Best lighting?

[jesseS]

So I'm just curious as to what the best lighting set ups for beardies are? For heat, uvb, and uva and all....I hear different opinions from everyone I talk to so I'm curious as to what ya'll think?

 

[stijngh]

I just bought everything the owner of the reptile store gave me... It was damn expensive, but I hope it will last a beardie's lifetime (except for the bulbs which are supposed to be changed every 6 months ofcourse)

Tops (and sunray):
http://www.exo-terra.com/nl/products/sunray_fixture.php +/- 250 EUR
http://www.exo-terra.com/nl/products/linear_top.php (large) +/- 100 EUR

Lights (+/- 30 EUR each):
1x http://www.exo-terra.com/nl/products/reptile_uvb100.php
1x http://www.exo-terra.com/nl/products/reptile_uvb200.php
2x http://www.exo-terra.com/nl/products/reptile_vision.php

 

[drzebra]

10 people will answer and give you 10 different answers. Welcome to the herp world. [emoji14]

I'm a mercury vapor man. Put the mvb on the end that I want hot and just a plain ol' fluorescent light on the other end just to brighten things up.

 

[jarich]

I just bought everything the owner of the reptile store gave me... It was damn expensive, but I hope it will last a beardie's lifetime (except for the bulbs which are supposed to be changed every 6 months ofcourse)

Tops (and sunray):
http://www.exo-terra.com/nl/products/sunray_fixture.php +/- 250 EUR
http://www.exo-terra.com/nl/products/linear_top.php (large) +/- 100 EUR

Lights (+/- 30 EUR each):
1x http://www.exo-terra.com/nl/products/reptile_uvb100.php
1x http://www.exo-terra.com/nl/products/reptile_uvb200.php
2x http://www.exo-terra.com/nl/products/reptile_vision.php

Stijngh, you have all these lights on the same enclosure?! How big is your enclosure? The SunRay is a great light, but if you have that many different UVB lights, you may be overdoing it.

As for the original question, it will depend on the enclosure you have. Generally, Id recommend three different lights if possible, one for UVB, one for UVA and one for heat. For the UVB, Id recommend the High Output (HO) linear fluorescent tubes from either Arcadia or Zoomed. For basking/heat just a simple halogen flood light will work well. You can buy them at any hardware store cheaply. As for the UVA, its perhaps not as essential as the others, especially since the other two will also produce some UVA in limited quantities. However, if you have the opportunity and finances, a low wattage metal halide is great for adding in UVA and more visible light.

 

[stijngh]

Stijngh, you have all these lights on the same enclosure?! How big is your enclosure? The SunRay is a great light, but if you have that many different UVB lights, you may be overdoing it.

Yup, they are all in the same enclosure.

I have the 40 gallon Exo Terra Large/Tall terrarium.
http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products/natural_terrarium_large.php

My beardie doesn't seem to mind all the light and heat however