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Good Under Cabinet Flourescents or horizontal mounted incandescent?

G

Goanna

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I am in the process of updating all of my cages heating/lighting. Instead of incandescent heat lamps I am using ceramic heat emitters and on alot of my snakes I am using UTH from tape or Exo Terra heat matts.

Anyway, my problem lies in visible lighting. I had been using standard aquarium light fixtures screwed into the top of my cages for years but they have all started to fail me. So I bought under cabinet flourescents from Walmart and Home Depot and used them instead and some of them last a long time but recently they are blowing out within a months time, and since they dont have starters like aquarium flourescents (just a really cheaply made ballast) there's no way of fixing them.

So now I need to find an alternative. Does anyone here know of a good under cabinet type flourescent fixture I could use? One that's going to last me a long time, not break within a month or two.

My other option is to use screw in compact flourescents, like the new zoo med 5.0 and 10.0 lamps. But I need a fixture that would hold the bulb sideways with a reflector, and other then the expensive ESU bilights I cant find anything. (Just FYI if I went this way I would use a ZM 10.0 on my Argentine Tegu but everything else would get a household energy saver lamp since they [snakes] dont have UVB requirements, it's just for my viewing and some type of day/night cycle for them). I could get a ceramic fixture from Home Depot and mount it like a normal incandescent lamp but I really would rather it be facing sideways instead of pointing down.
 
I'm curious about the short lifespan...to what are you attributing that? humidity? critters messing with them?
You could always use something like the "tap light" - just a small round battery operated light (though I have seen similar items in electric)
 
I'm not sure what your budget is but current mfg makes a very nice t5 light that comes in 24, 20 36, 48" lengths. I sell the 48" ones for $32.00. I put them in a few of my display racks for tarantulas and small snake and I love them. They are only 28 watts for the 48" so they are cheaper to run. They give off about as much light, if not more, as two standard 48" tubes. the dimensions of the entire fixture is around 48 x2x1 (roughly) they can be hooked up to 10 in series so you only need 1 plug. All my new racks will be going with these lights. They are primarily for aquarium use so large aquatic shops might be your best choice.

It is the NOVA line that you are looking for.

If you are looking for something a little more asthtically pleasing then ESU has a nice line of t5s also but I think they are only available as doubles which give you way more tlight than you need.

Steve
 
they start off at 16$ single compact housing and have DOUBLE SOCKET
22" L x 4-1/4" W x 2-3/4" H
Special: Comes With FREE 60 Watt Daylight Enhanced Spectrum Bulb 23$
 
number1steakfan said:
try big apple herp they have some low profile light that will work for what you need http://www.bigappleherp.com/Reptile_Supplies/Product/Stylish_Stainless_Steel_Fixtures_263150.html
Click to expand...
The single or even the double socket fixtures are exactly what I am looking for, I was just hoping to find something like that in a hardware store for less. $16 each isnt really that expensive, but when I need to buy like 8-12 of them all together then it adds up, and I would need the bulbs too which are another expense.

Also the fact that the fixture itself probably cost $2.00 to make and is being sold for $16 is another thing, but that's with any pet product, they all have huge markups.
 
Where'd the edit function go? Now I have to double post to continue, lol.

hhmoore said:
I'm curious about the short lifespan...to what are you attributing that? humidity? critters messing with them?

You could always use something like the "tap light" - just a small round battery operated light (though I have seen similar items in electric)
Click to expand...

I honestly think it's just the cheaply made fixtures themselves. I dont think they are designed for constant useage, on for 12-14 hours a day every day. Some of them seem to hold up others seem to just burn out right away. I think the Home Depot ones usually last longer then the walmart ones but I have a couple of them that died as well.

I have a few of my ceramic heat emitters in and my cages are totally dark now (the incandescents were the only light source since the flourescents started blowing out), so I need to get something going soon.
 
try mounting a ceramic keyless fixtures horizontal they should hold up and are very cheap if you mount it horizontally you just put a cheap compact fluorescent from walmart and it will last a long time
 
number1steakfan said:
try mounting a ceramic keyless fixtures horizontal they should hold up and are very cheap if you mount it horizontally you just put a cheap compact fluorescent from walmart and it will last a long time
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's my last resort, I really didnt want to mount a fixture on the back wall of the cage though, I woudl have much rather been able to mount it from the ceiling.
 
do you need a light fixture for each enclosure or can you use a 4' fixture for several enclosures?
FWIW, I use the cheapo shop light fluorescent light fixtures with one cheapo fluorescent bulb per fixture per shelf. I get many years of useage out of these fixtures and they are on 12, off 12, so it is pretty heavy useage. these are used for snakes and invertabrates, lizards get UV fluorescent bulbs on top of their enclosures.
 
My current setup wouldnt work too well, but I used to do that when I used alot of tanks. I had a nice metal NSF shelf system that was 36" long and I would use a single 36" fixture to go accross 3 10 gallon tanks lined up on the shelves. I would use these tanks for all my hatchlings.

But now I have all wooden cages with no screen tops or anything, so the lights have to be installed inside of each cage.
 
EDIT: I know hikari is the importer for the USA, I am waiting for them to call me back with some local distributors/retailers.
 
If you're handy with tools, you can make a nice fixture using pre-fab aluminum gutter with endcaps drilled to accept common lamp fittings. You can use PVC gutter if you install screw-in flourescents rather than incandescent. You even have the option of intalling gutter screen (made to keep out leaves) to keep the critters from climbing in.
 
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