Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've been reading around the forums, and found that either halogen flood lights, or a bathroom heat bulb (if the enclosure is big enough) work better and last longer than pet store heat bulbs.
I just recently picked up a 120W bathroom heat bulb, because I tried both a 150W reptile heat bulb, and a 50W halogen bulb, neither emitted enough heat. My enclosure size is 4'L x 2' W x 2' H.

It's made of oak, and I'm using Fluckers precision calibrated thermometers. I had one sticking on a cookie tin, and the temp went up to 100, then slowly creeped up to 105. But, tins also get hotter than oak.

Does anyone know if the fluker thermometer is pretty good for checking that or is the sensor on those things on the back of the thermomter (to check the glass temp.)

number one, throw that thermometer away. Don't trust the "petshop" thermometers, they're never accurate enough. Go to radio shack and put down $10-15 on a nice digital one with a probe, they really are worth it for air temps.

Second, when measuring basking temps, it's best to use a temp gun (pro exotics has some good ones for pretty cheap), because you're measuring the actual surface temp of the basking spot, which is the way they will absorb the heat. Plus, you can actually measure the temperature of a basking animal with it.

Also, halogen bulbs work great with uros. If you aren't getting the temps high enough, you've got one or more of the following playing against you. One, your basking spot isn't high enough. Use of an elevated basking spot will be an easy and cost effective way of raising temps. The retes stack (shown on the pro exotics website) is by far one of the best ways of creating a good elevated basking spot, because it creates a fairly evenly heated surface, but also allows the animal to select different basking temps as it goes higher and lower through the stack. It also creates lots of nice hiding areas for your uro to sqeeze into. In my limited experience, basking lizards seem to like them a lot. Another problem you might be having is that you have too much ventilation, so the heat is dispersing before it can heat the cage properly. Usually this has less to do with basking temps then it does ambients though, so mostly it's just the elevated basking thing. There's not need for high wattage bulbs.

Also, be careful when you buy halogen bulbs. Make sure you get ones that don't have the clear hexagon in the center of the lens, because those cause the center of the basking spot to heat up way too hot. What you're looking for is a good flood bulb (NOT a spot bulb) that has either a lens that is completely clear, or completely textured looking (is it textured on the inside or something?).

Hope I helped a little.

Not really. But thanks for the reply. I knew most of that, I was just wondering if anyone else has used a 120W bathroom heat bulb. I read one old post from someone who has. I figured I'd ask around the uro forum.

And I'm picking up a digital thermometer today. I hope the temps are OK, because I'm really sick of exchanging light bulbs. I've done it about 4 times already.

okay then. I think using any single heat bulb that's over 100 watts is a waste. I'm starting to think (since I've been using halogens) that using any single heat bulb over 50 watts is a waste. My reasoning? Well, like I said before, you can adjust the basking spot to get the right temps, but also, I feel that basking lizards would be better benefitted with two 50 watt halogens than on 100 watt, because when you put them next to each other it forms a large basking spot. Of course there are times when you need to go slightly higher with the wattages because you have a tall cage or cold house or something of that sort.

As for the actual bulb your asking about, the only "bathroom heat bulbs" I've ever seen are red, and in that case I would say no, because you need a lot of light for these little guys. If it is clear, and it gets the temps you want, then yeah, you can use it.

I have a red one to throw off additional heat and a clear one for heat and light.

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1.1 Mali Uromastyx (Ra and Isis)
1.1 Satanic Leaftail Geckos (Diablo and Samael)

remember that uros tend to do better when they have access to really high basking temps like they would in the wild. Surface temps of at least 135f seem to work well with uros. I know over at pro exotics they keep them at around 150f surface basking temps, but they also use the retes stack, which allows the lizards the ability to thermoregulate easily.

Having the right temps is one of the most important aspects of keeping reptiles, so that's why I post a lot to stuff like this.

Yeah I agree, that's why I'm getting so frustrated. I just want it to be right. So, I'm experimenting a little bit. (I don't have the uro yet, so it's ok)

I bought an infra red digital thermometer, and tested some spots after the light was on for a couple of hours they weren't high enough, so I lowered the position of the bulb, and the temps are higher now... but I still feel that there was in fact (like you said) too much ventilation, so, I used some of my leftover insulation (it's not fiber glass, it's that thin silver stuff with the cloth inside, it looks kind of like bubble wrap) and covered the screen top from the inside, now I"m letting it heat up and I'm going to test it again. I think my 1/2" space around the perimeter of the enclosure might be sufficient ventilation, if it's not, I can always remove parts of the "insulation". I'm keeping the possibility of suffocation or turning it into an oven into consideration.

Oh, and the bulb is clear, not red.

for most species (specifically heat loving desert reptiles, and of course humidity loving reptiles), I just despise screen tops. The problem with them is that not only does the heat flow up and out too quickly, but also, it acts sort of like a jerky maker to reptiles, and makes them dehydrate much quicker. There's a lot that goes into wild lizards staying hydrated, and I'll get to that in a minute. You might find that the easiest way to fix the problems of the screen top is to use a peice of plexiglass over the screen, with holes cut for lights, and a small ventilation hole. If your stuff you're talking about works well though, and doesn't have any properties that might cause problems (flammable or gives off harmful vapors) then use it.

If you find bulbs that work, use them. Clear is good because it gives off bright light which desert diurnal desert reptiles need.

Like I was saying before In the wild uros are actually a very interesting lizard in how they go about things. Most of their time is actually spent deep under ground to conserve moisture. In their burrows (which they dig themselves, as long as 10 feet) the humidity is very high. Sometimes uros will even block off the entrance to the chamber of their burrow in order to keep any moisture to escape. In the wild this is essential for them because most of their food is actually fairly dry by our standards. They come out only for a couple hours each day to bask in the high temperatures and eat, then they retreat back to the safety of their burrows.
As you can probably tell, I find all of this stuff pretty interesting, and read wild research on uros whenever I get a chance.

The bottom of the bulb is 6" from the highest point of the basking rock. Is that OK? As long as the temps aren't too high it won't burn him right?

(temps are 115-123, depending where on the rock he goes)

As long as he can't physically contact the bulb, there shouldn't be a problem. The temps you're getting are about what I would consider the minimum for keeping a uro healthy...I usually try to shoot a little higher because it lets the uro digest its food and whatnot without having to sit up on the basking spot all day (they prefer hiding). What kind of bulb did you decide to use?

I had the 120W clear bathroom heat bulb when I posted this. I checked the temps periodically yesterday using that infra red thermometer, and everything checked out pretty good. I'm going to do it again today to make sure they don't keep climbing.

Thanks for the knowledge ryan.