Bulbs

I know there's a lot of talk over which type of bulb to use and all that. *for the uva/uvb* So I'm asking, incandescent or florescent? Any specifics? And why?
I'm also going to install a different heat light for night time, any recommendations?

This will be for an 4'×8' I will be building! Please any help would be much appreciated!

I am a big fan of:
http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/

I called Todd who owns & runs & he walked me through my options for my specific set up. Love the customer service & I got exactly what I needed which happen to be a fluorescent.

I also like powersuns but I only use it as a secondary basking spot over the water dish. My sully lives in her water dish

Good Luck, there are so many options out there!

Ceramic heat emitter for night time heat and no light. Mercury vapor bulbs for uvb. Regular incandescent don't give off uvb. As for a flourescent, depends on the type of tortoises. Some do better with a Florescent over a MVB.

I have 2 leopards

I have 2 leopards. Thank you!

Get the reptisun 100 watt it has everything you will need with one package. It is a heat, uvb, and a uva lamp in one bulb. Get it from petco.

wellington said:

Ceramic heat emitter for night time heat and no light. Mercury vapor bulbs for uvb. Regular incandescent don't give off uvb. As for a flourescent, depends on the type of tortoises. Some do better with a Florescent over a MVB.

Click to expand...

What tortoises do better with each type?

I dont know of all that do better with Flourescent over mvb, but the Redfoots are one, and I would guess most or all the forest species. They would be more apt to getting filtered light then a desert species.

For all my reptiles I have always employed full-spectrum long tube fluorescent light over the entire habitat (on a timer at least 12 hours), and a UVB source that covers a smaller portion of the cage. I feel very strongly that "normal" daylight illumination is important for animal health, and they should be able to choose whether to bask in the high-UVB position. Some forest species almost never do bask, but it is there if they choose to. I personally do not like the one-bulb-does-all idea. YMMV.

That's actually how mine is. A long one, and a double heat, uvb combo on one side a little lower

Closed chamber or open table?

Open.
When I first got them, all the research told me raised sides were bad and they needed to be kept dry vs. Humid so that's what I did. This is the first I've heard of high humidity and covered