Which Basking bulb?

[Katiemehaffey1]

So i have just had a viv built that is 5ftx2ftx2ft. I already have the uvb lights needed(i have two 18 inch reptisun 10.0 uvb bulbs) and I have a night time heat emitter and I was wondering what wattage would be best for the basking light. I heard with wooden cages you don't need as high of a wattage. Also what brand would be best. (I also heard you can use just regular around the house light bulbs as basking bulbs) is this true?

Thanks!

 

[CooperDragon]

The basking light might take some trial and error. I'd start with a 70w and move up as needed. I use PAR38 halogen flood lights because they're nice and bright, durable, put out plenty of heat, and they can be dimmed. If you hook it to a lamp dimmer or dimming thermostat you can cut back the output slightly to fine tune the temps as needed. I'd still try to get as close as you can by getting proper wattage but the dimmer or thermostat is quite helpful if you can't raise/lower the bulb.

In a large enclosure like that I would use a T5 UVB light rather than a T8 as well because the T5 will have excellent output at about 12'' while the T8 won't be much use at all beyond about 8''.

 

[Drache613]

Moved by Moderator from General to Enclosures

 

[Katiemehaffey1]

Well I tried but I could only find t5 in 22" or longer, I need an 18".

 

[jayce82]

with your enclosure being 5ft long you definitely could use a 24" t5 fixture with a 22" bulb. also just get you a lamp dimmer from home depot and put a 100watt bulb in and dim it to the temp you need. I just built a 47x19x19 and a 75 watt is perfect. keeps tank at 94 on hot side, 80 on cool, and 105* basking surface