Neodymium sleeve lights bad? Recommend replacement?

[Rschasch]

I'm worried about my tiny 60w Exo Terra daytime heat lamp bulb I am using for 1: added lighting, 2: to raise the overall ambient tank temperature.

CooperDragon has posted here before that the neodymium sleeve on these bulbs can be hurtful to my beardies eyes.

Obviously I only want the very best for my little Knox, so is there a replacement bulb that would do both of those things for me without harming his eyes?!?

Would a typical household bulb work? If so what color bulb? Warm white, soft white? Do these bulbs give off enough heat to warm the tank a bit?

I've got the basking spot as well as plenty of uvb light for him but I just need help with the extra "additional" lighting!

Thanks for the help,

ryan

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

You can definitely use a regular household light bulb for basking. A PAR 38 halogen light can also
be used as a basking light also.
The Neodymium coating blurs the yellow color spectrum & makes it harder on their eyes. So that
is why we don't recommend using a Neodymium light for basking.


Tracie

 

[Rschasch]

Thank you for your response, however I believe you misunderstood what I was asking.

I ALREADY have the basking and uvb lights perfect, I am curious about the additional lighting for the tank. (I.e. a cold side bulb)

Thanks

 

[BeerdedBiped]

Unless you need to raise the temps there is no need for lighting on the cool side. It’s nice to have an area to escape the fake sun.

Standard bulbs will do the same as a basking bulb minus the uvb. Warm and soft bulbs are generally the same—reddish tint. Cool white are the brighter bluish tint like what a reptisun tube would produce minus the uvb.

 

[Taterbug]

Typical household lights are fine, go for ones with no special coatings and the highest color temperature on them. Most will have a little chart like this.

Go for the one with the most lumens and the highest color temp. A nice bright environment is a must for dragons, and escapes from the light are best made with a shelter or shade, rather than a dim enclosure. If you need more heat, use more watts. If you need less heat, use few watts.

What color the 'light' is sort of complicated. Coatings and different types of light bulb produce different types of light. Neodymium filters out the yellow so that to humans they look bright white. Dragons and many other animals don't see the same colors we do, so they wont looks white to them. Sunlight is about 6500K so the closer a light can be to that, the better as long as its not done with coatings. Its much more complicated than that, but for the kind of lights available to most folks, that's what you need to know.