I need to learn!

[BlueyElla]

Okay so, I’ve pretty much know how to keep a bluey in terms of housing, diet, substrate, decor etc, but I’m still having trouble grasping the idea of heating and lighting. As a beginner to reptiles, I really don’t have an idea of the different kind of bulbs, lighting, and how to set up all that stuff haha. I basically know the temps and humidity and what it should be, but I don’t know where to start. Can someone give me a mini lesson?

[mb606587]

Well congratulations on finding the best place to learn from. As to your question, that topic just so happens to be listed on our FAQ. I'd recommend taking a look but here it is What wattage light bulb/heat lamp do I need?

Very important to get a proper thermometer to accurately measure. I recommend digital from a hardware store, not the cheap dials at pet stores. Heat lamps are generally placed on the end of an enclosure, not in the middle so your skink can have hot and cool areas known as a temperature gradient where he can decide what's comfortable. Take a look at the FAQ, great stuff in there and feel free to ask away!

[Susann]

I'm tapping on my phone today as I'm on a road trip, so each of my posts take forever... I'll be repeating some of what mb already said

Priority one with light and heat is:
a) that you achieve the right temperature gradient. You should have a basking area at one end of the tank that, depending on what species of BTS you get, should be between anywhere between 95F to 115F; the other end should be high 60's to low 80's. And
b) that you have a light during the day that you turn off at night.

You can use pretty much any type of bulb or bulbs that achieves those temps and light.
Regular household bulbs, mercury vapor bulbs, "spotlight" bulb, "flood" bulb, red or "moonlight" bulb, specialized reptile basking bulb. So far, all those bulbs produce light and heat to varying degrees.
Red or "moonlight" bulbs are used at night for heat as they produce very little visible light (as far as we know --some don't like using them because it's hard to know exactly how much of the light is visible to a BTS).
A ceramic heat emitter (CHE) produces no light at all but do get quite hot (and you must use a specialized lamp fixture to ensure nothing melts and produces fumes or even fire). Dimmer switches work great with CHE's, which allows you to control how much heat it puts out.

There are under- tank heat mats (UTH) made for reptile tanks, but how well they work and how often they fail will depend on what material your tank is made of.

Then there's the UVB debate. As long as you supplement your skink's diet with calcium w/D3, it is believed that UVB lights are not necessary for BTS. Many breeders have had skinks for many, many years and have never provided UVB, and their skinks are perfectly fine. Many of us use both, UVB and supplements.
If someone says you MUST provide UVB, simply thank them, and research it and make the decision according to what you believe is best.

[mb606587]

Pretty comprehensive right there! For heating, some people also use radiant heat panels and heat tape for underneath the tank but those are pretty advanced methods of heating and I wouldn't recommend for beginners.

For the sake of simplicity, all you really need to satisfy your light and heat requirements is a single lamp. I prefer to pick up my supplies at the hardware store (usually cheaper) but you can get everything at the pet store too. A dome light fixture (check the ratings on the label. Some can't handle higher wattage bulbs but ones that can handle at least 150 watts will be good). An incandescent bulb. I use the specialty reptile ones at 70 watts but you might need a different wattage. You can get incandescent bulbs at the hardware store as well. That's where having a good way of measuring heat levels is important. Those temperature guns are great for that. As long as your basking spot under the light is 95-115 degrees your bulb is good. The other side of the tank will be fine at room temperature. Putting a large flat rock large enough for your skink to fit its body onto under the light is recommended. That rock will absorb and retain heat and your skink WILL use it. You can find those in garden stores. That single lamp and bulb will satisfy both lighting and heating.

Now you can supplement with uvb lighting. Most use the hood and tube bulbs. As Susann mentioned it's not necessary if you're supplementing calcium w/ d3 powder into your skinks food. There are plenty of threads on here regarding the use of uvb lighting. But as far as the minimum which works well for a lot of people, just a dome fixture and heat bulb cycled on and off at 12 hour intervals. Night heating isn't necessary as long as your house isn't dropping under 60 degrees at night.

[BlueyElla]

Thanks guys! This helped a lot!

[BlueyElla]

Oh yeah at night they don’t want the light but a slight temp drop? So you can turn down the heat on the thermostat I guess? Is there like an off/on for the light but not for the heat on the bulb thingy? This sounds really dumb sorry

[mb606587]

Well if you're using an incandescent light bulb (the basking bulbs at the pet store) for your heat, then yes just by manually turning off the light at night will also turn off the heat. Those bulbs simultaneously light up the enclosure AND produce the heat which is why they're the easiest. Just one switch to turn it off so no, you can't turn off the light but keep the bulb producing heat.

And a drop in temperature at night is good for them. You don't want the heat to stay the same night and day. As I said, as long as temperatures aren't dropping under 65 or even 60 degrees in the room overnight (most homes don't), you don't need any heat at all. If they are dropping under 60 degrees, you will need a separate light fixture with a ceramic heat emitter bulb, which produces only heat, no light just for night use. Temperatures in my basement are usually 66-68 degrees overnight for my guys in the winter. To make your life easier, you can buy a timer and plug the light into that. It will automatically turn your light/heat on and off for you at whatever times you set it to.

[BlueyElla]

Thanks!

[xkillmeowx]

I used an under the tank heater but it felt like it was too hot to me felt like it would burn me if I let my hand there any longer. It also cracked my tank. I switched to a day time bulb and a moon light bulb at night because my house is pretty chilly.

[splashy07]

Under tank heaters can and often fail and will overheat. They should not be removed from their original placement, but I've heard of instances where people do. That more than likely causes failure when being placed on another tank. If you ever use one (I would not) it is imperative that you use with a thermostat. Same goes for heat tape or any type of heating element that can not be turned off. Something hot enough to crack glass can easily burn your reptile or perhaps even start a fire. As mentioned before, they are not necessary in average household nighttime ambients.

[kingofnobbys]

Overhead heating via either a
MVB (which is an all in one solution = hear + bright white/yellow light + UVB + UVA)
or
par38 spot globe (incandescent or halogen) = heat and bright white /yellow light
are your best option for daytime heating.

Overnight
the optkons are
a CHE
or
a tile covered thermostat controlled heatpad/
If the overnight heating produces visible light, it's too bright and will disturb a skink's sleep.

[mb606587]

Under tank heating mats will typically crack the glass if the tank isn't raised a few millimeters off the surface. Those mats (along with heat tape) require an airflow underneath them, and if layed flush on a surface with no space to breathe so to say, they sometimes overheat. I'm also not a huge fan of them.

[xkillmeowx]

It was off the table it had those little rubber nubs to stick on the bottom I just tossed that tank it was old and only a 10 gallon.