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The basking light I bought at the pet store burnt out in less than three weeks. I've got a run of the mill metal clamp light - if I put in a standard incandescent bulb, what wattage do you recommend?

It really depends on how far away your fixture is from the basking area. You will need to monitor the temperature of the basking area to ensure that it is about 10 degrees F warmer than the water.

Start with a 60W and then you can go to a 100W or 40W, or you could adjust the height of the bulb/lamp as necessary to get near the 10F difference.

Have a look at the wattage of the burnt out bulb for reference.

mmmmm.... I'm house sitting and they only have 20w energy saving bulbs and 90w halogen bulbs. I tried the latter and that creates temperatures of 90f in the middle of the basking platform and 110f at the edge of the platform closest to the light...sigh...

anyway, thanks fuzzy hamster, I'll figure something out...

Scri-bin -- The basking temp is the measure of what you should have as a heat source. The temp should be around 90 to 91 degrees. Do what ever it takes to do that. b.

I've used both 50 and 75 watt halogens. These are "splashproof", so they are probably kept closer to my RES than typical halogens.

I started out with a 60W halogen splashproof bulb from the pet store. It burnt out pretty quickly, and I just switched to regular bulbs. Ever since I switched (to 60W incandescent bulbs), my turtle basks now. I guess the previous temps weren't high enough, or too high. I don't remember what they were. I think they were around 90. The incandescent get about 95 or so. It's maybe 6 inches from the basking area (my tank's a little cramped, but it functions). They make these "longer lasting" incandescent bulbs, they cost a little more, but I'm trying one out. So far, it's been a month and going strong. I think based on the rating, it should last 8 months, so we'll see.

The temp of the basking area is more important than what wattage to use. Use whatever wattage will put the temp in the range of 88-90F. Check the temp with a thermometer.