Question about lighting

Hello all. I have had my buddy Reptar for a week now ( he is around 2 months old) and he is thriving. However i do have a question that i have yet to find the answer to. I have a 100 watt basking bulb for him which he loves, along with a 24" fluorescent bulb for UVB. I originally had one of those nasty coils for UVB and UVA up until i read about the negatives of those. So now that my coil fluorescent is gone, i have an open lamp to use. I seem to recall seeing something about regular incadescent bulbs supplying beardies with some valuable things but im not sure if that is accurate. So i guess my question is if a regular 100 watt incadescent will supply my beardie with any benefits when equipped with the basking bulb and the fluorescent?

P.S- He is in a 40 gallon breeder and the fluorescent is the ReptiSun 5.0 T8

Halogen and Incandecent basking lights give heat and balance the color of the UV tubes a bit. UV tubes are more on the blue side and the basking lights help add some more yellow/red. Having a nice bright basking area also helps the lizard know where the heat is as its "sunnier". They are marketed as having "UVA" which is useful for reptile vision - but really it's very small amounts.

Unless you need the heat you should be fine the way you have it. Reptile branded bulbs aren't much different from regular halogen or Incandecent lamps.

You'll probably want to have a 10.0 reptisun, vs the 5.0. The 5.0 is rather weak, especially if the fixture doesn't have a polished reflector in it.

Good to know. Can i get a reptisun 10.0 in the same size? It took me forever to mount it lol. I really dont want to have to go and buy a new fixture. And are you saying that i need to go and get the 10.0 soon? I just spent $30 on the 5.0 yesterday

DylanFreeman":119tonud said:

Good to know. Can i get a reptisun 10.0 in the same size? It took me forever to mount it lol. I really dont want to have to go and buy a new fixture. And are you saying that i need to go and get the 10.0 soon? I just spent $30 on the 5.0 yesterday

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Is it possible you could return or exchange the 5.0?
The problem is the 5.0 are about 1/2 the strength of the 10.0 which depend innings it's setup could probably be too low of exposure. 5.0 are usually for reptiles that spend most of their time in the shade.

I already disposed of the receipt, along with the packaging :evil:
Everything i read online assured me that the 5.0 is great for them and really helped them out. He has been pooping like crazy ( all healthy ) and is active. I have done nothing but worry about him for a week, now i have this to continue to worry about.

Hello. I just recieved my 10.0 reptisun and just mounted it! Im not sure whether to leave the light cover over the bulb that came with the fixture or not. Im assuming no

You want to remove the light cover as that will intercept the UVB and render the bulb useless.

Thanks!