This is kind of silly but I have a fire phobia

[Jtara]

I am new to the basking thing. I have snakes but they dont bask, they just require belly heat and my rheostat shuts anything off once the heat pad reaches 85..

Anyway, I am kind of a fire paranoid person. My bf makes fun of me, I check all the outlets before I go to sleep. I unplug everything before I go on vacation. And last year, the house around the corner caught fire and within 10 minutes, burnt to the ground in front of the whole neighborhood. Now seeing how a tiny kitchen fire can destroy the whole house, I am even more paranoid. Drywall and carpet go up extremely fast.

If I am being honest, this whole hot lamp basking thing is freaking me out.

I have the dome fixture, and purchased a white day light for basking (also a UVB fixture, the long ones, not the coil bulb) Now I am reading some of you use regular household bulbs for basking? Quite frankly I am paranoid that hot basking bulb is going to fall over, melt something and burn the house down.

I am familiar with probe thermometers, and rheostats/thermomstats cause I use them for my corn snakes.

Do any of you use a fixture stand for your dome fixtures? Or a rheostat for your basking light?

I did not purchase a night heat light because I also installed a under tank heat pad with a thermostat so it stays at 83-85 ......so when the basking lamp is off, it wont get too cold.

Just curious how some of you deal with the basking light. Thanks for any help!!!

 

[BadCon]

FYI, Drywall doesn't burn all that well. Its basically gypsum sandwiched between sheets of paper, and while the paper will burn, the gypsum in the middle will not. Eventually the paper will burn through and the whole sheet will crumble, exposing the timber walls behind, however most household sheetrock (drywall) has a 45 minute fire rating, which is rather good.

Anyways, the fire risk with a proper enclosure setup is minimal. In all honesty, the fire risk associated with your standard reptile heat pads is many times greater then the fire risk posed by a household bulb. Your average household bulb has about the same chance to cause a house fire (when used properly) as your iphone. Just think of all the billions of bulbs in use around the world...the planet hasn't gone up in smoke yet .
Most household fires are caused by negligence and sheer stupidity. If you take care setting up your enclosure, the risk of fire will be 0.

Buy a quality ceramic fixture and mount it securely to the enclosure. This can be accomplished by placing it flat on a screen top, or using a light stand of some sort with a clamp. Take care not to exceed the wattage rating on the fixture (usually 150w for most ceramic/porcelain socketed domes), and you'll be all set. Choose a bulb that will get the basking site to approximately 105 degrees f, and call it a day. You can use a rheostat if you want, I personally do on both of my enclosures. However if your house is climate controlled and its temp is relatively stable, then a rheostat may not even be necessary.
Now remember that heat is only one facet of beardie lighting. They need a UV-B source as well, and the only 2 I recommend are the ZooMed Reptisun 10.0 or the Arcadia D3+ series. Both of these are linear fluorescent tubes, which means they run at low wattage and remain relatively cool. The risk of fire with these guys is very low. Buy a nice fixture with a quality ballast, and call it a day. You might also add additional lighting down the road for extra light intensity (beardies love bright enclosures). You can accomplish this with a standard household CFL....which once again, is fluorescent and runs cool.

 

[Jtara]

That house on the next street went up pretty fast. I was home when it started, by the time the FD got there, it wasnt safeable. Maybe its the wood then. Only thing left was the brick front. But I was paranoid long before that...I have 3 labs and fire when I am not home is my worst nightmare.

Anyway I finally got the basking temp up. Its 104.7 now, on a rheostat...I had to raise his spot but I got it. I also have the UVB, but I know that doesnt get hot enough to do anything.

I put him on his basking spot and he sat there with his mouth open.

You're right about all the bulbs in the world. I guess the basking one makes me nervous cause we purposely point it at something to make it hot. Not sure if that makes sense.