Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello im just curious what size light bulb you use ,halugen spot light,or reptile light,and whats the wattage,thank you and im sorry for the speling .

Same question here I have a 40 breeder for a hatchling flavi/argus, that is to be shipped next week. I have his cage set up, but I cant get my temps right(too low). Any suggestions?

everyone's setup is different, so only you can find out what wattage bulb you'll need to get your basking temperatures just right. If we were to suggest a wattage that works for us, it may fry your animal or keep it way too cool, because your enclosure is different.

When you say 40 breeder, do you mean aquarium? What are you using for a lid?

I'm using a 40 breeder reptile aquarium from the pet store. Glass with a screen top(covered with a towel) 36"L X 18"W X 16"H and about 6" of substrate. I have a 45watt outdoor flood light and my basking spot is about 93degrees, and a ambient temp. is 75. I might need to get the highest wattage and work down?

Thanks for the replies!!

I'd work on the lid first, then sort out your bulb wattage. Screen tops are bad for letting out heat and (more important) humidity. The towel may slow the escape of heat, but it will absorb the humidity as it escapes. You may consider covering most of the screen with wood or perspex.

Once you've sorted all of that out, you may find that your current wattage bulb is adequate, as it may give you different basking spot temperatures.

Thank you for the advice. I will cover the top with wood and experiment to get everything corrected before my flavi/argus cross comes.

A few of my animals need bigger basking areas so I use multiple light assemblies and bulbs to increase surface area. If you use high wattage bulbs the basking spot is much smaller and the ambient temp goes much higher which dries your cage and animal out. Reptile bulbs are overpriced junk that produce a color of light that enhances the appearance of colors in the terrarium, and dont make much heat at all. Outdoor floods are thick durable easy to get in hardware stores etc, make a whole world more heat, take a beating etc. My basking spots are from 10 inches to over a foot from those 45 watt bulbs, the result is 135-180 f basking spots.