I just had an epiphany!! UVB question!

[ChameleonMom]

So all of my chams are in x-tall glass exo terra's with a compact hood with 2 coil 26w UVB bulbs and a dome light with a 75 watt basking bulb. I have six chams, and find that when it comes time to change out my UVB bulbs for new ones, it costs a helluva lot of money buying 12 bulbs x $25.00 each.

Recently I have come to the realization that my compact hoods are for dual use which means I can use 1 UVB bulb and 1 basking bulb and eliminate the dome light and cut my costs for UVB bulbs in half!!

My question is this: is one 26w/5.0 UVB bulb going to provide enough UVB for my adult chams in a 24x18x36" terrarium?

Or should I stick with the 2 UVB's per hood and keep the dome lights for heat?

Any input is appreciated!!

 

[scout83]

One of the uvb bulbs should be enough for that size cage. Is all your cages that size

 

[ridgebax1]

I actually have a combination of a hood that holds three lights, a single dome and a double dome. In the double is heat and UVB, the single is full spectrum daylight and in the hood is another UVB and two full spectrum lights. I have a lot of live plants so I wanted the extra light.

 

[ChameleonMom]

One of the uvb bulbs should be enough for that size cage. Is all your cages that size

Thanks for the replies. And yes, all of my cages are that size. And before you tell me how glass sucks and they are too small for adults, I have previously housed them in 24x24x48" screen cages and had massive humidity problems (I live in Canada) and frequesnt respiratory problems (pneumonia), but since moving to my exo Terra's have not had any significant health OR humidity problems. My chams get time outside their cages on the FR, so they are all-round happy chams!!

As for the plants, my exo's all boast live plants but they are cheaper to replace than the UVB bulbs! My only concern is if one bulb is enough UVB for an adult.

Thanks again!

 

[scout83]

You won't hear me say anything about your cage I have screen and had to wrap 3 sides in plastic because of winter to keep my humidity so whatever works

 

[ReptiGeek]

Hey Lisa!
I've tried using heat with the dual tops but they didn't do a very good job. Have you thought of selling your dual tops and getting two 48" fluorescent fixtures and buying linear fluorescent instead? I've ordered linear fluorescent off of amazon for really good pricing and they tend to carry all sizes! Then you could just keep the dome for heat and not have to worry about heat or UVB output. You can also find 48" fixtures at hardware stores for a relatively fair price considering it will be covering 2 enclosures at once. And the 48" bulbs tend not to be any more expensive than the 24" bulbs.

 

[ChameleonMom]

Thanks Travis!

I actually wanted to try to utilize the equipment I currently have, especially with my new venture starting in the next few months. I'm trying to maximize expenses for that, but yes, eventually I'll move to tubes!

 

[ReptiGeek]

Makes sense! I'll letcha know if I have any spare equipment laying around.