No, that sounds about normal for a cold cathode tube when hooked up to a low voltage DC source to me. You can used a switched inductor to drive very high voltages. The easiest way I can think of would be to use a 555 to generate a 1khz 50% duty cycle signal and pulse the current through an inductor. When the 555 shuts off the inductor's voltage will spike, up to a couple hundred volts depending on the inductor, just bleed that pulse off with a diode to your lamp.