaps a youtube video? There are very few sources of independent product testing for UVB lights! I would be happy to host the vide on my youtube channel if you don't have your own and don't want to set one up.

In regards to the UVB intensities you are reporting. I think they sound quite reasonable for day geckos. This is what I could find after a quick google search

"Direct morning-midmorning sunlight on clear day yields 100-250 microwatts.
Direct midday sunlight can yield as much as 400-550 microwatts in arid climate.
Diffused sunlight and partial shade yields 40-80 microwatts.
Full shade 20 microwatts and less.

We can safely assume that forest species will be exposed all day from 20 to 100+ microwatts. Some will bask in early morning sun getting more microwatts for short period of time." This seems to be about what others have reported using the same device you have.

Reptisun 5.0

There is this UK website that has scant info...though grant plans...
UV Guide UK - Ultraviolet Light for Reptiles - 2005 Reptile Lighting Survey

I'm a scientist and like this sorta stuff :)
I currently am using a 26W exoterra CFL but have a 48" t8 Reptisun for my grandis (not using now) and use Vitamin D supplemented calcium and food.

Would love to assist in any way that I can.


jeff
 
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lfreday42x

New member
ReptiSun 5.0 Six Inches.jpgReptiSun 5.0 12 Inches.jpgExo Tera 35 Watt Sunray 12 Inches Total with Screen.jpgReptiSun 5.0 Four Inches.jpgReptiSun 5.0 Two Inches.jpg

1. 13 Watt CFL ReptiSun 5.0, Two Inches with Screen: 64 microwatts/cm2
2. 13 Watt CFL ReptiSun 5.0, Four Inches with Screen: 31 microwatts/cm2
3. 13 Watt CFL ReptiSun 5.0, Six Inches with Screen: 18 microwatts/cm2
4. 13 Watt CFL ReptiSun 5.0, 12 Inches with Screen: 6 microwatts/cm2
5. 35 Watt Exo Terra Sunray, Six inches above screen plus six inches below screen for a total of
12 inches: an impressive 190 microwatts/cm2!

Each bulb was given about 10 minutes to warm up and are about two months old.

Update: On the ReptiSun LED+UVB, I ran a test which was about 8 inches from the T5HO UVB bulb and got about 101 microwatts per cm2. The bulb has been running for about 2 hours and is about one month old.
 
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