Light Question

[Ixidor]

I was at the mall yesterday and the petshop had like 20 different bulbs..... There were various wattages and then some that were like infrared, noctural, and complete day. I figured the nocturnal would be best as leo's are nocturnal:confused: If I have a 20 gallon tank how many watts should the bulb be and what kind??
Any imput would be great



Thanks,
Ixidor :grab:

[KristenM]

Hey,

I would go with a 75 watt bulb, max 100 watt. But just a tip that herp depot has light bulbs just as good for a lot cheeper in red blue etc.

Hope this can help
Kristen

[Neo]

yeah red, blue, black (make sure it protects from uv), and those bulbs that dont produce any light.. all of those wont disturb your gecko's nocturnal habits. u may wanna get something a lil more powerful seeing that's it's winter right now.

[Darren179]

I use a 100 watt daytime bulb and a 25 watt niht bulb in my set up I find it keeps realistic temps to there natural envoirment

[LISA127]

on a 20 gallon terrarium, the most i have every used was 60 watts. particularly since i also use an under tank heat pad. i think 100 watts is too high for such a small terrarium. i have used white bulbs, for normal leo's. for albino's i always use red.

[Darren179]

yes 100 watt is to high but my geckos are in a 4x2x2 enclosure

[Neo]

as long as u have an in tank thermometer for both sides of your tank u should be able to decide which bulb works for u. another factor is the diameter of your heat lamp.

[bob_thesnowman]

well it's a tough call really,depends on the temperture of the room it will be in,if the room is always warm i'd go with a 50-60 watt bulb,and if it's chilly go with a 100 watt bulb,just play around with it for a bit,you'll eventually find the right bulb for your enclosure

[Ixidor]

What if the bulb is the only thing I'm using for heating???
Thanks
Ix

[Ixidor]

And heat mats don't work with paper towels do they?

[Neo]

heat mats work w/ nething.. they're pretty strong.. just dont start a fire. just bulbs are fine (monitor w/ a thermometer).. in fact thats what i'm using right now. leos just prefer belly heat more but they can find that on my arm.