Reptile Heating & Lighting

Get the lamps right and most other husbandry problems get easier. This collection holds the reptile heating and lighting from URS: UVB tubes, basking, radiant, infrared and night globes, and the lead fittings, clamp lamp, mesh globe covers and thermostat that hold and control them.

UVB: which strength, which fitting

UVB is what lets a reptile make its own vitamin D3, so for most diurnal lizards and turtles it is not optional. Strength is chosen by species and by lamp-to-animal distance. URS uses Outback Max 5 and Max 10 tubes, the 10 being the stronger of the pair and the usual choice for desert species. A T5 tube puts out considerably more than a T8 of the same length, so it needs mounting further from the basking site. UVB output also falls away long before a tube stops looking lit, so keepers replace on a schedule rather than waiting for failure.

Heat: basking lamps, night globes and control

Heat and light are separate decisions. A basking lamp does both, and a halogen or intense spot lamp is the usual way to build a hot spot for a day-active species. Night is different, because animals should not be lit while they sleep: an infrared lamp or the URS Oz Purple night globe gives heat with only a dim glow. Run any heat source through a thermostat — the URS Thermostat Plus is the controller stocked here — because an unregulated globe has no upper limit. Fixtures matter as well: the Lamp N Clamp, ES lead fittings and mesh globe covers keep hot glass away from the animal.

What is in the range

URS covers it: Outback Max 5 and Max 10 UVB tubes, Basking Spot, Radiant, Compact Max and Infrared Spot globes, the Oz Purple night globe, ES lead fittings with and without a bracket, the Lamp N Clamp, round and ready-wired mesh globe covers, and the Thermostat Plus.

• Glass terrariums and enclosures
• Hides and terrarium fittings
• All reptile supplies
• Shop the full Exo Terra range
• Shop URS reptile products