Help with Incandescent light bulbs

[Sancho]

Ok call me stupid but I went to home depot yesterday since everyone is saying use incandescent light bulbs with chams. And I wasn't sure which house bulb I was using in their cages so I went to home depot and didn't see one that said "incandescent" on the boxes.

Is this the soft? clear or what lights? I'm confused going make fun!

 

[KevinA]

incandescent refers to the regual bulbs that burn a filament to produce light. All of the old style bulbs are incandescent. All soft white, daylight, ect are incandescent.

The differences is between incandescent and flourescent

 

[Sancho]

incandescent refers to the regual bulbs that burn a filament to produce light. All of the old style bulbs are incandescent. All soft white, daylight, ect are incandescent.

The differences is between incandescent and flourescent

See Kev I told you I was stupid LOL. I found a old thread where Dave Weldon suggested using http://www.lighting.philips.com/us_...g&parent=7593748565&id=us_en_products&lang=en so I'm going to put up a couple of these today.

 

[SliK JiM]

Yeah, they're the bulbs you find everywhere! Get spotlights/floodlights (as in the link) when you go as they are much better for basking bulbs than the other incandescents but go for spotlights as they're a more suitable size for most holders as floodlights can be massive and can stick out the end!

 

[SliK JiM]

Oh, and yeah, go for clear (you don't see many 'soft' spot lights) but they just don't give the right sort of color light to admire your cham in!

 

[Sancho]

Oh, and yeah, go for clear (you don't see many 'soft' spot lights) but they just don't give the right sort of color light to admire your cham in!

What wattage should I get? I have a 24x24x48 and a 18x18x36 Highest perch is about 5 inches from the top of the cage.

 

[sandrachameleon]

You dont have to get a spot light. The cheapest regular tungsten incandescent bulb is fine. Clear or soft is a personal choice. Wattage will entirely depend on your ambient temp and how far above the cage the fixture is.
I typically use a 40-60watt bulb.

 

[Sancho]

Picked up two hologena's that Dave Weldon recommended temps are right and it's much brighter in the cage then the regular 60 watt house bulb

 

[SliK JiM]

You dont have to get a spot light. The cheapest regular tungsten incandescent bulb is fine. Clear or soft is a personal choice. Wattage will entirely depend on your ambient temp and how far above the cage the fixture is.
I typically use a 40-60watt bulb.

You don't have to but they do give a better and more focused basking light.

Halogens are much better as they produce more heat energy per watt than a normal incandescent bulb!

 

[sandrachameleon]

True. I dont need a lot of heat and the cages are fairly bright already. So in my case, the cheapest is the bestest

 

[SliK JiM]

It's alright for some! England is just too cold! Although, surely Vancouver island isn't much better!?

 

[skeeta]

Just be careful with the halogen spots. Some of them "focus" heat, much like a magnifying glass does the sun, resulting in a nasty thermal burn. (been there when Skeeta was a young-un) Hold your hand a wide variety of distances from the light just to make sure (if it's too hot for you it's way too hot for your cham)

 

[sandrachameleon]

Canada can be cold. South Vancouver Island actually has relatively mild weather. More importantly, most of us have cetnral heat in our homes when needed, much like people in the south states have air conditioning for the hot summers. If you house isnt going below 65F/18C at night or 20C daytime, a massive heating lamp is not required. Especially if you DONT use an all screen cage, so that heat dissipates more slowly. You dont want a huge difference between the basking spot and the rest of the cage - its not natural to be 10C hotter in one spot than it is two inches away from that spot. This make the regular incandescent with its less focussed heat a better option, imho.

 

[Sancho]

I got the small halogena flood light 40 watts