To bask, or not to bask...

[Kaizen]

Anyone running a fixture with 4, 6 or 8 t5’s will know that they do, in fact, put out some heat. Personally, I find this sufficient for basking. Even when using a single uvb strip, I have only ever used a basking bulb for max 2 hours in the AM. Thoughts?

 

[Beman]

Anyone running a fixture with 4, 6 or 8 t5’s will know that they do, in fact, put out some heat. Personally, I find this sufficient for basking. Even when using a single uvb strip, I have only ever used a basking bulb for max 2 hours in the AM. Thoughts?

When I was running my Odyssea quad I would get basking temps of 82-85 so I stopped using the heat lamp. No need to provide a heat lamp if your T5's produce the heat IMO.

I have 3 t5's right now gets me about 75-78 under them. In the summer I only run basking for 2-3 hours a day. During winter because my home is much cooler and ambient is so much lower I run the basking for 5 hours. Takes it a bit longer to get it warmed up even with my t5's during winter. I like to provide a 82 degree basking. I find that the boys still prefer to be under the T5's though 90% of the time. It is rare for them to use the basking fixture.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

I'm running a couple of Sansi LEDs. They don't put out much heat downward, but they are BRIGHT, so I've been considering using another heat source for basking than an incandescent bulb. Maybe a CHE... haven't gotten too fare into it yet.

So if you're getting the right temps with all those T5's, what's the diff? As long as there's also some leafy shade to get out of the heat & light.