Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Now that I am considering building an external basking box I am looking into getting a mercury vapor bulb so that I can have UVB and heat with just the single fixture on the box. So, I am doing some price shopping...anybody finding decent prices on these?? I have been looking and not finding too much under $50. I did check ebay and saw a place offering them for $20 or so at the "buy now" price. I don't know what I think about that though...that is a big difference in price! I'd like to get some of your opinions about this...here is a link to check for the ebay items:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2378010017&category=1285

What exactly is an external basking box?
-----

I am building an external platform with braces that slide down on to the side of the aquarium to keep it perched on top. The ramp will come up from the water to the platform. The non-ramp sides of the platform will have high walls so he can't escape or fall off. Then I can clip the lamp on to a wall for his heat source. This is where I want to use a Merc. Vapor bulb...that way I can have a UVB and heat source for that single area. My whole goal here is to make his basking area out of and above the tank so that I can fill the water up to the top.

Make sure the heat source is near the edge of the water. Turtles feel much safer when they can bask right at the edge of the water, so they can retreat to the water at the first sight of danger (or anything else that moves).
-----

I bought my Mercury vapor bulb from www.reptiledirect.com

the 100W is $33.95; the 160W is $37.95

I don't know about ebay. check out the person's feedback to see if anyone has had problems with the seller. They just might have an overstock because the bulbs are so expensive, people have a tendency of buying cheaper bulbs.

>>Now that I am considering building an external basking box I am looking into getting a mercury vapor bulb so that I can have UVB and heat with just the single fixture on the box. So, I am doing some price shopping...anybody finding decent prices on these?? I have been looking and not finding too much under $50. I did check ebay and saw a place offering them for $20 or so at the "buy now" price. I don't know what I think about that though...that is a big difference in price! I'd like to get some of your opinions about this...here is a link to check for the ebay items:
>>
>>http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2378010017&category=1285
>>