What wattage lightbulb should I use?

[jamien]

My pacman frog hasn't been eating and according to the vet its because his terrarium might be too cold. I was using a 50 watt light bulb and the temperature would be anywhere from 73-81. I recently picked up a massive heat lamp with a 75 watt incandescent lightbulb. Is this wattage okay? The tank probably was too cold and my thermometer was probably off a little bit.

[jasonm96]

Unless you have a very big tank a 75W will just dry it out in very short order. I wouldn't go over 60W and I think you'd be better off using a thermostat-controlled heat mat so you get no light at night and some heat without the drying effect. If you wanted to view the frog at night you could still use a low wattage black or red bulb but instead of having it on all night just for a few hours. Many of my frogs have been disturbed with these lights and I've noticed big changes in activity when switching them off

[jamien]

I asked at the pet store about heat mats and was told not to get one and instead put aluminum foil around the cage and stick with my 50 watt lightbulb. I figured that a new 75 watt lightbulb and larger reflector dome would also do the job but that doesn't seem to be the case. He still isn't eating. I can't for the life of me figure out why. The temperature is in the 70s(My thermometer is being weird, doesn't want to display the temp) and I mist it every couple hours(You were right, the larger bulb is really drying out the enclosure. Unfortunately I don't have the money right now to get a heat mat so the incandescent bulb will have to do for now. But he still isn't eating.

[jasonm96]

Tip: don't go to pet stores for advice read books and ask other hobbyists/breeders instead. Like I've said, leaving a bulb on 24 hours per day, even red or purple can disturb them, even if it claims it doesn't. Some animals may be fine with it, however others might be more sensitive. I've heard some bearded dragons can suffer from insomnia with red lights. 75W is just a no go in my book and only fine for phibs kept in large enclosures, preferably basking ones, with plants or a misting system to keep the humidity levels up. For a 10-20 gallon I would say 40W is good, 60W is pushing it. Heat mats are best for small tanks and work well, most breeders actually maintain their frogs on heat mat/heat strips. I'd save up for it and if your frog doesn't start eating soon you may need to force feed it by putting a teaspoon in it's mouth to open and then putting the food in

[jasonm96]

Or you could get a ceramic heat emitter, which is basically like a heat lamp but without the light and excellent for 24 hour heat sources, 40-60W should do but these are best connected to a thermostat with a day/night setting, otherwise the animal won't have a night time drop and they cage will be like a desert in the morning. For humidity the foil or glass over half and no more of the screen.

[jamien]

The temperature was around 81-82 with the 75 watt but it was just drying out SO quickly. The humidity was around 30 when I got home today. I feel bad. I shouldn't have listened to the vet and just bought a heat mat but I simply can't buy one at this time. Now I'm stuck with 2 heat lamps. One that is very small and one that is very large(It barely fits on top of my 10 gallon tank). I have 3 incandescent light bulbs. A regular 50 watt, a 50 watt that is flat on the bottom, and a regular 75 watt. What combination should I use?