Re: Non-Heat UVA/UVB Bulb?
If you can get hold of Arcadia then which ever tube of the right wattage and UV % output. If not Zoomed. Arcadia are the best, giving the most accurate output and lasting the longest with Zoomed not far behind.
Don't bother with Exo Terra / Repti-glo or Lucky Reptile as the UV wavelengths under lab tests are shown to be out of spec. Don't be tempted by cheap unbranded ones off eBay etc - they have been shown to output dangerous levels of uv-c.
MVB's are falling out of favour and don't output UV as efficiently as a tube.
Fran Baines and her colleagues regularly updated the latest tests here
UV Guide UK - Ultraviolet Light for Reptiles - UVB reptile lighting on test
You hit on an interesting point with regards to colour and it's one of the reasons that I provide UV for my snakes and that's reptiles have extra colour receptors and can see far into the UV work so by denying them UV light they are effectively being denied some of their sight.
When setting it up choose a bulb about half the length of the viv and mount it lengthways starting closest to the warm end and make sure there are areas throughout the viv where the lizard can be shaded completely from the uv.
If you're only setting up this one Viv then it won't be worth the money but if you're doing multiple vivs then a uvi meter is invaluable. They're not cheap but they take the guess work out and can save money in the long term as you can use them to test the tubes so instead of changing them arbitrarily every 9 miss you can change then when they're not outputting sufficient UV.
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0.1 B imperator, 1.0 M spilota harrisoni, 1.0 C hortulanus, 2.1 P reticulatus (Madu locality), 1.1 S amethystine, 1.1 L olivaceous, 1.0 C angulifer, 1.0 Z persicus, 0.1 P regius, 0.1 N natrix, 0.1 E climacophora, 1.0 P obsoletus, 0.1 L geluta nigrtia, 1.0 P catenifer sayi, 1.0 T lepidus
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