Shipwrecked on Halogen Aisle

[wes]

I went to Home Depot and was LOST with all the different options for halogen flood lights. I could easily have walked out of there with over half a dozen bulbs to try out. Does anyone have experience with PAR20 vs. PAR38 for a 50 gallon bearded dragon cage? Narrowing that down would help my decision immensely. I just don't know how much heat these things throw out and if the PAR20 is too intense of a beam or better for a basking spot.

The Philips Natural Light Plus caught my eye. I thought it might be better for a reptile. Does anyone have experience with that product?

Thanks in advance.

 

[EmJagsz]

I have tried the Phillip's natural light bulb myself. It gets the temps where it needs to be in my 40 gal, but I prefer this bulb better

My reason is because I found that the natural light bulb is a wider flood than the other indoor/outdoor flood I use. The one I use I find that it gives a spot light plus flood. I bought both to try, so I guess you could buy 2 different kinds and try them out. It wouldn't necessarily be a waste of money because you could use those bulbs when the others blow out etc. Good luck!

 

[mike91383]

I use the PAR38 along with the T-rex and the Mega Ray. I have more than one Viv. I know you where asking a bout halogens but I have been doing a lot of research on the Mega Ray both uv and non UV. The http://www.reptileuv.com/ has a lot of information on lighting and its setup. The thing to remember is "lighting is a process, not a bulb". You will need two dome lights. For one of them you will need a 50 watt Halogen bulb or greater that puts out 4,000 lumens. Depending on the distance from the face of the bulb to your Beardie you may need a higher watt bulb. Remember that Watts = Heat put out. In the second dome light you will need Mega Ray Self-ballasted 100 watt MVB/UVB or Mega-Ray External Ballasted Kits 60 watt Flood UVB Lamp Kit or T- Rex Active UVB Self-ballasted MVB. Either one of these are a great choice for a 40 gallon Breeder. Third is a Full Spectrum Fluorescent that can put out at least 5,000 lumens. All of the lights should be on timers to come on at different times during a 12 hour cycle. First the halogen between 7-8 am to 7-8pm. Next use the Mega Ray or T- Rex between 9-10am to 5-6pm. Then use the Fluorescent between 10 -11am to 3-4pm. And what this does is gives your reptile a more nature sunrise to sunset simulation. This will create a healthier immune system and physiological well being. I hope this helps. And like they say on retileuv.com "lighting is a process, not a bulb".

 

[glitch_in_the_system]

I work in the electrical department at Home Depot.
Par 16 Par 20 and Par 38 has to do with the size of the bulb face. Smaller number will concentrate the light and thus heat into a tighter area FLOOD bulbs vs. SPOT bulbs will also have an affect. FLOODS disperse light and heat over a greater area while SPOT bulbs will concentrate the light and heat in a very tight area. I use two 50 par 20 halogen FLOODS in my tank. Make sure to read the box to see if its a flood or a spot. People often put them in the wrong locations.

 

[glitch_in_the_system]

Larger faced bulbs usually are larger in length as well. Look for shortneck bulbs, they will take up less space.

 

[LJean]

I've been shipwrecked on that aisle myself. Just wanted to wish you luck. I hope some of the advice here has helped.

 

[wes]

Glitch, I will have to pay attention to the spot vs. flood difference. I didn't notice that. It seemed to me the PAR20 models were spot, but I can see from Em's photo that they aren't necessarily so.

For those of you using the 50W bulbs, how close to the bulb is your basking spot? And is your bulb on the inside or outside of the cage?

I didn't think anyone was going to respond, so I went ahead and picked up a 120W PAR38 flood a few days after I posted this. My thought was that the wide flood would disperse heat throughout the basking side of the enclosure and heat up the cool side as well. It doesn't quite work that way as very little heat gets to the cool side. In fact, the temperature drops significantly outside the beam of light directly below the bulb. He actually now has two basking spots, both on the edge of the beam, since the bottom of the enclosure measures 123F directly below the bulb. Interestingly, if I remove the screened top, the temperature rises to 130F. I didn't know that the screen top (standard metal screen you would find in a window) would make it drop 7F, so those of you taking measurements of your basking spot should take note to be sure to measure with your top in place. For what it's worth, in our setup, the light fixture is actually about an inch above the screen.