Herp Marketplace: Generate a Surge in Reptile Lighting Sales

Another trend involves multifunctional lamps and bulbs that are easier to install and take up less space in an animal's habitat, said Ralf Rombach, a biologist on the research and quality management team at JBL GmbH & Co., in Neuhofen, Germany. Equally important, he added, are products that offer precision-tuned levels of light to establish in captivity what an animal would experience in the wild. JBL's newest lamps, the ReptilDesert LUW and ReptilJungle LUW, were designed to take lighting to the next level, Rombach reported.

Marie Person, a sales associate at The Bird and Reptile Connection in Walpole, Mass., said her customers would welcome longer-lasting UVB bulbs and devices that alert hobbyists when it's time to replace a lamp—something that JBL's TempSet unit does.

"When customers come in to buy bulbs, I tell them to remember they need new ones in a year," Person pointed out. "If they come in on, say Memorial Day weekend, I tell them to remember that holiday next year as your new bulb-buying time."

A product retailers like Person can recommend to customers who want to measure UVB levels with the click of a button is Solartech Inc.'s Solarmeter 6.2. Steve Mackin, president of the Harrison Township, Mich., manufacturer, said herpkeepers need to monitor the intensity and age of lamps so animals always receive the correct amount of UVB.

"The Solarmeter was designed for convenience and accuracy," Mackin noted. "It's a handheld device that users can point at a lamp to get a bright LED readout. It's an affordable purchase for most consumers."

At Azo Reptiles, an online store based in Yonkers, N.Y., a new product that's selling well is the Nature Zone High Noon Compact Hybrid Lamp.

"This is the most innovative product we've seen in awhile," reported the store's owner, Tom Barone. "It's nice and bright but doesn't seem to bother the reptiles' eyes. The product is also really easy to mount inside cages."

The lamp is composed of three "U" tubes mounted in a self-ballasted base, said Paul Benson, president of Chico, Calif.-based Nature Zone.

"What makes our lamp unique is that two of these "U" tubes output a bright daylight 6500 K spectrum light," he noted. "The third light outputs a 10 percent UVB light. The brightness helps stimulate a more normal behavior in the reptile, resulting in increased breeding and better appetite."

Affordable innovation continues to be a big concern for consumers, retailers reported.

For this reason, Fluker's Sun Spot Mercury Vapor Bulbs and Sun Dome lighting fixtures are strong sellers at Azo Reptiles, Barone said.

"We use both the 100- and 160-watt bulbs," he pointed out. "They are inexpensive and provide both UV and heat. The Sun Dome's shape allows both heat and light to be concentrated expertly where you want it to be."