You're here because you've heard that people are tanning their pigs for show. Make the dark areas darker, while using sunscreen to keep the white areas white. Yes, it is true, and Solacure was the first company to make lamps specifically for pig tanning. If fact, we are the only company. If you see a pig tanning fixture being sold at shows or places like Sullivans in the midwest, they are all using Solacure bulbs.

Pig tanning is similar to human tanning, in that they produce melanin when exposed to UVB and that melanin oxidizes and turn dark when exposed to UVA. A good lamp is one with just enough UVB to stimulate melanin production, but mainly UVA for oxidation.

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Universal UV
The Universal UV is the original pig tanning lamp. 6.5% UVB / 93.5% UVA, it is very similar to the sun. Start with 5 to 10 minutes and work your way up to 30 minutes per day to build the tan, then 30 minutes two or three times a week to maintain the color. This is our premium lamp for tanning pigs. Almost all people use 6 of these lamps over a single 8x8 to 12x12 pen.

Basics
Our lamps are designed to use industry standards, so fit in off-the-shelf fixtures. All our T8 bulbs conform to F32 T8 standards, which is the most common fixture in the USA. This means they will work just fine in any standard shop light or office light fixture made for 4 foot bulbs. Even old F40T12 will work, although at 30% higher power and output. You can also build your own custom fixture. They will operate on as little as 15 watts or as much as 60, although 20 to 24 watts (real watts, not "rated" watts) is the norm. The higher you power them, the shorter the life, however.

Most people are going to get around 1200 hours of use out of these lamps, which averages about once per year for many people. Typical applications use 6 to 8 bulbs, sometimes 8 lamps in four of the two bulb fixtures, in a dome shape just like a people tanning bed. Best results are from keeping the bulbs from 6 inches away from the pig to 12 inches away. Start slow, if you see slight reddening, that is fine. If you see a lot of reddening, you need to pull back on the time.

People have asked if we have "pig tanning lotion". We do not at this time, but we are working with a few chemists we have worked with in the past, and wanting to develop a product to cut the time down, without using a lot of harsh chemicals. Stay tuned!