Caging and lighting/heat

[Rob]

Hello, The enclosure I am getting is a Animal Plastics 4x2x2. I want to heat the basking side with a mercury bulb. My reasoning is uvb. This was suggested on utube by one of the more reputable guys. Can't recall his name lol. For this size enclosure would you recommend the 100 or 160 w? My research is leaning towards that we are not keeping the basking side warm enough. That it should be as high as 110 ° Any suggestions much appreciated! Thank you, Rob

[rixusaku]

I would start with the 100w and see if you need to go higher. The 160w bulbs are expensive, and PVC will hold in heat better than other types of enclosures. I have a glass enclosure and have to use the 160w because of how tall my enclosure is, but I dont think you'll need to use the 160w. You might not even need to have the 100w and need to go lower.

Keep the receipt for the bulb and exchange it once you measure out your temps if you need to. I measured my temps using both a probe and a heat gun. I stick my probe closer to the substrate and leave it there even with my BTS in there (he's never bothered or seemed interested in it) and use the heat gun for more precise measurements throughout the enclosure. I also measured my temps after I setup the enclosure as if I had my BTS in there since the temperatures will read different in an empty enclosure compared to a filled one.

If you can, I would also invest in a UV reader. They're pretty expensive, I think mine was $250 off Amazon, but it's better to have one so you know if it's outputting too much if the bulb is malfunctioning or if it's not outputting enough and you need to bump up how much calcium supplements you need to give. BTS need to be in the partial sun reading and full sun will be too much, but might be fine as long as you have plenty of places for them to hide under in the enclosure. If you don't want to get the UV reader there are some color changing cards that are something like $6 that you can get, but they're not accurate in the sense of you being able to tell what the reading is exactly. The one I got changed colors from white to dark purple, but I invested in the reader to get more accurate readings. As long as the color changing cards are within a middle ground you should be fine. Use the sun when it's highest in the sky on a clear day to get a jumping off point on where to read full sun on the color changing cards.

Edit: another thing, I would go with a bulb that outputs both uv and heat in the same bulb. The reasoning is that the bulbs that only emit uv will last you 6 months before you need to replace them, but the bulbs that emit everything you need in one will last you a full year before you need to replace it. Saves some money. It sounds like you're already doing that, but here's the info just in case. :D

[Rob]

thank you for the awesome reply. This is a terrific ,informative and friendly place to get information !

[rixusaku]

Yeah! I learn a lot here too, this place is great :D