LED or UV tube for pythons?

[TRD]

Well the soft UV will not do much, if it had some UVa it would be useful, but it basically has none. I'll check if I can find something on the PogonaClub PowerUVB as I'm not familiar with the brand.

[TRD]

So much Japanese

So I seem to find only charts down to the UVb, at or about the 300nm range. I don't find any information on this light below 300nm -- which is basically the danger zone. Many lights, even from familiar manufactures like Zilla, give off the dangerous wavelengths of UVb (shoft wavelength UVb) as well as some lights still emitting UVc.

I find only info in Japanese, so it's a bit difficult.

The Power UVb seems to be OK, though it's output is rather strong and comparable to a Zoomed 10.0, which is much too strong for a snake unless you put the light 50cm or so above the animal. You should check it's spectrum below the 300 nm though, it should end at about 290, and should never go below 280nm. ****** bulbs give out a small spike of UVc, like this one:


source: Arjan Kassenberg, Reptile Lighting group (FB)

Or are much too strong in the UVb and pose dangers to reptiles, like this:


source: RAWG UV Tool - Mercury Vapour Lamps - Osram UltraVitalux

Not sure if importing from US/EU is an option.

[scales.jp]

Originally Posted by TRD

So much Japanese

Thank you so much for all your valuable help! Pogona Club looks like a very small company run by enthusiasts. They don't even have a website, just a blog.

The Power UVB is designed for lizards and turtles, and to be used in conjunction with the Soft UV tube. It also says to run it for only 8 to 10 hours per day. Below are some manufacturer specifications (sorry about the poor image resolution!).

This graph shows no output below 280nm.
Attachment 37420

This one is slightly different:
Attachment 37421

So both graphs show a peak UVA/UVB output of 100μW/cm2 at around 315nm, which is much higher than was shown on the independently published graph I posted previously (around 45μW/cm2). Colour temperature is rated at 7700K and lifespan is 5000 hours.
Attachment 37422

The Soft UV tube is listed as UVA 30μW/cm2 and UVB 10μW/cm2. Colour temperature is rated at 6800K and lifespan is 5000 hours.
Attachment 37419

I can buy ZooMed tubes in Japan, but the only the T5HO fixtures are available and don't look like they would fit inside a vivarium. It might be something to think about for the future.

[scales.jp]

Here's one last graph from the previous independent review showing all the tubes compared together. There's also a breakdown of all the readings on that page in a table below the graphs, in case you're interested (there isn't much Japanese in the tables).

各社UVB蛍光灯の測定データ｜結果 Oh! Life｜1.023world

Attachment 37423

[TRD]

I see, thanks.

Well, from the readings alone the power UVB, assuming that there are no anomalies below 300nm, seems to be ok.

When used in a reflective fixture, make sure it's no closer than 40cm, rather 45cm, above the animal. If no reflector, then 20-25cm (I compared the output of this light against a 6% Arcadia as I don't have UVI graphs on this Pogoma light).

If there's a mesh screen (ie- 3mm or smaller) in front of the lamp, then UVb output is lowered by approx 30%, so that would be 20cm without reflector, or 35 with (yes, that's sometimes almost the same distance because UV fall off is not linear).

Make sure that around 50% of the vivarium receives no UV light, just like temperature, UV also requires a gradient. Provide plenty of hides, also on area's that are exposed to UV.

If these distances are too great, then perhaps look into T8 instead of T5HO.

[scales.jp]

I think I've finally worked out what no pet shop or customer service rep has so far been able to tell me. 580mm is the length of the actual tube, and 596~mm is the length of the tube plus the pins at each end. So all the Japanese tubes should be the same length, in which case I'll get the Herp Craft Level 5.

I'll call them again to make sure!