# Heat Bulbs



## Dirkthejerk41 (Mar 25, 2013)

I'm just curious, what wattage/kind of bulbs do ya'll use for heat?? I just bought a 50w halogen flood light for the new enclosure im moving my guy into, but im afraid it may be too hot.


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## KritterKeeper (Mar 25, 2013)

I use a 45 watt halogen flood. It makes the hottest spot roughly 110 right in the center. Just make sure u keep track of temps with a temp gun, u may need to do some adjusting..


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## Dirkthejerk41 (Mar 25, 2013)

do you use anything else with that?


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## KritterKeeper (Mar 25, 2013)

I have 3 lights total in a 6' cage. The 45watt halogen, the reptisun 10.0 uv and a 40 watt household bulb with a dome fixture near the other end for extra warmth.


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## Dirkthejerk41 (Mar 25, 2013)

okay right now its just a 3x2x1... you think the 50 watt halogen and a uvb bulb will be enough?


A uvb bulb that doesn't produce heat, though.


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## KritterKeeper (Mar 25, 2013)

I would think so. I have the same 45 watt halogen in my beardies 4'x1.5' open top cage and it keeps the cool side around 76 or so. Best thing u can do is use good equipment to measure temps so u know exactly what's going on in the cage.


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## bfb345 (Mar 25, 2013)

if it gets too hot i would try a dimmer switch it works well with lights that need to be toned down and you can get it to just where you need it


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## Dubya (Mar 25, 2013)

You can get an inline lamp dimmer from home depot online for about $13. I use one. But if you dim a halogen bulb down too much, it shortens its life.


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## bfb345 (Mar 25, 2013)

yeah i have noticed that on bulbs i use the dimmer on but if its only a bit they seem to be okay


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## Dirkthejerk41 (Mar 25, 2013)

Okay I think i'll do that and dim it a bit for night time! Thank you guys!


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## Dubya (Mar 25, 2013)

I use dark red bulbs for night. You need to give them a day/night cycle. Just dimming the light somewhat will not be enough.


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## Dirkthejerk41 (Mar 25, 2013)

Could i get one at a hardware store or does it have to be a reptile one?


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## KritterKeeper (Mar 25, 2013)

Does it get cold enough that u actually need one at night? I don't leave anything on at night..


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## Dirkthejerk41 (Mar 25, 2013)

Well my house stays about 72-75 or 76 is that ok?


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## KritterKeeper (Mar 26, 2013)

My cages get to 73/74 at night so I say its fine but someone correct me if I'm wrong..


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## chelvis (Mar 26, 2013)

At night a drop into the low 70s is fine. I use not heating on my gus during the spring, summer and fall.


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## Dirkthejerk41 (Mar 26, 2013)

wow thank ya'll for the insight!


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## BatGirl1 (Apr 1, 2013)

A former member james told me 74 may be an indicator to them or a trigger of eminant hibernation. So I try to make sure at night it does not drop below 75 by using a red night time heat bulb. (Dubya's suggestion) . In nh and my house gets pretty chilly in winter.


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## Dubya (Apr 1, 2013)

I use the night bulbs because where I keep my tegu, the temp is about 65 degrees.


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## tjohnson722 (Apr 1, 2013)

I use chicken coop infrared bulbs. 250 watt. At Tractor Supply co. Its about 5.99 for 2. Use domes they sell with them which is also like 3.99. 

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk 2


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## KritterKeeper (Apr 2, 2013)

BatGirl1 said:


> A former member james told me 74 may be an indicator to them or a trigger of eminant hibernation. So I try to make sure at night it does not drop below 75 by using a red night time heat bulb. (Dubya's suggestion) . In nh and my house gets pretty chilly in winter.



Since columbians dont hibernate would this still cause a problem?
The room my reptiles are in stays in the mid 70s so i guess thats why i dont worry about heating at night..


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## BatGirl1 (Apr 2, 2013)

I'm only going by what james suggested because niles did hibernate (from oct to march) ... so I cannot be 100% certain about columbians, since niles is an argentine. That said, I was told that tegus in general can 'withstand ' temps not below 65. So... I doubt allowing the night temp to reach 70's would do any 'harm ' to him. As I mentioned, my house temps drop in our nh winters, so i do feel i personally need that night bulb.


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## tjohnson722 (Apr 2, 2013)

Columbians brumate I believe. Night bulb wouldn't hurt. 

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk 2


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## KritterKeeper (Apr 2, 2013)

Everything ive read says they dont..this may or may not be true but my columbian didnt..


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## Mikeiam (Apr 9, 2020)

Dirkthejerk41 said:


> I'm just curious, what wattage/kind of bulbs do ya'll use for heat?? I just bought a 50w halogen flood light for the new enclosure im moving my guy into, but im afraid it may be too hot.


U got a picture of the box the light comes in I can’t seem to find the right bulb


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## BucknerCrestExotics (Apr 10, 2020)

tjohnson722 said:


> I use chicken coop infrared bulbs. 250 watt. At Tractor Supply co. Its about 5.99 for 2. Use domes they sell with them which is also like 3.99.
> 
> Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk 2


That is what I use


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## AlphaAlpha (Apr 15, 2020)

KritterKeeper said:


> Since columbians dont hibernate would this still cause a problem?
> The room my reptiles are in stays in the mid 70s so i guess thats why i dont worry about heating at night..



Not 100% what all Colombians do but Alpha slows right down and I only see him probably once a week although there is no routine to this. he usually shows his face and warms up a little bit, but doesn't tend to eat until the following day and then I don't see him for a week or so again.

Hes also usually in a grumpy mood and likes to be left to his own devices

I personally don't use a night heat emitter and I'm in the UK with night temps around 65-70 f


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## Tonymoon01 (Dec 16, 2020)

tjohnson722 said:


> I use chicken coop infrared bulbs. 250 watt. At Tractor Supply co. Its about 5.99 for 2. Use domes they sell with them which is also like 3.99.
> 
> Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk 2


Is it okay to have them under the infrared lights?
How hot does the basking spot get?
My B&W tegu knocked over one of her bulbs and it started to set the mulch on fire and it was smoking so I’m setting a smoke detector and getting better restraints for the lights


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## Member1421 (Dec 16, 2020)

2-250W chicken coop bulbs = a lot of power and money. Halogen non-LED bulbs around 70-watts, lined in a row, based on the size of your friend, using some sort of high quality ceramic fitting or even lamp holders smartly secured/hung to/from the top of the enclosure with a source of UVB would be preferred to any type of bulb a small dinosaur can climb on, lay on, knock over, spill water on, or commit an unintentional act of arson with. Smoke alarms are great, but your lizard shouldn't be able to knock over a bulb, however that happens.

And you can buy dimmers for the bulbs, too, to ensure the temperature gun you purchase is dialing in the proper temps.


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## Tiigu (Oct 30, 2021)

Anyone have good luck with PowerSun 80w bulbs? I’ve gone through 3 in two months… on a timer, 6 hours a day.

tryig to decide if I just have abysmally bad luck or if the bulbs are junk.


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## Acre (Oct 31, 2021)

Tiigu said:


> Anyone have good luck with PowerSun 80w bulbs? I’ve gone through 3 in two months… on a timer, 6 hours a day.
> 
> tryig to decide if I just have abysmally bad luck or if the bulbs are junk.


I hope someone answers this because that is what I am using, so far just for the last two weeks. If they're junk dialing everything in with different UVB and heat sources would be a royal pain and I'm over 100 miles from the nearest reptile store. Not a problem I could fix on the fly.
Edited to say - this guy doesn't like mercury vapor - 








Introduction to UVB, part 2


Introduction to UVB, part 2: How to Use UVB in Your Reptile Enclosure Guest post written by ReptiFiles for use by The Bio Dude Over the course of millions of years of evolution, every reptile has specifically and remarkably adapted to a specific type of environment and lifestyle. Under ideal...




www.thebiodude.com


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## Acre (Nov 4, 2021)

OK after less than 3 weeks my 80 W flickered a bunch of times before staying on this morning. Not a good sign. I've been careful not to bang it around.


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## rantology (Nov 4, 2021)

I don't have any advice on PowerSuns but on the topic of longevity, I have been using a 4ft Arcadia Dragon 14% UVB T5 fixture for 2 years now and still haven't needed to replace the bulb (I measure it with a Solarmeter)... then for heat I just use the 72W halogen floodlights that home depot sells in a 6 pack for like 15 bucks.... those burn out a few times a year but they work well enough... usually just have to buy 1 box per year for 2 fixtures.


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## Acre (Nov 6, 2021)

Another update. The Powersun folk said the flickering was likely a connection problem and not a bulb problem. Check the bulb base. Did that, it looked as they said it should, I cleaned it and the lamp base and still had the problem. I figured, as these bulbs with their ballasts at touchy, maybe I had a lamp or timer issue so I swapped them both out. No more problems. Lamp and timer work fine with incandescent bulbs but obviously there's some slight electrical problem that louses up the ballast on the mercury vapor bulb. So anywho I'm, back in business.


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## CorduroyEW (Dec 8, 2021)

It depends on how hot your house is, how big your Viv is, and how close your light is to the substrate. 

I am in the UK so I apologise for using Celsius. My home is usually around 18c and my Viv sits on the floor. Under these conditions a 100 watt bulb will get a 2x2x4 Viv up to 30c on the hot side and 20 on the cold. The basking spot is around 45 to 50. This means the basking spot is OK but the other temps are too low.

I tried a 150 watt bulb and the basking spot was 60c, which is too hot. 

I ended up needing 2 100w bulbs to keep the basking spot cool enough while keeping the other temps high enough. 

After moving to a larger Viv I had to add a 3rd light and because the new Viv was 2 feet taller I had to bump the wattage up to 150w for the main 2 and 100w for the 3rd


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## CorduroyEW (Dec 8, 2021)

I feel like I should also mention the importance of a proper temp sensor that will turn the heat up and down according to the temp of the Viv. 

I find that over sized bulbs connected to something that properly controles the power to the bulbs significantly increases the longevity of the bulbs. Instead of replacing them every 4 to 8 weeks I'm replacing them every 4 to 8 months. It also takes the guesswork out of controlling temp.


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## Acre (Dec 8, 2021)

I use an 8 x 3 x 2 horse trough and raise or lower the basking temperature by adding or removing one inch thick pieces of slate. Easier and more economical than adding wattage. And lots of thermal mass provides protection against temperature drops in the even of a wintertime power outage.


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