# help needed Which basking light?



## jager (Jan 23, 2010)

Hi ya all, We've just built our green iguana Jager a new enclosure . He's getting a big boy now, roughly 5 feet from head to tail tip (has full tail) Still not too sure how old he is but we have had him for about 17 months now 

We've converted the cupboard underneath the stairs, which measures roughly at 11feet (at highest point-ceiling-top of staircase and 5feet toward the bottom of the staircase) about by 8 feet in length by 4 feet in depth- so essentially a sort of trapesium shaped space. Here's a few pictures to see the size roughly























































At the moment we've got a, 54w 46'' Arcadia T5 D3+ Reptile lamp with a reflector, on the ceiling under the stairs and a Trixie Desert pro 12.0 25w Reptile lamp underneath the main shelf to help give so more uv light when his woundering around the bottom of his enclosure. Then he's got a Exo Terra SunGlo Basking spot 60w on his top shelf so he's got a nice, high and out of the way basking spot and also a 40w under the shelf to give abit of light on the trees. With a 250w Exo Terra Ceramic Heat emitter running on a pulse stat to help keep the temps right. 

Now this is where we need your help, as the enclosure is quite big we're going to be getting rid of the 40w SunGlo and to try and save the life of his Ceramic, we're not sure which bulb to get though. Should we go for the 160w Arcadia D3 UV Basking Lamp or a 160w Zoo Med Powersun UV Flood? Any feedback on these bulbs would be great as wanted to go out later today to pick it up for him.

Thanks

Steve n Dawn


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## petman99 (Aug 22, 2010)

The best bulb by far is the arcadia 160w bulb as much better than the powersun in performance and amount of UV output.

We have an iggy here and that is what we use.


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## mooshu (Mar 24, 2010)

I have used both of those bulbs in my chameleon's viv, THe arcadia is a better bulb, I dont know which produces more UV, but the arcadia doesn't flicker like the zoo med and its a better colour too. I have found that it produces a bit more light than the zoo med. 
Arcadia Rock! :2thumb:

(Hope I get some commission for this)


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## jacobcourtney (Apr 9, 2011)

**

im loving this dudes home!!!!!


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## mooshu (Mar 24, 2010)

jacobcourtney said:


> im loving this dudes home!!!!!


Damnit I forgot to say this :lol2:

He is a very lucky Iggy! 

How does his palace cope with the added humidity though?


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## Alon93 (Jul 5, 2010)

Get the arcadia, and next time don't buy reptile branded non uv basking bulbs, just get non branded ones from your local home improvement store.


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## Arcadiajohn (Jan 30, 2011)

I just wanted to say well done, fitted perfectly and looks beautiful.

Please remember that the u.v power from the 54w lamp is roughly the same as a M.V lamp anyway. So you have plenty of power there! If you need an M.V for heat and u,v boosting then we have the only lamp that is guaranteed for one year! It also has the widest angle of emission available providing a wide area of u,v not just a small spot.

Well done again!

John courteney-smith. Arcadia products "light for life"


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## jager (Jan 23, 2010)

Cheers guys

We'll go for the arcadia then 

As for humidity, we've just fitted his mister from his previous viv into the new enclosure, and still spray him two to three times a day. We are always looking for more inventive ways of maintaining an acceptable level of humidity for him though.


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## jager (Jan 23, 2010)

Arcadiajohn said:


> I just wanted to say well done, fitted perfectly and looks beautiful.
> 
> Please remember that the u.v power from the 54w lamp is roughly the same as a M.V lamp anyway. So you have plenty of power there! If you need an M.V for heat and u,v boosting then we have the only lamp that is guaranteed for one year! It also has the widest angle of emission available providing a wide area of u,v not just a small spot.
> 
> ...




Cheers John

Would it be this one, 160w Arcadia D3 UV Basking Lamp? For heat and UV.


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## Arcadiajohn (Jan 30, 2011)

Yes that's the one, or you could go, 100w Arcadia basking lamp and include a 24w D3plus T5, this would give you a heat basking area but with good light in a wider area. The trouble with spot lamps in huge enclosures isnthat the area of emission of light and u.v is small,

Cracking set up though!

John courteney-smith. Arcadia products "light for life"


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## SteamedPolecat (Apr 11, 2011)

Alon93 said:


> Get the arcadia, and next time don't buy reptile branded non uv basking bulbs, just get non branded ones from your local home improvement store.


completely agree. reptile branded bulbs are standard ones marked up 2, 3 or even 4 times higher. i got 2x GE R80 60W spot bulbs for basking.

2 quid for the pair, maybe even less, and reptile places were asking for like a 5er for a similar bulb. so just get to B+Q and make sure you buy a decent set. i recommend the 60W, not too much energy but they blast out some heat, i use them both at once and they easily top 32 ish C ambient (and a really hot rock) for the hot end and make it about 26 ish for the cool end, mine's a vivexotic EX55, so you might wanna go for more like 100W


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## mooshu (Mar 24, 2010)

jager said:


> Cheers guys
> 
> We'll go for the arcadia then
> 
> As for humidity, we've just fitted his mister from his previous viv into the new enclosure, and still spray him two to three times a day. We are always looking for more inventive ways of maintaining an acceptable level of humidity for him though.


I meant how is the room coping with t he humidity? I dont know if you have or not but sealing the walls might be an idea!?


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## jager (Jan 23, 2010)

Thanks again people!


We went for the 160w Arcadia D3 UV. None of our local pet shops, within like a 30 mile radius, stocked this so we've ordered it online from surrey pet supplies. It was a good price compared to what we've seen elsewhere and we've had stuff off them before no probs, so looking forward to getting it on monday! I'm sure Jaeger will be particularly impressed with his new basking light 

Also regarding seal proofing the walls against the humidity, we have noted this and are going to do it once the backdrop has been painted.

If anyone knows of any decent places online where we can get some artificial trees/plants for a reasonable price, or if there's any real plants we could actually grow in there which wouldn't be harmful to the ig, please let us know. We've already got dandelion, watercress and pakchoi ready to go in the bottom of his enclosure, which he can munch on from fresh as and when he pleases.


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