im confused with the whole lighting thing what lights do i need??and what bulbs do i need for it?? thank you! :)
You should have a heat lamp, a UVB light and a heat matt, the UVB and heat lamps should be turned off at night and the heat matt should provide 24 hour heat.
my tortoise has a compact UVB lamp (10% but weaker is probably ok). have a look at this website so you can avoid some dangerous products: www.uvguide .uk/ he also has a basking lamp - a ceramic dome fitting (exo terra) with a regular 60W reflector light bulb. don't bother with special basking bulbs - this is cheap and it works - it produces nice basking heat. i think that it is a good combination because the uvb light alone makes his environment look like a morgue. the incandescent bulb makes it look more natural (light temperature - wise). he also has a ceramic heat emitter for the night. exo terra make these and the fitting for them. they are quite expensive but are not supposed to break. the uvb light must be changed every 6 months. the reflector bulbs don't last very long so get a couple (they are really cheap).
Reptile lighting does several things... - Heating, or creating hot spots, or supplemental heat - Lighting for visibility - Creates photoperiods, or day and night - Offers UVB lighting, which makes D3 in their skin. You can do all of it with one bulb (mercury vapor bulb) or use different bulbs for different aspects. There is not a 'perfect' answer. A common answer is to... - Use a UVB bulb for lighting and UVB. Position it about 12 over the ground and use a timer to give it about 12 hours of daylight. - Use a ceramic heat emitter for heating. - Some people add a basking bulb to create a hot zone and add extra light and color.
