Reptile & Amphibian Forums

It's that time of year again. Time to refresh my lighting sources. Last year I used mostly the Reptisun 5.0. I used the 4' with two to each lighting fixture hung over the cages. I also had a couple of the large enclosures using a the Active Uv heat lights. My animals get out atleast 2-3 times a week weather permitting for about 2-6 each turn. Please tell me your experience with your brand of lighting and/or what you recommend. I would love to hear what you think!

For my montane cham species the combination I like best is a double ReptiSun 5.0 and a heat spot supplied by a regular halogen spotlight (the kind you get for porch lights). The combination heat/UV lights are a bit too warm for my species, but I know others use them.

For my panther I use a MV bulb. When she was a baby I used a zoomed 5.0 and a spotlight. I liked that a lot, but I found that there wasn't a lot of light, and I had to have a lamp on beside her enclosure. With the MV I also use a 50W spotlight for her basking, but the MV keeps the ambient up nice and high, and also gives off lots of light (her cage is pretty big, 5'tall 3'wide 2'deep) and I use an 18" reg florescent bulb on the other side to keep it from being too dark. One thing I like about having the baspotlight plus the MV is that in the summer I can just use the MV for her basking (I'm in ontario so it gets hot in summer and COLD in winter) and I can use the spotlight when it's colder, w/o having to change the rest of the lighting setup.
Or you can use a MV for basking (if it faces down directly) instead of just ambient (on an angle through the cage) and if you need it add either a few plain florescent bulbs with the fixtures you have, or if the ambient needs to be higher, a 20-50W floodlight.
Just a few ideas, maybe one is good for you, maybe not.
I think I've had too much caffeine today... lol