Reptiles - MVB v. Regular UVB

For those with desert reptiles, I want your respective opinions on mercury vapor bulbs and regular uvbs. Which do you prefer? I say this for desert reptiles because obviously you can't get a mvb for an iguana! I've heard the mvbs get very hot and that is one of my concerns. I'm sure its hot enough for a uro who requires a lot more heat. I've always used regular uvbs for my deserts and everything has always been fine, I don't see the need to get mvbs. I heard some are very delicate. I've used all kinds of regular uvb lighting but recently I started using what I found out are new versions of the Zilla desert series 50 fluorescent bulbs. I remember they had been through a review from the study back years ago. I had never tried zillas prior to this year so I don't know how they were before. But these new ones are great from what I've witnessed so far. What regular uvbs do you like?
As for mvbs I am curious to try either powersuns or mega ray mvbs. Anyone try either? But in the long run, and maybe I'm being biased, I prefer separate uvb and heating.

Originally Posted by aquagirl

I say this for desert reptiles because obviously you can't get a mvb for an iguana!

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Do you care to explain why a person can't? What do you use in a huge cage for a 6+ foot iguana? Most people will use MVBs for those... Also, some iguanas do better under that much heat.

Honestly it comes down to cage size. If you have a large cage that you need to both heat and provide UVB over than a MVB is your best choice - both for cost and power use.

Fluorescent do the job in small areas where you can put the bulb within a couple feet or less away from the reptile. In a larger cage where the bulb is 4-5+ feet away they're a bit useless.


Controlling heat produced can be an issue, but that can anytime one uses a bulb for heat. Affecting the current (dimmer) and on/off (thermostats) do not work very well with MVBs as that can mess up the bulb.

If you're needing to work with a large cage try consulting a large reptile forum that has very active areas for reptiles like bearded dragons and tortoises to get plenty of reviews and use feedback.
It's personally been a while since I used any MVBs.

I meant chameleon! Sorry!