I have a beardie that is 5 years old that i raised as a baby and I am having issues with UVA bulbs. I always used Zoo Meds 100W halogen in my 40 gallon for years but these past few months they have been burning out/ going out after 1 to 2 weeks of use! I don't know what the deal is with that companies production but it has gone downhill very steeply. I also tried ExoTerra brand and had the same issues and those are the brand's that are sold at local pet stores. I have heard lots of people use house bulbs so I have looked at walmart and target and they are all mostly soft white and don't get very hot since they are usually low wattage. So does anyone here have good suggestions on what kind of bulb/brand to use that achieves the right temps I need for an adult beardie? Thanks for reading and your help!
Sure, have you tried a nice bright halogen flood light? They work really well & usually last quite awhile. It is very frustrating when lights prematurely go out.
Just buy a regular halogen from home depot, or lowes. A lot of those so called specialized reptile UVA bulbs are coated with neodymium anyway, which are not all that bright.
Which UVB do you use?
UVA / neodymium basking globes are usually rubbish and very unstable , a waste of money.
Switch to either
>> a 26W 10%VB compact , plenty of UVA & UVB from good quality compacts made by Arcadia , Exo Terra or Zoo Med. These are fine in small rearing tubs / vivs up to 140L.
>> a T8 10-12%UVB tube.
>> a T5HO 10-12%UVB tube.
AND replace the UVA / neodymium globe with a par38 colorless incandescent or halogen globe for heat and visible light only.
Or switch to a MVB for an all in one solution (heat+light+UVA+UVB) but bare in mind it is very difficult to setup an MVB to have proper temperatures and good levels of UV all at the same time and optimised at the basking spot , will end up with UV too low at the basking spot , and the UV beam is very focused in a very small volume .
Thank you guys for your suggestions! I will try to find a nice halogen bulb from lowes and try that out! I have a 24" reptisun 10 tube light as UVB so I have that covered and those have lasted very long periods of time and I replace them after 6-8 months.