Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering if anyone could give me a legitimate scientific reason to use overpriced "reptile" bulbs instead of standard incandescent bulbs for basking heat.

I've been using ZooMed & ExoTerra spot bulbs for my beardies since I started keeping them a year ago, but recently I had a bulb burn out and needed to replace it quickly so I used a standard 60W GE bulb from one of the lamps in my house.

The 60W GE was replacing a 75W ExoTerra spot so I was worried that it wouldn't be warm enough, but it actually produced a higher basking temp and I had to reposition the lamp.

So I'm wondering...why should I pay $7-$15 for so called "reptile" bulbs when I can buy standard incandescent bulbs for a couple bucks per box of 4? I don't think there is a valid reason to over spend on basking heat as long as I'm getting the temps I need.

I'd like to hear what others have to say on this subject. Thanks.
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Bryan Whisler

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin

Your absolutely right. Why spend the extra money and get the same light, and heat? This is so with the incandescent heat bulbs for reptiles, but not for the uvb producing fluorescents. If you choose to provide uvb light for your beardies with a fluorescent you need to buy the kind for reptiles like repti sun 5.0 or the other types that produce the beneficial uvb and spend the extra money. If your just using an incandescent to heat and light the basking spot there is no reason to pay the extra money for the picture of the reptile on the package Save your money and buy the 4 pack.
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Mystical Dragons

I use Lumichrome 1XX fluorescent bulbs for UVB. I'm going to start using regular incandescent bulbs for basking heat. Thanks.
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Bryan Whisler

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin

One comment on using incandescent bulbs. I am all for it, the reptile ones are the same thing. However I like to use ge halogen bulbs over standard bulbs. The light they provide is so much more intense than the incandescent bulbs. They are a hair more expensive but will last longer and the benifits of the added light is great. Some people are starting to realize that light intensity might be the most important thing that your dragons light provides. It is light intensity that makes dragons brumate. Generally in the winter months your room becomes darker and the outside gets darker earlier. So without changing artificial light duration or temperatures your dragon brumates. This is why I like to provide the most intense light possible to my dragons (halogen for heat and a compact flouro on the cool end). The tubs stay very bright even when the room darkens.
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Derek Affonce
DeKeAff Exotics
dekeaffexotics.com

Thanks for the advice...I was just a Lowe's and I was looking at the Halogens wondering if they would be better.

I know they are brighter, but are they also hotter in comparison to the same wattage standard bulb?
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Bryan Whisler

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin

Actually I just started using halogen about a month ago as well. They do give off heat like regular incandescent bulbs. I was using the GE 100 watt incandescent, and switched to a lower watt GE 75watt halogen flood type bulb for a similar temp basking area. Comes in a red package. I like this better as well. You might spend equal to a reptile bulb using them, but they last a lot longer, and seem to be put together better then regular incandescent. I dropped the dome a few times from the top of the screen and the bulb kept on working. I know if it was a reptile bulb or regular incandescent it would have blown for sure like it has about 25 times before.
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Mystical Dragons

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Bryan Whisler

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin

Yeah the ability to drop them is key. I am a clutz. I drop stuff all the time. Luckily no more domes around my house. I am happy about that.
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Derek Affonce
DeKeAff Exotics
dekeaffexotics.com

Derek,
What brand and wattage halogens do you use? Do you keep them in a dome, and what tubs do you use?
thanks
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Bill DiFabio
Azteclizard.com
Email Me

I use GE, they come in yellow boxes I got them from walmart. There is another brand I use (home depot red boxes). I like the bulbs that are cone shaped, they are built to survive nuclear holocaust. I use floods. For 75 Gallon tanks I use 90 watt bulbs. With a basking log I get almost perfect surface temps. Use a fluoro for lighting up the rest of the tank. On the 75 gallon tanks I put them in 10" ceramic socket domes (I had the 10" from merc vapors). On my rack which holds all the bins I use 50 watt bulbs. I use two types of bins. One is rubermaid (cheap like $7 a piece) they are like 36"X15". I raise young beardies in that and then some adult males. The other type of bin I use is Isis about the same size (ames used to carry them haven't seen them since they went out of bussiness). But they aren't prone to cracking. Even after using them for over a year they don't crack they are much thicker. Rubermaid and other cheaper ones (Sterlite) are thinner and get brittle after exposure to light. I make screen covers using window screen stapled onto a 1x3 wood frame. A very cheap alternative to glass or commercial racks. On my rack i wired all the hallogens into porcelian sockets. Works out very nice provides a little belly heat to the guys on the level above. And allows me to use a dimmer to adjust the temps how i please.

Here is a pic of the lights on my rack.

Note the 2 lights one is heat (halogen) the other for pure light intensity (the compact fluoro).

Here is the whole rack in all of its glory (16 bin capacity). Only the bottom 3 rows are in use at this time the top holds my crickets.

Nice thing is you don't see the compact fluoros, and the halogens direct light down ward only. So you don't go blind looking at your rack like I used to when I was using merc vapors.
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Derek Affonce
DeKeAff Exotics
dekeaffexotics.com