Results 1 to 7 of 7

Thread: I'm baa-aaack (questions about lighting for WTF)

  1. #1
    rosaphile
    Guest

    Talking I'm baa-aaack (questions about lighting for WTF)

    Okay so I think I'm getting close to finishing a setup, at least in my mind. My last area of confusion is lighting, so I was hoping someone could help me sort it out.

    First - choosing a canopy for the vivarium. I'm choosing between the Exo Terra (Amazon.com: Exo Terra Compact Incandescent Fixture for PT2605/PT2607 , Small: Pet Supplies) and Zoo Med (Amazon.com: Zoo Med Naturalistic Terrarium Hood, 18-Inch: Everything Else) and leaning towards the Zoo Med only because of being able to control each light bulb individually. I was thinking of putting a blue light in one slot for "moonlight"/nighttime viewing, and a regular light in the other slot for daytime. Tentatively I'm looking at the Amazon.com: Exo Terra Repti-Glo 2.0 Compact Fluorescent Full Spectrum Terrarium Lamp, 26-Watt: Pet Supplies and the Amazon.com: Exo Terra Night-Glo Moonlight Lamp, 25-Watt: Pet Supplies. I'm a little lost about wattages and stuff, though. I can't link it but I'm thinking the 40W on the Night-Glo bulb?

    Then, I'm assuming those bulbs do not provide heat, so I'm looking at a clamp lamp with an infrared bulb to mount on the outside top of the vivarium, aimed at a convenient perch so that the frog can choose to sit in the warm spot if it needs to. I'm even less clear on what type of lamp and bulb to use for this, however. And the area where the frog will be kept will probably get as cold as 62-64 degrees during the wintertime, which is too cold, right? So how do I provide just a touch of heat overnight to keep the vivarium at around 68 degrees?

    Would I do better to sort all this out at the pet store? I should mention that the only pet stores around here are Petsmart and Petco, and I'm not sure how much I can rely on their knowledge if you know what I mean. Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer. I know I am probably obsessing about this stuff just a bit.

  2. # ADS
    Circuit advertisement
     

  3. #2
    Moderator DonLisk's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Nationality
    [United States]
    Location
    New Hampshire
    Posts
    2,337
    Blog Entries
    9
    Picture Albums: Member Photo Albums

    Default Re: I'm baa-aaack (questions about lighting for WTF)

    Better to ask now than have to buy or rebuild later on Lori. So great to be prepared as you are doing.

    I would use a fixture that allows running to separate incandescent bulbs. The Whites Tree Frogs have no requirement for special lighting so the lighting is more for you and live plants.

    Your choice of the blue might be a little to bright so I would go with a red maybe 15 watt or 25 watt bulb which I run at night to bring temps up a little. You will find the WTFs may sit under it too. Mine always liked to.

    For daytime and if you are going to use live plants, Walmart has a Reveal 20 and 24 watt Daylight 6500K color temp compact florescent bulb that works wonders. The 6500K is great for your plants and for the cost of one repti-sun you can have 4 more replacement reveal bulbs. Compact florescent bulbs will add a tiny bit of temp so if your home temp averages about 68 - 70 in the day the your probably going to be at about 72 - 74 with this bulb on.

    One note here is that with the enclosure your buying you may want to have a piece of glass or plexi around to place over a part of the screen top to keep in humidity since any bulb is going to burn off humidity. I cover about 30 percent of the top and then the light fixture also covers some of the open screen.

    Don
    1.0.0 Red Eyed Leaf/ Frog - Agalychnis callidryas
    1.1.1 Bumblebee Dart Frog - Dendrobates leucomelas
    1.1.0 Dendrobates truncatus - Yellow Striped
    1.1.1 Dendrobates tinctorius – Bakhuis Mountain
    1.1.0 - Dendrobates tinctorius - Powder Blue
    1.1.0 - Ranitomeya vanzolinii

  4. #3
    rosaphile
    Guest

    Default Re: I'm baa-aaack (questions about lighting for WTF)

    Thanks, Don, once again coming to the rescue.

    So the 15W or 25W red bulb in the canopy will provide the overnight heat I was wondering about, that's great. And it will not be dangerous if the frog happens to jump up against it?

    I guess what I will do is just see what temperatures that red bulb provides in the vivarium throughout the day. If it gets the temp to around 75-80 during the day that should be good, right? And if it can't keep up enough during the day I will pick up a ceramic clamp lamp and a low-wattage red bulb to provide supplemental heat during the day.

  5. #4
    Moderator DonLisk's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Nationality
    [United States]
    Location
    New Hampshire
    Posts
    2,337
    Blog Entries
    9
    Picture Albums: Member Photo Albums

    Default Re: I'm baa-aaack (questions about lighting for WTF)

    Whites are very tolerant to having a daytime temp in the witer of 72 -75 in the day but if its 75-78 then thats great.
    They won't hit the bulb in the canopy fixture since there is a little space between the bulb and screen.

    If you need more temp then just change the compact florescent day bulb for 25 - 40 watt daylight reptile bulb in an incandescent version.
    Which bulb depends on too many factors to determine which without trying.
    1.0.0 Red Eyed Leaf/ Frog - Agalychnis callidryas
    1.1.1 Bumblebee Dart Frog - Dendrobates leucomelas
    1.1.0 Dendrobates truncatus - Yellow Striped
    1.1.1 Dendrobates tinctorius – Bakhuis Mountain
    1.1.0 - Dendrobates tinctorius - Powder Blue
    1.1.0 - Ranitomeya vanzolinii

  6. #5
    Badger
    Guest

    Default Re: I'm baa-aaack (questions about lighting for WTF)

    Since I didn't want to start a whole new thread when one is right here, How much heat does a 24 watt CFL provide? My house gets down to 64 in the winter, So I need to have enough in the day. I was thinking a 24 watt cfl for daytime, and a 50 watt red bulb for night, since it gets colder.

    To the OP: Sorry, I don't mean to jack your thread >.<

  7. #6
    rosaphile
    Guest

    Default Re: I'm baa-aaack (questions about lighting for WTF)

    Sounds like a plan, Don.

    Dalton, don't worry about it! Just hope you get an answer. I did some Internet searching but didn't really find any specifics except that CFLs emit about 30% of the temperature of the equivalent incandescent bulb. That probably doesn't help much though!

  8. #7
    Badger
    Guest

    Default Re: I'm baa-aaack (questions about lighting for WTF)

    more than you would think. Hm....I don't wanna get a blue daylight bulb because they burn out in like 2 weeks . anyone have any ideas?

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Lighting Questions??
    By blood4eva69 in forum Vivarium, Terrarium & Enclosure Discussion
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: September 13th, 2011, 10:07 PM
  2. Lighting/Heating questions..
    By cowbully in forum Vivarium, Terrarium & Enclosure Discussion
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: September 7th, 2011, 09:03 PM
  3. Questions about lighting for albino pacman.
    By xQuinnx in forum Pacman Frogs
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: August 20th, 2011, 01:08 PM
  4. Lighting and heating Questions
    By LilyPad in forum Vivarium, Terrarium & Enclosure Discussion
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: June 19th, 2011, 07:05 AM
  5. Lighting
    By jaguilar15 in forum African Bullfrogs
    Replies: 16
    Last Post: November 17th, 2010, 01:07 AM

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •