Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I have a 6x2.5 foot reptarium that I'm having trouble heating and having enough UVB/UVA for the entire cage. What would you recomend using to heat about the top two feet of the cage in the low 90's and UVA/UVB output through out the cage, at least enough to keep low light requiring plants alive.

I have been using a 100 watt mercury bulb but that would only heat the top to about 80 - 83F and plants on the bottom of the cage would frequently die. I was thinking of using a couple super coil bulbs because of the heat/UV combo and the low wattage, but do these give UV outputs as far as mercury bulbs?

Thanks for any input.
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Bradley Baquial

Due to the inverse square law it is basically impossible to provide sufficient light intensity 6' away from a bulb. The only bulbs that could achieve this would create too much heat at the top of the cage.

You should probably figure out a way to include lights at various levels throughout the cage.

It really depends on what species your are keeping in the cage. If the animal species is sufficiently arboreal you could choose plant species with low light requirements and place them on the bottom of the cage. Plants with higher light requirements can go near the top.

But this does still not address the heat issue. Again, knowing what species is in the cage will help.