Dichroic Halogen Lamps - unsuitable as UV lighting for reptiles

Ordinary incandescent lamps (with a tungsten filament) produce no ultraviolet light. Recently a range of lamps which do emit significant and useful amounts of UV light have become available. Specialist fluorescent tubes, compact fluorescent lamps and mercury vapour lamps, all designed to emit UVA and UVB light in varying amounts, are now on sale worldwide. Over the last year, those of us writing for UVGuideUK (www.uvguide.co.uk) have tested 109 lamps of 24 different brands/types – mainly focusing upon their UVB output, since it is UVB light of wavelengths between 280 – 315nm that enables cells in the skin to synthesise vitamin D from a natural cholesterol. UVA is also of great importance to reptiles since they need it for normal vision, as well as for providing cues on day and night and seasonal changes.