Light Bulb Issues! Help!

[bobjuniordancer]

Hey guys,
So I have a quick question. I've had my leopard gecko since December and since then, I've gone through literally 11 bulbs. 4 were Zilla brand and 7 were Zoo Med. They've all burnt out, or just stopped working. The latest bulb just died tonight. I have a UTH so I'm not really worried about the heat, I'm just worried about him/her not having a light cycle until I get a new bulb again, and I'm sick of buying new bulbs every 2 or 3 weeks. Am I doing something wrong? I have a 12-hour-on, 12-hour-off cycle for both my blue day bulb and my red night bulb. The one that's on goes onto the warm side of his tank (a 10-gallon) and the one that's off goes onto the cold side. The only thing I can think of, if I am doing something wrong, is that when I switch the sides of the tank that the light fixtures are on, I'm knockling them around too much. Is it me or is it the brands of bulbs and fixtures I'm using? Right now I have the 2 fixtures sitting on top of the wire cover on the tank. Should I get the light stand that holds the lights over the tank so that I'm not knocking them around? Any other suggestions as far as what to do, or what brands of lights work, or what light cycles you guys have for your leopard geckos? Any information is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[SC Geckos]

As long as the room has a window to bring in a little light and your temps are correct, it is not necessary to have lights. Just a small bit of light into the room will give them a day night cycle. If you just want a light for display reasons just get a low wattage house bulb (40ish watts)
I'm not a fan of night bulbs unless they are required for keeping the proper temps. Some say red lights stress the animal, I don't know because I use no lights.
As for why the bulbs are failing I would say it is either you fixture or the bumping them around. I you want to continue using the lights, I would suggest making sure that the fixtures you use are rated for the wattage bulbs you are using.

 

[bobjuniordancer]

I mainly use the bulbs because I don't think that I've got the ambient temps right. I use the Zoo Med Temperature Gun thing and it says that on the cold side of my tank, it's 76-77 degrees. On the warm side, it says my tank is 84-85 degrees. And where my UTH is, it says it's 100-107 degrees, but I have a log hide and a fake plant over it, so on those, it's about 90.5 degrees. Those measurements are only from the substrate, though. I use repticarpet. Does the whole tank need to be those temps? Or just what his belly touches? I know that's how they digest their food and all. The overall temp of the tank without the heat lamps on is about 70-75 degrees. With it, it goes to about 80-85 degrees. So that's why I used the heat lamps. Does the ambient temperature matter if what his belly is touching is what it should be with the UTH?

 

[bobjuniordancer]

Oh, and I used the red night bulb because I've heard that they can't see the red, so to them, it looks like there isn't any light on at all. He always come out and jumps on his log when it's on, whereas with the day light, he stays in a hide or under his plant. I know that's because he's nocturnal, but I never heard that red bulbs stress them out. I could be wrong though...

 

[Embrace Calamity]

Oh, and I used the red night bulb because I've heard that they can't see the red, so to them, it looks like there isn't any light on at all. He always come out and jumps on his log when it's on, whereas with the day light, he stays in a hide or under his plant. I know that's because he's nocturnal, but I never heard that red bulbs stress them out. I could be wrong though...

No, this is a myth (generally propogated by pet stores). Not only do they see it, they actually have excellent color vision at night. This is definitely stressful. If you switch it for a ceramic heat emitter, I guarantee you'll noticed a difference in your gecko's activity levels.

I wouldn't personally recommend the blue day bulb either. Again, not a natural color for them to see. If you want to use lights (and it's fine if you don't - if you need overhead heating, a ceramic heat emitter can be used 24/7 while producing no light at all).

I mainly use the bulbs because I don't think that I've got the ambient temps right. I use the Zoo Med Temperature Gun thing and it says that on the cold side of my tank, it's 76-77 degrees. On the warm side, it says my tank is 84-85 degrees. And where my UTH is, it says it's 100-107 degrees, but I have a log hide and a fake plant over it, so on those, it's about 90.5 degrees. Those measurements are only from the substrate, though. I use repticarpet. Does the whole tank need to be those temps? Or just what his belly touches? I know that's how they digest their food and all. The overall temp of the tank without the heat lamps on is about 70-75 degrees. With it, it goes to about 80-85 degrees. So that's why I used the heat lamps. Does the ambient temperature matter if what his belly is touching is what it should be with the UTH?

There are a few people who argue that only surface temps matter, but most agree that air temps are important as well. (Think about when any animal is outside. Most of their bodies are exposed to the air temperatures, not the surface temperatures. Even if the surface is nice and warm, if the air is too cold, their bodies will be too cold unless they sprawl themselves on the surface 24/7.) I would get a digital thermometer to check temps throughout the enclosure if I were you.

As far as the original question, I don't think light bulbs can accumulate damage from just moving them around. I switch from a regular basking bulb to a CHE every day and haven't had trouble with either. It could just be the brand or the fixture you're using.

~Maggot

 

[bobjuniordancer]

Thanks! I went out today and bought the zoo med lamp stand for my light fixture, but they didn't have a CHE in 60 or 75 watts which is what I think I need for a 10 gallon tank. I didn't want to fry him with a UTH and the 100 or 150 watt CHE. So that was ordered and it'll be ready to pick up on Tuesday. Do you think that I ordered the right wattage for it?

Anyways, fingers crossed that now I won't have any more issues with this. My mom is about ready to kill me for obsessing about this gecko lol. But you know what, he needs this stuff to work and it's not up to him whether or not it's fixed. It's up to me.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

Thanks! I went out today and bought the zoo med lamp stand for my light fixture, but they didn't have a CHE in 60 or 75 watts which is what I think I need for a 10 gallon tank. I didn't want to fry him with a UTH and the 100 or 150 watt CHE. So that was ordered and it'll be ready to pick up on Tuesday. Do you think that I ordered the right wattage for it?

Anyways, fingers crossed that now I won't have any more issues with this. My mom is about ready to kill me for obsessing about this gecko lol. But you know what, he needs this stuff to work and it's not up to him whether or not it's fixed. It's up to me.

I'm not sure about wattage. I only used a 10 gallon for my gecko for about 2 months. I use a 60 watt for my 20 long, but I don't have a UTH right now. The heights of 10 gallons and 20 longs are about the same, so I'd imagine it would raise the temps similarly. I doubt it'll get too hot on the warm side, though I'd be concerned about the cold side getting too warm. I'd personally recommend getting a 20 long. It'll give your gecko almost twice the floor space and will allow for a much better temp gradient. I'm not positive, but Pet Smart might still be having its $1/gallon sale (plus about $7 for a lid). It's definitely well worth the money.

~Maggot