Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi. Last night I took out my dragon's heat bulb and but in a 50watt black light for the roaches (since I dont have an extra heat lamp). The temp was normally 77-78 but when I put the blacklight in it went up to 84. I would like it to go to 90 so I think I will use a 75 watt blacklight I have. I was wondering if a blacklight would bother the roaches? They seemed fine last night and a couple of them were eating the food this morning. The light is only on at night so during the day they wouldnt have the light. Thanks
Meghan
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1.0 Normal Bearded Dragon (Sam)
2.2 Russian Tortoises (Leo, Cole, Piper, Prue)
0.2 Dogs (Molly-Beagle, Zoei-German Shorthaired Pointer)
View My Photos: http://photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos

The blacklight is better than a regular light, but a ceramic heater is better than a black light. With that being said I would use a head pad or flex-watt and provide underneath heat instead. Before I built my rack system I used to keep my roach bins over my lizard cages. Most of them had 75-100w lights and the heat would leak through the wood and provide great heat to the rubbermaid bins. Also, on your post about the food, even though I have kept roaches for over 3 years now I'm far from an expert. I was reading some info that an entomologist posted saying to much protien could be harmful to certain species. I have lowered the protien level in the roach buffet I sell, and only add more when people are buying food for orange heads that need it. (Eublaberus prosticus). Anyway, you can email me anytime if you have questions.
Thx,
James
www.blaberus.com