Household Bulbs?

i use frost, it doesnt reduce the amount of heat emitted, and i think it is easier on their eyes. i know i dont like to look at a bare light from 5 inches.:p
 
i use frost, it doesnt reduce the amount of heat emitted, and i think it is easier on their eyes. i know i dont like to look at a bare light from 5 inches.:p

OK, so lets say a frosted light doesn't block any UVA and has the same output as a clear lamp, why do you guys assume that your cham looks into his heat lamp? Reptiles are by design supposed to expose themselves to bright light, the sun isn't soft. If you look at reptiles... and yourself you will see built in eye shades. Notice when you drive home headed west and its an hour before sunset, the sun is in your eyes? And then you were out to lunch around noon it wasn't bothering you because it was high above you? My point is, unless you put your heat lamps on the side of the cage I really don't think your cham is looking at it very much.
 
A couple of things: You are not 5" from the sun! :) My chams look up all the time-they look everywhere all the time by design of their eyes. :)
 
Use a double tube fixture for UV - one tube is a reptisun for UVb, the other is a simple gro-lite, sunlight or generic uva producing florescent tube.

The heat lamp is for heat. I use long-life sylvania or philips or GE incandescent bulbs, 40, 60 75 or 100 watts, depending on the purpose. "daylight" bulbs look great, but don't last long at all. Fancy zoomed basking bulbs also look good, but they are expensive - many many times as expensive.

Use tubes for UV, cheap, household incandescents for heat - your expenses for light bulbs will be like $2 a year per lizard.
 
Use tubes for UV, cheap, household incandescents for heat - your expenses for light bulbs will be like $2 a year per lizard.

What kind of UV lamps are you using? A UVB lamp from LLL or other online stores will run you at least 14 for an 18" 5.0 Reptisun. You'll have to replace that at LEAST once a year if not twice. So, maybe $16 a year? ;)
 
I meant for everything BUT UVB. A 48" fixture will hold a reptisun and a cheap, but good, UVA producing tube. That'll cost you about $2.00 a tube. Heat bulbs cost abou $1.00 a box. One box of 4 bulbs should be enough for a lizard for a year, and the tubes last well over a year. Each 48" tube covers 2 cages.

UVB is about $20 a bulb. Two cages per bulb brings it to abou $12 a year for lighting, excluding the cost of the fixture ($10 or less).
 
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