Spotlight basking bulb help

[Joeegould]

Hi all, I need some help.

I'm in the uk and have a 10month old leopard, I can’t find any of the bulbs that other people in other country’s have suggested. I am looking for a new spotlight bulb for my leo, i need a uvb only spotlight basking bulb that is dimmable For a 2ft by 4ft house, because of the variety In temp in uk I would like a bulb that will allow me to turn heat up and down. Im a little lost because I don’t want a bulb that will harm his eyes, I’m unsure on the wattage needed and obviously not knowing the wattage I wouldn’t know what height the bulb should sit at above his shell.

Would love some help so thank you to anyone that gives me their time .

 

[Yvonne G]

I don't think there is such a thing all in one bulb. You're going to need a CHE for heat, on a thermostat that turns it up or down. Then you need UVB bulb and I don't think they come in spotlights. I'll send a shout out to one of our more experienced lighting guys - @Markw84

 

[Tom]

Hi all, I need some help.

I'm in the uk and have a 10month old leopard, I can’t find any of the bulbs that other people in other country’s have suggested. I am looking for a new spotlight bulb for my leo, i need a uvb only spotlight basking bulb that is dimmable For a 2ft by 4ft house, because of the variety In temp in uk I would like a bulb that will allow me to turn heat up and down. Im a little lost because I don’t want a bulb that will harm his eyes, I’m unsure on the wattage needed and obviously not knowing the wattage I wouldn’t know what height the bulb should sit at above his shell.

Would love some help so thank you to anyone that gives me their time .

Every hardware store sells incandescent flood bulbs. Only your thermometer can tell you what wattage you'll need. You can buy a big one and run it through a rheostat to control the temperature if you want.

There are four elements to heating and lighting:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt floods from the hardware store. I run them on a timer and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb.
2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. You'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT.
3. Light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. If you want it anyway, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html

Here is the current and correct care info for your species;

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

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