Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering about the lighting on my veiled's cages.
I have 2 dome lights and a long flourescent (god I know I spelled that wrong) on top of both cages. The problem I run into is that the dome bulbs burn out very often, ( at least one every 2 months or so) The flourescents' though I have never had a problem with. I am at college right now and my parents are taking care of my babies, but they are getting a little grumpy buying new bulbs all the time. (I did buy one ceramic light fixture for my females cage, and have had no problems with it, but I havent seen anymore of them at my petstore)

Anyway my main question is, could I just replace the bulb lights with regular light bulbs? They are just for heat / basking anyway, and I wouldnt be spending 5-10 bucks a piece on the light bulbs.

And then could I replace my flourescent bulb with some type of UVB bulb? If so what types can I get? I see people all the time on the forum talking about "mercury vapor" bulbs or something, is that what I would need to use? How much do they run?
Any answers anyone could give me id appreciate greatly!

Thanks all!!

You can use any old 60w or 75w light bulb for the basking functions. You dont need to use the expensive basking lamps from the pet store. I buy my bulbs from HOME DEPOT whenever they have a sale on the bulk packs.

For the UVB lamp, you can use the REPTISUN 5.0 or the IGUANA LIGHT 5.0 or use the REPTI-GLO 8.0. I use the REPTI-GLOs on my Jackson's and they seem to love it. You can get RETI-GLO's or the REPTISUNs from petguys.com they run from 12.99 to 16.99 depending on the brand.

Here's the link:

Regards,

Raf
http://www.petguys.com/reptile-stuff-lighting-fluorescent-bulbs.html

Raf is correct, you can get regular light bulbs anywhere (target, home depot, walmart). Pet stores sell the same thing except hike the price up as it's marketed for reptiles.
Mercury vapor bulbs are available in the classifieds here and you can pick thru many brands. I use powersun for heating and the uvb (personal preference). They run from 34.99 and up and generally last about a year (no one has proof yet).
The florescents(5.0, 8.0) are said to last about 6 months before they start losing their uvb output.