Habitat - Indoor :: Lighting descision

[Caelestis]

I don't know what type of bulb to buy. Mecury vapor looks good as an all in one solution, but I only have 1 turtle because having multiple 8+ in turtles seemed impossible to me. A typical white light bulb and florescent UV bulb can do just as good and cheaper than a mercury vapor bulb right? In terms of lifespan. I don't think I can justify a mercury vapor bulb for 1 hatchling or even 1 4" turtle (2 years is around 4" right?)

[Caelestis]

What full spectrum bulbs are best and will be just as good as a mvb when set to a closer distance? And what about halogen lights?

Also, what about infrared heating with a florescent bulb? That one sounds good to me. Which course should I take for a 55 gal setup?

[adam85491]

MVB's are suppose to be very good for tanks 55 gallons and up. This would require one clamp lamp (ceramic fixture) rated for over 100 watts. The T-rex is reccomended by many keepers.

If you use two lights, one household bulb for heat will do and one regular UVB bulb will do for proper lighting. Two clamp lamps can be used for this-try the repti glo 5.0 compact. You don't need a halogen heat bulb.

[steve]

Can you tell us more about your setup?

[DavidY]

For a baby turtle you're probably fine using a normal household light bulb and the Repti Glo 5.0 compact flourescent bulb as Adam suggested. That's a fairly inexpensive but efficient way to go. Don't bother with the special basking, full spectrum or infrared bulbs that they sell at the pet stores. My experience with those bulbs is that they have very poor quality control. I've had many of those bulbs last only a month or two, some that didn't work at all out of the box, and maybe only one or two that have lasted more than 6 months (I keep a lot of reptiles so I've gone through a lot of bulbs).

For UVB/UVA stick with the tube flourescent, compact flourescent or mercury vapor bulbs. For light and heat just use a good ol' cheap household light bulb (usually 60 to 75 watts does the job for my situation).

The MVB bulbs do a better job of mimicking natural sunlight and seem to have a much more beneficial effect on most sun loving reptiles. Many have noticed that their turtles seem much more active and alert when they switched to an MVB as well.

[marisa]

What size tank does your turtle have?

What kind of fixtures do you want to use?