Lighting help - Pro T5 and basking lamp issues

ravenna147

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Hi all!

I have two one-and-three-months old Hermanns which have been with me since Sept last year. They have been on a table until last week until it rotted away despite it being indoors, and due to circumstances (multiple fly infestations we have not been able to get rid of despite changing substrates, disinfecting the table and furniture) we feel moving them to a vivarium is the best way forward.

They used to have a 100W D3 combi bulb and I thought this was enough. They are healthy, alert, and vet check-ups have shown nothing out of the ordinary. However, I am having some issues with the lighting in the vivarium I am hoping you all may be able to help with!

The 100W bulb did not fit in the viv due to it needing to be placed 15cm away from the ground and I could only put it at a height of 11cm max. I therefore purchased the ProT5 set up (Desert, 14% UVB) for the viv. However, I could not tell from the Arcadia website if that alone would be sufficient to generate heat for basking. So I also purchased a 50w basking lamp from Arcadia to put at one end of the viv.

The temp at basking end is reading 38 degrees, and at the other end, it's reading 25 degrees. The non-basking end is misting up considerably which is concerning me as I don't want the viv to be too humid and I'm unsure where the humidity is coming from (They have coco coir substrate with two small plant pot hides with a small amount of sphagnum moss inside).

Naturally, they have access to a nice big deep shallow dish of water during the day and are feeding fine.

If I turn the basking lamp off, will the Pro T5 Desert be sufficient for both UVB and basking? If not, how can I bring temps down and prevent such heavy condensation in the viv? Happy to provide pics.


Please no comments saying to just switch to a table. We had far too much hassle as I research and deliberated thoroughly before getting a viv. I am planning on getting them back to a table when I move out but until then it's safer and better for them in the viv.

Thanks very very much in advance!
 

Kapidolo Farms

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The only way to tell if the T5 will generate enough heat is to test it. Turn the basking light off and see what happens. In addition to that test you might consider a thermostat for the 50 watt heat lamp. IMO any heating source should be run through a thermostat.

If the cool end is 25 C (77 F) that might be okay. Even with high humidity.
 

ravenna147

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The only way to tell if the T5 will generate enough heat is to test it. Turn the basking light off and see what happens. In addition to that test you might consider a thermostat for the 50 watt heat lamp. IMO any heating source should be run through a thermostat.

If the cool end is 25 C (77 F) that might be okay. Even with high humidity.

Apologies if this is a dumb question but what does the thermostat do exactly to the basking lamp? From reading it seems like I need to get a dimming thermostat for the basking lamp, but I'm still a little confused as to what exactly it does to the bulb!
 

Kapidolo Farms

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Your question indicates you already got a pretty good idea of what is going on. There are two basic ways a thermostat works, 1) on/off and 2) proportional (dimming).

Some bulbs will not work with a dimmer, the manufacture should tell you on the packaging or via an email inquiry. As long as there is other lighting for "day time" a simple on and off for a heat generating light bulb is okay, IMO. Like clouds going over, it gets brighter and darker from that alone, also warmer and cooler.

Apologies if this is a dumb question but what does the thermostat do exactly to the basking lamp? From reading it seems like I need to get a dimming thermostat for the basking lamp, but I'm still a little confused as to what exactly it does to the bulb!
 

ravenna147

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Great! Thank you so much for your help!

It looks like alone the T5 Pro doesn't produce enough heat (basking end and cool end both at 25 degrees with it on), so a thermostat is defo needed I think for the basking lamp.

Thanks so much! x
 
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