Coil bulb?

[Hugh Wahl]

Question. I'm going to switch out my heat bulbs for spring and summer. I live up north and over the winter I acquired two panther chameleons. I just fell in love with the first one and two months later bought another. I use a ceramic 40 watt on my 36" cage and a 60 watt ceramic on my 48" cage. I suspended the lights from the ceiling at just the right height for ideal heat temps.in the summer this will be to hot so I'm going to switching to house bulbs. My question is will a fluorescent house bulb hurt there eyes, heat wise they are about the same as a regular house bulb. I know certain coils bulbs will hurt there cornea, but will a regular fluorescent bulb do this. They're really bright so I wasn't sure and definitely want to get an experienced option on this.

 

[jojackson]

Its been my experience that flourescent bulbs dont output nearly as much heat as regular household incandescents, likewise the new 'powersaver' types. This was the entire point of powersavers, that regular incandescents produced so much wasted heat energy (not wasted on reptile keepers though), but powersaver types output the same light with much reduced energy use.

Flourescent virtually no heat output, no good for basking

Energy saver
very little heat output, no good for basking

Incandescent/reflector type (more heat output) better for basking

 

[Hoj]

i second that great post Joe

 

[Psi]

My question is will a fluorescent house bulb hurt there eyes

I don't believe normal CF blubs have any effect on eyesight, I thought the reason for the eye problems with CF was how the UVB was being outputted. I'd wait to see if you get a better opinion on this though

heat wise they are about the same as a regular house bulb.

Heat wise CF = 0, Normal Bulbs = 90.

 

[Hugh Wahl]

Thanks for all the info guys. Sorry if my question was miss leading. I'm more worried about there eyes then the heat. Will a normal house coil bulb hurt there eyes or just the reptile coil bulbs. My reptile room will be plenty warm in the summer so I don't want to add heat, just light. Is it okay to just run the UVB bulb and that's it?

 

[jojackson]

Even when its warm its best to provide even a minimal source of heat Hugh, lizards need to be able to raise their body temperature above the ambient in order to digest food.
Even a low wattage regular bulb will allow the lizard to bask.

AS for lighting, im sure regular (non UVB) flouro's are just fine for lighting, I use one for extra lighting over my male since the reptimesh stuff is black and cuts the light inside considerablely. No harmful effects to report.
Just be sure the lizard can hide away from it if it wants to, even if thats under plants.

 

[Hugh Wahl]

Even when its warm its best to provide even a minimal source of heat Hugh, lizards need to be able to raise their body temperature above the ambient in order to digest food.
Even a low wattage regular bulb will allow the lizard to bask.

AS for lighting, im sure regular (non UVB) flouro's are just fine for lighting, I use one for extra lighting over my male since the reptimesh stuff is black and cuts the light inside considerablely. No harmful effects to report.
Just be sure the lizard can hide away from it if it wants to, even if thats under plants.

Thanks jojackson I appreciate you taking the time to help me out, it goes along way thank you. I know my chameleons will appreciate it too.

 

[jojackson]

Your welcome mate!