Light for Heat and UV Loving Animals
I'm starting to roll out light panels that combine current UVB light technology with LEDs, since a lot of animals in the "glass box" hobbies need UV for the health of the animals. LEDs that emit a usable amount of UVB are still a ways off, but I am working with a Chinese manufacturer to try to get a viable product to market.
UVB emitting LEDs exist now but they are prohibitively expensive and just do not emit enough UVB for the needs of our hobby.
So currently there are two options for usable UVB light, T5 or T8 florescent tubes, or these small spotlights (in the 2nd image), which also produce more than enough heat for animals that like to bask in warm or hot temps.
Here's a current T5 based light (Arcadia 22" T5 'dragon' 14% UVB):
Here's a light based on the Chinese UVB/basking bulbs:
The T5 based light is suitable for animals that do not need or want a lot of added heat. It does not run hot enough to be considered a basking source for any of the lizards that like heat, such as chameleons or monitors.
For those species, use the UVB/basking spotlight style light. These 25w bulbs emit a massive amount of heat. These are unbranded bulbs from China, so there's no data or claims made as to how much UVB light is emitted, which is obviously not helpful. This style bulb also comes in 50 and 75w versions, which I have tested, but they emit so much heat that I don't believe they're even safe.
I've been testing this 25w version bulb over the top of my Veiled Chameleon and it's still alive, thriving actually, so I'm now ready to begin selling it to others without much worry that it's going to go seriously wrong and someones going to end up with a dead animal.
These UVB spots are marginally dimmable, which allows you to roll back some of the heat.