Lamp bulbs

[Jennie]

Hi I have an Arcadia 100w mercury vapour D3 basking lamp E27 that includes heat/light/uv.

My question is, when I bought the bulb I was told it will need replacing after a year as the UV element in the bulb only lasts that long even though the rest of the bulb is working.
I have had it 18 months or so now and wasnt too conmcerned as it was swithced off when Marigold went outside during the warm days over the summer.
Now I'm beginning to think about whether I need to replace the bulb for over winter as she isnt hibernatin.

Is this true about the UV or a sales pitch?
Has anyone had experience with these bulbs and should I buy a new bulb anyway?
It just seems wasteful when the bulb is working, but I wont know if one of the functions has stopped.
Do you replace bulbs yearly reguardless if you use this brand?

[Daniel]

Good afternoon Jennie

Yes this is 100% true, UV lamps do start degrade every time they are switched on. The year lifespan of this type of lamp is the longest it should be in service. The only real way of telling how good a UV lamp is, is by using a UV light meter, and these are quite expensive for a really good one. So it's far easier to replace UV lamps on a yearly basis. By the way Arcadia make the best lamps on the UK market, and we'll worth the cost.

Kind regards Daniel.

[Jennie]

Thank you Daniel, time for a new lamp!

[Nina]

I heard an interesting explanation once in a talk on reptile lighting on why you need to change the bulb after a year or two (depending on how much use it gets). If I remember correctly the speaker said that as the UVB goes through the glass in the mercury vapour bulb or a fluorescent tube, it deposits small particles (of something -- can't remember what now) on the inside of the bulb, and gradually those particles build up to make a coating on the inside of the glass so that eventually although the light can still get through, the UVB can't, and that is why you have to change the bulb.

Nina

[Daniel]

I don't know much about UV lamps technically, but what I do know is there is a small amount of mercury and a gas argon, and the powder coating is called phosphors. When lamps fail completely (no light output) is either the emission mix has been depleted or the cathodes at the end of the tube have become open circuit.

Kind regards Daniel.

[Nina]

Well, I think you know more about lamps than I do, Daniel. Thanks for that interesting information!

Nina

[Daniel]

Nina, I really don't. By the way what I said is for a florescent tube type lamp (T5 and T8).

Kind regards Daniel.

[Nina]

I've read lots of articles today on mercury vapour lamps and uvb fluorescent tubes, but I just don't have a firm enough grounding in the relevant sciences (my degrees were in the humanities), to be able to process it all and really understand how they work. So I'm grateful for any information that others can provide.

Cheers,
Nina

[Daniel]

Have you looked at the articles on the Arcadia website? There is some really good information on there.

[Nina]

I did look at them a very long time ago but not recently. I also used to read articles on the UV Guide UK http://www.uvguide.co.uk/index.htm which was excellent, and in fact it was Frances Baines (who helps run that site) who told me about the coating that builds up inside tubes and bulbs giving off UVB (actually, now that I think of it, it might have been tubes rather than mercury vapour bulbs that she was talking about). I think that website isn't being updated any more, and people are being directed to the Facebook group on reptile lighting https://www.facebook.com/groups/384134861721116/ but I haven't joined that group (perhaps I should).

My reading of those articles on lighting etc. was about 15 years ago, so I can't remember the details very well, but thanks for pointing out the Arcadia articles -- I will go back and look when I've got some free time. At the moment we're spending four or five hours a day answering questions that come into us by email about tortoises and hibernation/brumation problems -- there seems to be an awful lot of problems this year for some reason.

Nina

[Daniel]

I think it was probably tubes you were thinking about, thats what I thought when I replied, hence the response I gave.

OK about tortoise brumation questions your receiving. I have decided this year not to hibernate my Herman's tortoise, due to not being happy with her weight gain this year. She mainly lives outside, but at the beginning of the year she wasn't eating as much as she should, I think this was due to the cool damp start to the summer we had.

She certainly did not want to start winding down when she should, and still actively looking for food. I checked her weight and is not comparing to last year by a margin. So I think it's best to keep her awake. I think she's lost around a month of feeling at the beginning of the season, so comparing the data I have for her I will be weighing her in December, and I suspect her weight will be perfect, but I will have lost my window to hibernate her, as I do this under natural controlled conditions, as to the fridge method.

So I am not surprised by people asking more questions than normal, as I don't think this season has been optimal for tortoises in general.

Kind regards Daniel.

[Nina]

Hi Dan,

Yes, you're right, it's been a really difficult year, with a cold wet summer and many tortoises are suffering the consequences (lol, there i a reason why they aren't indigenous to this country). We have several people who for various reasons (mainly health) can't brumate their tortoises this year, but the tortoises have just stopped eating, and despite following the advice in our article on overwintering, and other advice no how to get them eating again, they still aren't playing ball. It's a super difficult problem.

Nina

[Daniel]

I presume quite a few of these are Horsfield tortoises, which have a very strong instincts at this time of the year.

I think I would personally try a slightly longer exposure to light, say around 14 hours and probably increase the temperature to say 32c until they wake up. Then reduce light levels to 12 hours a day, and temperature back to 30c.

The keeps could also try something like Mazuri 5M21 diet (i am not a fan of pelleted diets unless the tortoise is ill) until the tortoise starts eating, most tortoises can't resist this diet. But it's quite expensive in the UK and very hard to find, as it's imported for USA. It should only be feed once a week max when they start eating for our garden tortoises in the UK.

Kind regards Daniel.

[Nina]

Hi Daniel,

The tortoise I'm most worried about is a 12-year old Hermann's that was rescued earlier this year (but the rescuer knew this tortoise and the family it was with for a long time). It was kept in a box with no UV light, no water (they just wet the lettuce etc. that they fed it), had never been outdoors and had led the most horrendous life, although it looks remarkable well, considering. It was tested for worms in September and treated for pin worms. It was tested again in October and found a low to moderate level of pin worms, which probably doesn't need treating and a low level of trichomonads. If she treats it again now, then that would delay the hibernation, and given the situation we are trying to get it to eat for another month or two, and then perhaps a 6 week hibernation in January or February.
The person who rescued this tortoise built a well insulated kennel for it with a hatch that leads out to an excellent protected garden run and it was happy there all summer. Inside there is a tubular heater, a fluorescent UVB tube and a good strong heat/light bulb, and in recent weather this has kept temperatures of around 20C or 30C inside. For various complicated reasons the tortoise can't be kept in the house this winter and will have to stay in the 3' x 2' kennel. It is waking up most days, but won't eat. We are trying everything. I'll suggest increasing the hours of heat and light -- very good idea -- and the temperature. I've looked up Mazuri 5M21 but can only find huge bags for around £50. Would another pellet that you can buy in a smaller quantity work?

Cheers,
Nina

[Daniel]

How long are the heaters working for? The temperatures sound good, but what are the night time temperatures? Personally I would see if the caretaker could bring the tortoise indoors just over night in a plastic tub or a box of some type. It sounds like to me that the night time temperature could be falling to low, and this is telling the tortoise that it is time to get ready for brumation. I personally would not want the night time temperature to fall below 18c, tricking the tortoise into thinking it summer.

I personally can't recommend any other type of pellets, as the only commercial food I feed here Pre Alpin Testudo. As I have stated I really do think it's night time temperature related. If the above possible scenarios could be tested and try something such as lettuce to tempt the tortoise into eating. If the tortoise does start to eat, then get the care taker to look at Andy Highfield's winter feeding article.

Kind regards Daniel.

[Nina]

Hi Daniel,

Really excellent suggestions -thanks so much, and I've passed them on to the tortoise keeper. I think the lamps are currently on for 12 hours a day, and I'm not sure what they are at night. Yesterday I sent her a little gift of one of my Denward Max/Min fridge-freezer thermometers, which I use all of the time and the Max/Min facility is really useful to see how cold it gets at night.

I only use Testudo Pre Alpin too, but I've told her that maybe she could buy a small jar of any pellets at a pet shop and soak a few in water and then smear them on some leaves, just to tempt him temporarily into eating again. She has already tried dripping cucumber juice on some leaves and offered a slice of cucumber, which he normally loves, but he took one bite and then refused more. I suggested an emergency solution of a drop or two of juice from a tomato or strawberry on a leaf -- just to get him going, and obviously kept to an absolute minimum. I used that method once to get mine to take medicine that they hated and it worked.

I've also passed on your suggestion of bringing him in at night. The problem is their house is undergoing really extensive renovation, and every room is filled to the ceiling with either possessions or building materials and there is absolutely no place for an indoor tortoise table -- but I'm sure bringing him in at night in a box is possible, and hopefully she'll take up that option. She's already read our article on overwintering https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/tor ... -tortoise/ , but I'll send her Andy's on winter feeding as well.

Thanks again for the great suggestions, and I'll let you know if any of them are successful.

Nina

[Daniel]

I hope the tortoise starts to eat soon, and I look forward to see if any of the suggestions work.

Kind regards Daniel.