Basking lamp

[HiroProtagonist]

What is the difference between the 20 dollar reptile basking lamps and the all chrome clamp-lamps you can get at home depot for 6 bucks? As long as it's not sitting directly on the cage can you just use the cheap one with an incandescent instead of the black outside - white inside ones that are made specifically for this kind of thing?

 

[AncientCritters]

There is no difference if your talking about the hood only. Make sure you get one with the ceramic part where you screw in the bulb.

 

[Dave Weldon]

What is the difference between the 20 dollar reptile basking lamps and the all chrome clamp-lamps you can get at home depot for 6 bucks?

Howdy,

The difference is about $14 .

For basking lamps, you'll find that, in general, more light is directed back to the enclosure's interior when using the aluminum (shiny metal) reflectors when compared to the white colored ones. This is less of an issue when using spot or flood lamps when compared to a standard household bulb because floods and spots have built-in reflectors.

Regarding UVB and reflectors:
The all-aluminum (shiny metal) reflectors do a better job of pushing UVB back into the enclosure than the white colored ones. (See: http://www.uvguide.co.uk/compactlamps.htm#reflectors and http://www.uvguide.co.uk/fluorescenttubereflectortests.htm). The test results show that the white reflectors don't reflect much UVB while the shiny aluminum reflectors almost double the level arriving inside the enclosure. This can be very useful if you have a tight weave screen. Keep in mind that more is not always better . But that is another subject .