Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey ya'll...I've had my boy, Ifrit, for about 2 weeks now. and I just wanted to let ya see a better pic of him, since he was in shed when I got him...which now his tail is...LOL He is the sweetest little guy! We're even handfeeding him goodies now...which is really cool! on to my question..which really might just be me..BUT...I've went through 2 75W zoo med basking bulbs in 2 weeks....is that normal? I've bought them from 2 different places now...it could just be something with my house or something..don't know...just curious though! thanks!

the light bulb could be burning out because of your light fixture the fixture could only be able to hold a lighter bulb. what kind of fixture is it.

I have a Fluker's 8.5 clamp lamp...and I believe it is rated for up to 150W...so I don't have a clue...but right now I'm subbing with a standard light bulb...thanks!

i use a standard 60w house bulb on all my dragons. and they do fine

good to know! maybe you can help me with this as well..Ifrit seems to hang out on his hot side ALL the time..even sleeps there behind his rock after lights out...I occasionally see him on the cool side, basically just to eat greens and make "deposits"lol...is it okay that he stays on the hot side...I mean he does move around and chases crix and gets under his basking spot...and my temps have been about 105 with the zoo med bulb. I have yet to see him in his cool side hide...we've changed it only once and he still barely goes over there. I'm thinking since my tank is so narrow(4'x1'x19" maybe I should do away with the cool side bricks and such..to give him more room? I guess he may be feeling a bit cramped now. I don't want to have too much in there..but I do want him to be able to climb and stuff. so tell me if you think it's too much.. here's a pic

Youre light should be directly overhead facing down, on an angle it loses heat. A 75 watt seems too high I use a 50watt outdoor flood light in a 75 gallon. The red bulb I dont even use.

we have a 4ft shoplight bolted to the top wooden hinged lid that goes on the tank with a reptisun 10.0 and a regular floresent tube...long story short...this is the only place we can put the clamp lamp right now. my hubby will be custom building him a cage in a few months and the lights will all be mounted on the top.

The angle doesn't matter. All my enclosures have spot lights mounted on angles. All that matters is that the surface temp of the basking spot is about 105 and the ambient (air) temp. on the hot side is 85 to low 90's and on the cool side ambient is 75 to low 80's how you get there changes with every enclosure.

hes fine, dont be worried at all your are doing everything just fine. all of mine hang at the hot side and sleep there also.

thank you for calming my fears and all your advice!! have a good one ya'll!!