I like a wide dumb for several reasons. First, it was much cheaper at the feed store. The wideness of the dome, at least in my opinion, spreads out the heat and the UV better. So you can notice this by just putting a regular lightbulb in each fixture hanging them up and then look down and see how big the lighted area is. The wider the fixture the wider the light area will be.
Sometimes the bulb will stick out past the end of the fixture and there is no problem with that. I hang mine up with the zoo med lampstand. But if you're handy you can build a lamp stand. If you want to lay the fixture directly on top of a screen, use something like pig wire or something with large holes so that the bulb it's selfdoes not actually touch the wire. I don't know if it really makes a difference if it touches but I don't want mine touching anything. You can also put a ceramic he emailedr in this fixture if you want to. You might need that for night heat if your house gets cold, you will not need it when you're tortoises an adult.
I know all of this can get confusing and frustrating. When I started out I had the coil bulb gasp! Then I moved up to the mercury vapor bulb but I had it in the deep dumb because that's what the pet store said. It took me a while to figure out that I could buy many things at the hardware store. I still buy eco-earth online. None of The nurseries or plant stores here ever have it in bulk. And I'm worried about pesticides. So I stick with the pet brand on that one but that is just my opinion. I did buy cypress mulch at Home Depot. And organic garden soil etc. for outdoor pens at Home Depot.
Sometimes the bulb will stick out past the end of the fixture and there is no problem with that. I hang mine up with the zoo med lampstand. But if you're handy you can build a lamp stand. If you want to lay the fixture directly on top of a screen, use something like pig wire or something with large holes so that the bulb it's selfdoes not actually touch the wire. I don't know if it really makes a difference if it touches but I don't want mine touching anything. You can also put a ceramic he emailedr in this fixture if you want to. You might need that for night heat if your house gets cold, you will not need it when you're tortoises an adult.
I know all of this can get confusing and frustrating. When I started out I had the coil bulb gasp! Then I moved up to the mercury vapor bulb but I had it in the deep dumb because that's what the pet store said. It took me a while to figure out that I could buy many things at the hardware store. I still buy eco-earth online. None of The nurseries or plant stores here ever have it in bulk. And I'm worried about pesticides. So I stick with the pet brand on that one but that is just my opinion. I did buy cypress mulch at Home Depot. And organic garden soil etc. for outdoor pens at Home Depot.
