Hobby UV Star Power Metal Halide Lamp - 50W

Hobby UV Star Power Metal Halide Lamp - 50W is a metal halide basking lamp with UV-B concentrated in the 290 to 305 nanometre band - the part of the spectrum that actually drives vitamin D3 synthesis, and therefore the part that prevents metabolic bone disease. Metal halide gives a brighter, more natural light than a mercury vapour lamp of the same wattage.

Key Features

• UV-B At 290 To 305nm: the effective band for D3 synthesis rather than a broad, partly useless output.
• Bright Light And Heat for basking, from only 50W.
• Helps Prevent Rickets And Metabolic Bone Disease, per Hobby, given correct distance and replacement.
• Gentle Ignition Via The Ballast, which Hobby say is what gives the lamp its service life.

Read This Before You Order

• This lamp will not work on its own. It needs a matching electronic ballast, and we do not currently list one. Unlike the UV Eco Vital and UV Reptile Vital, which are self-ballasted and screw into an ordinary E27 holder, a metal halide lamp needs separate control gear to strike and run.
• So: buy this only if you already own a compatible electronic ballast and fitting, or you have sourced one elsewhere. If you want UV-B and you do not have a ballast, the UV Eco Vital is the lamp to buy instead.
• Use the ballast specified for it. The wrong control gear shortens the lamp's life and can be unsafe. Message us with your ballast model if you want us to check.

Getting UV Right

• Replace it on a schedule, not when it dies. UV output falls away long before the lamp stops giving light. A lamp that looks fine can be producing almost no useful UV-B. Write the fitting date on the base.
• Distance is the dose. The figures Hobby quote only apply at the distance they state. Too close risks eye and skin damage; too far does nothing at all. Measure it.
• No glass or plastic in the way. UV-B does not pass through either, so the lamp has to shine through mesh or directly into the enclosure.
• Never look into it, and do not run it where people sit.
• UV is species-specific. A desert lizard and a crepuscular gecko need very different amounts. If you are not sure what yours needs, ask us or ask a reptile vet before you pick a wattage.

Using A Hot Lamp Safely

• Fit a guard. A basking lamp reaches a temperature that will burn an animal that climbs onto it, and reptiles do climb onto them. Hobby's Clamp Lamp Protector grids are listed separately and are not an optional extra in our view.
• Mount it so it cannot fall. Check the clamp or bracket every time you work in the enclosure. A lamp that drops into a terrarium is a fire as well as a burn.
• Run it on a thermostat, and measure what you get. Wattage is not temperature - the same bulb at 20cm and at 40cm gives completely different basking temperatures. Use a thermometer at the basking surface and adjust the distance.
• Leave a cool end. Heat one end of the enclosure only, so your animal can choose. A uniformly hot enclosure is the commonest husbandry mistake.
• Keep water off a hot bulb. Misting a lamp that is already up to temperature can shatter it. Switch off and let it cool first.

Good To Know

• This listing is the 50W lamp only. No ballast and no fitting are included.
• UAE mains suits this. Hobby build to 230V 50Hz, which is what comes out of the wall here, so there is no voltage problem. The plug is the European two-pin type, so you will want an adapter or a UK plug fitted - and it is worth running tank and terrarium equipment through an RCD-protected socket.
• Metal halide lamps cannot be dimmed or thermostatted. Control temperature by distance only.
• Handle the glass with a cloth. Fingerprints on a hot quartz envelope cause early failure.
• Replace it on a schedule - UV output falls well before the lamp stops lighting.