Hallogen spot lamp wattage?

[pono]

Hi guys, Im thinking of setting up a viv for a single lined or gold dust day gecko. Im going to keep him in a 30x30x45 exo, and i thought that a regular heat lamp will be too big. Has any one used hallogen lights as spot lamps? How effective are they for phelsuma? The person who sells day gecko stuff stocks 20, 35, and 50 watt hallogen bulbs. Which of these would be right wattage for a lineata or laticauda in a 30x30x45 viv? Thanks very much,

Ed ;-)

 

[Hilde]

The Watts depend on a lot of factors.
How much of a temperature increase do you need? If the room is already in the mid 70's, then you won't need as high a wattage bulb as you would if you were raising it from the mid 60's. If you have a reflective dome (cover) over the bulb, it will help keep the heat in the enclosure, an uncovered bulb won't work as well. Is the enclosure covered with screen/mesh, or is there a solid (glass?) section? All these will affect the size of bulb. The best way to go about it is to experiment with a medium size, and then adjust up or down as needed. Be careful to watch the temperature during this experimental phase so you don't cook your gecko.

 

[pono]

Yeh, i would experiment, but the cheapest place which sells hallogen bulbs sells them in 2 packs for £10 which is incredibly expensive!

The room is at about 70-75 to my knowledge, and the bulb would be in a dome fixture. The viv would be a 30x30x45 exo (glass sides and mesh top). Does that make it a bit easier to judge on the bulb wattage (just a rough idea)?

Cheers,

Ed

 

[gbhil]

Yeh, i would experiment, but the cheapest place which sells hallogen bulbs sells them in 2 packs for £10 which is incredibly expensive!

The room is at about 70-75 to my knowledge, and the bulb would be in a dome fixture. The viv would be a 30x30x45 exo (glass sides and mesh top). Does that make it a bit easier to judge on the bulb wattage (just a rough idea)?

Cheers,

Ed

At 70F ambient temp, a dome fixture with a 50 watt halogen spot creates a basking temp of 109F @5" below the lamp. This is in a 12x12x18" zoomed terrarium with a screen top.
I'll let you deal with the standard to metric conversion and I hope this helps.