Mercury vapour bulbs, although they have a long lifespan, can seem quite temperamental. Knocks, tilts and loosening of the bulb/lamp can cause the bulb to flicker or cut out. Your lamp needs to be suspended vertically, with the bulb screwed in tight. Tightening regularly will help avoid cutting out in the middle of the day (only tighten your bulb when it is switched off and cooled down).
If your bulb is flickering, it can seem like wiggling the wires is connected to the flickering in your bulb and seems to "fix" the issue. However, all you are doing is damaging your lamp. The bulb will flicker when the gasses are unbalanced, as a result of any kind of knock, tilting or loosening of the lamp. It is pure coincidence that moving the wire settles the gasses and your bulb stops flickering. This is all down to the movement of the bulb itself.
Your lamp will not switch on instantly after being switched off. Mercury vapour bulbs contain a small amount of gas, this needs to have cooled completely for the bulb to work. Always allow 20 minutes for your bulb to cool down, before attempting to switch it back on.
Reptile lamps are equipped with a failsafe, this means that sometimes when your lamp blows, the next bulb you put in may not work. This is unlikely a fault with your lamp, but the failsafe, which blows the fuse to prevent any serious incidents. Check your lamp with a household bulb before putting a new mercury vapour bulb in and then change the fuse if necessary.
If you are blowing multiple bulbs, we recommend investing in a surge protector. You may think surges do not affect you, due to your tortoise lamp being the only electrical in the house effected, however, this is down to the sensitive nature of reptile lighting, they will feel a surge a lot more than your household bulbs, as they are built for heat, rather than light and have higher failsafe sensitivity.
